Holy Week taboos

“Tapsilog” was on the menu for breakfast last Monday. What better way to start the week right? Well, the cook wanted to alter the schedule and offered yogurt and cereal instead, so I remarked that it was the first day of the summer term and I needed a power breakfast. She hesitated a bit, gathered her courage, and said, “Sir, it’s the Holy Week, you shouldn’t be eating meat.” I explained that abstinence from meat is observed only on the Fridays of Lent, and that fasting (or having only one full meal) and abstinence are observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I was amused and flattered that our cook cared not just for our belly but for our soul as well.

The world has changed a lot since my childhood, and religious practices, too. In the past, one had to fast or have no solid food from midnight till the time one received communion in the morning. Today, we observe this 12-hour fast only when we have to submit to a blood test. The last I remembered, the eucharistic fast had been reduced to one hour before communion, and was surprised last week when a friend told me that it was not required anymore.

While Catholics are still required to observe Lenten fasting and abstinence, a permissible substitute is to donate to a church or charity, or to perform a corporal work of mercy. I know someone who purposely eats a steak on Good Friday and then rushes off to find a way to do one of the seven corporal works of mercy: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick, visit the imprisoned, or bury the dead.

In the past, churches looked different during Lent because all of the religious images were covered with a purple shroud so there would be no distraction from the somber tone of the season. The Alleluia was not sung or said, which made the triple Alleluias of Easter something to look forward to. Frankly, I looked forward to quiet services without music during Lent, but some parishes simply cannot resist their slow organ playing and awful singing.

The Holy Week isn’t what it used to be, particularly when more and more people choose to spend it at the beach or the mall. Folk beliefs and customs for the Holy Week are now history in urban areas, and one has to look up the late Fr. Francisco Demetrio’s two-volume “Encyclopedia of Philippine Folk Beliefs and Customs” (Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro, 1991) to see what people used to believe in. These are what he listed down:

• Accidents that usually happen during the Holy Week. Animal or insect bites during the Holy Week are poisonous. (There is another belief, not in Father Demetrio’s work, that if you are wounded or injured during the Holy Week, it will take longer to heal than in other times of the year.) The Sinakulo, or Play of the Passion of Christ, is performed during the Holy Week. (The standard academic work on this is by Nicanor G. Tiongson.) Chanting the Passion commemorates the Lord’s suffering. (Three decades ago, I accompanied ethnomusicologist Ric Trimillos in documenting the Pasyon and the different tones and ways of singing it in Bulacan and Pampanga. His PhD dissertation should be the last word on this practice, but it remains unpublished. If you are interested in the Pasyon text, the standard academic work is by Fr. Rene Javellana, SJ)

• Crucifixion reenacted on Good Friday. Father Demetrio only mentioned the observance in Marinduque, the Moriones made popular by Alejandro Roces and tourist brochures. This has townspeople doing a reenactment of the Passion story complete with men in Roman gladiator costumes and scary masks. What attract worldwide attention these days are the bloody flagellants and actual crucifixions in Pampanga.

• The Salubong held on Easter Sunday. This, too, is a vanishing custom, where the image of the Virgen Dolorosa (Sorrowful Virgin) in a dark veil and her right hand clutching her heart pierced with seven daggers is brought out at dawn on Easter Sunday to meet the image of the Risen Christ. A small child in an angel costume is lowered from a makeshift stage to pull off her mourning veil, signaling the beginning of Easter. The Salubong is still held in the old part or the Poblacion of Makati, far from the skyscrapers and glitz of the commercial and business district. When the bell rings on Easter Sunday, you should shout to drive evil spirits away, or jump if you want to grow taller.

• Taboos galore. Evil spirits are believed to roam during the Holy Week. Spending is taboo on Good Friday, as is sweeping the floor. Travel on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday is taboo. Bathing, making noise, and laughing or smiling on Good Friday, especially at 3 p.m., are taboo. Roasting food during the Holy Week makes your face black. Using sharp objects is taboo during Lent. Taking a walk during Lent is taboo, etc., etc., etc.

Someone should do a new compilation of folk beliefs and customs and compare these with Father Demetrio’s list in 1991 to see how much we have changed or remained the same.

We do not print a newspaper on Good Friday. One of the good things about having a Friday column in the Inquirer is that I have a day off from the deadline, thanks to Filipino custom and tradition.

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