As a Filipino How Do You Feel About Celebrating Festivals

A few days ago I was asked 'as a Filipino how do you feel about celebrating festivals?' If there is only one Filipino festival touted for its ultimate grandeur, magnificent range, profligate in its opulence, and splendid in its style, it is the most anticipated annual celebration of Flores De Mayo, which is ostentatiously concluded with a pageantry of beauties and finery known as Santacruzan - the re-enactment of the biblical search for the holy cross. Moreover, in the Philippines, it is widely known as the 'Queens of all Festivals', considering that it is annually celebrated for the whole month of May also known as the fiesta month in the Philippines - whereby Filipinos usually devote themselves in gratitude for the goodness of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. Through these, the religious faith of the Filipinos were strengthened since they are living in a predominantly Catholic society - and they were also consistently reminded of the importance of family, motherhood and unity as a community and a nation.

How I Feel About Celebrating Festivals?

More so, to further understand the nature and importance of this cultural tradition, a revisit to the past must be done first. To begin with, it must be understood that 'Flores' - a Spanish word which translates to 'flowers' - are the main elements of these May festivities, for the reason that people would often gather in the church - where the altar is usually decorated lavishly with flowers in order for them to pray and offer flowers to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Hence, these flowers do not only represent the beauty in these festivities, but also the joy and hope it brings to the people, because it also signifies the time for personal growth and for the people to bloom just like flowers during spring time in other countries.

To add, way back during the Spanish period, when Flores de Mayo came into picture, it was deemed at first by Filipino farmers as a mere tribute celebration and thanksgiving. Primarily, one of the reasons is that they firmly believed (back then) that it has brought more rains within their vicinity, which was a big help for them to grow and harvest their crops more successfully during this time of the year. And since then, this has been going for years. Eventually, in 1854, with the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception that acclaimed Mary (mother of Christ) as someone who was conceived without any original sin, this celebration has become a Philippine cultural tradition and religious custom and cultural tradition, where most Filipinos devote themselves in gratitude to the Blessed Virgin Mary, believing in her goodness and purity, and for thanking her for always interceding us with Jesus Christ and for always being there when we need her the most.

Apart from that, they are also very engrossed in the religious parade called Santacruzan - where beautiful girls usually parade with their fancy gowns in the streets. This is actually a sign that the festivities and celebrations are nearly coming to an end. Thus, at the very end of the month, various towns or barangays would usually host a Santacruzan which is a parade in commemoration of St. Helena's search for the Holy cross. In this matter, it was believed that 300 years after the death of Christ, the archeological diggings that were made on the site of the Crucifixion in Jerusalem had directed the 75-year-old Queen Helena in search of the Redeemer's cross. The excavations unearthed three prospective crosses but were uncertain which one was real. The queen then summoned an ill servant to touch and lie on the three crosses and the one that cured him was believed to be the holy one.

In the Philippines, Flores de Mayo is considered as a nationwide celebration, yet there is no one way of celebrating it since various towns, barangays and cities have their own versions of festivities which made it more diverse and very rich in culture. For instance, in Batangas, they usually celebrate Flores de Mayo through joining in traditional Tagalog poetry where the names of the sagalas were read aloud and called out, as well described the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the salvation of the Filipino Catholics. Meanwhile, in Pampanga, the Santacruzan procession is usually interrupted by costumed Moro's who challenge the escorts to fight against them. In this case, this tradition is called Sabat, wherein it represents the ambushes of the Moro people to Queen Helena and her crusade as they returned to Europe with the Holy Cross. On the other hand, based on my own personal experience, when my family and I were still living in Cabong, Zamboanga del Norte, I was able to witness a different way of celebrating Flores de Mayo. I still remember how we played fun Filipino games - such as pabitin and hampas palayok - with the other kinds in our barangay. In the pabitin, since the snacks and money were all tied up in the bamboo that was hanging above us, well, I remember, as a small kid as I was before, I really did try my best to jump as high in order to reach anything from the prizes. Fortunately, I was able to take a lot of things, since the game did not stop until all of the prizes were taken by the participants. In the other game 'Which was called hampas palayok' a player was usually chosen among the crowd, and he or she would be blindfolded at least 3 meters away in front of the hanging pot and was tasked to hit the pot filled with goodies after spinning around for several times. A long bamboo is usually provided as an instrument in order to hit and break the pot, while the crowd were tasked to distract the player by yelling all sorts of misleading instructions and information. In this matter, this has made the game more challenging and fun. Nevertheless, it's a win-win situation since the crown was able to take all of the prizes from the pot while the one who broke it won the money prize. With these, the diverse cultures, beliefs, customs and traditions that each Filipino possessed were seen and manifested.

And now, as my family decided to settle down in a small town in Janiuay, Iloilo, I have affirmed that most Filipinos are indeed fiesta fanatics since they are so fond of celebrations and festivals. However as a child, I did not really understand the relevance and value of Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan or all of the festivities in the month of May. Back then, I only got to attend and participate in the Flores de Mayo and enjoy the festivities as a child because at the beginning of the festivities, it's my birthday so I always get to celebrate it with all of my friends and family at the church. I remember, getting all excited because finally, I would be able to make my own bouquet of flowers as an offering to Mama Mary. Santans in colors red, orange and pink are definitely our go-to-offertory flowers, along with red gumamelas since they were so pretty. However, just like other kids, I was also reminded how naughty I was once before since I would sometimes steal flowers from our neighbor's garden and offer it to the altar. This is mainly because my mother would throw a fit if we picked flowers from her beloved garden. Furthermore, in the later days, the beauties wearing their beautiful and dazzling gowns during the Santacruzan also never failed to amaze me, considering that some of my childhood crushes often participate, therefore I am also there for moral support  even without them knowing.

Conclusion

In all of these, I have realized that one of its cultural values in the Philippines is that it enabled the whole Filipino Catholics community to unveil their religiosity through observance and celebration of this religious event. As a Filipino Catholic myself, I have witnessed how it strengthens our own devotion to Catholicism, as well as to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom we considered as the mother of all beings. Moreover, I have also realized that through this cultural tradition, since there's no more classes during these times (summer break) and that people usually go back to their hometowns in order to spend more time with their family, relatives and friends, it has also strengthened family ties. With these, as a family, Filipinos usually were able to celebrate Flores de Mayo (as well as other festivities in the month of May) together. Also, since various competitions were also held in these events, local Filipino designers were given an opportunity to showcase their talents, creativity and artistic skills in making elegant and dazzling gowns, barongs and dresses. To add, in some localities, residents tend to host a flower arrangement competition where individuals try their best to organize and arrange the flowers as pleasantly-looking and attractive as they may be, which aims to win the hearts and praises of the judges.

Unfortunately, these have led many Filipinos, especially young ones to misinterpret the relevance of this cultural tradition, since nowadays, Flores De Mayo has become more of an annual beauty pageant, rather than a religious celebration. Both Santacruzan and Flores de Mayo have been slowly losing their religious relevance, and instead have become a cultural presentation and a fashion show with no spiritual value. Moreover, it is also losing its cultural value, since some people don't even understand why they celebrate Flores De Mayo, or why Santacruzan even exists.