Holy Week is one of the most important holidays in the Philippines. For many, it is a time for families to come together and spend time for religious traditions. The week starts with Palm Sunday when people come together in churches and come home bringing with them palm fronds that are blessed and these are kept in the homes. Typically, these fronds are given back to the church the following year so they can be burned to ashes which are also used during Ash Wednesday which marks the Lenten season.
Official non-work holiday starts on the Wednesday of the Holy Week. The day after is called Maundy Thursday and this is the day when people flock to churches to attend service that will include the washing of the feet ritual - a re-enactment when Jesus Christ kissed the feet of the disciples.
A visita iglesia follows. It is customary for people to do the rounds of seven churches to pray, do the stations of the cross or just pay homage to the passion of Christ. Altars and religious images are covered in purple cloth as a sign of recognition of Christ's suffering.
On Good Friday, churches observe the seven last words where priests share reflections on the seven last words of Christ. This is a day of fasting and abstinence. Many households do not eat meat on this day.
People look forward to Easter Sunday. Part of the tradition is the dawn ritual of 'sugat' where churches re-enact the reunion of the suffering Christ with his mother, Mary.
More than the rituals, this is a time for reflection and to ask for forgiveness for sins committed. It is a time to re-evaluate one's relationship with the divine.
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