Semana Santa in Basey

By CHITO D. DELA TORRE, A.B., LLB., MMPM
March 18, 2008

Basey is home to one of the world’s oldest religious activities.  Placed under the bishopric of Cebu in 1591 (then 65 years later under the Residencia in Dagami [since 1656]), its parish has since been observing the annual 8-day Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.

One of the oldest and earliest pueblos (towns) in the Philippine Islands, Basey is populated today by 43,809, most of whom are Roman Catholics who follow the teachings of Lord Jesus Christ and the practices of the Catholic Church.

For the entire Holy Week or Semana Santa, the religious of Basey focus on Church-led activities, with parish priest Fr. Niceas A. Abejuela at the helm, with the assistance of Fr. Dionesio Calderon, and the different religious organizations, mostly the cofradias, participating.

Palm Sunday

Palms mostly with lukay (young coconut leaf) shaped into a cross dominate the first two waking hours of the morning of Sunday.  In Basey, the Sunday palms are taken from pitogo, lukay, and olivo (olive).  Lukay crosses are most preponderant.  The people, mostly young and old women, bring the palms to the priests for blessing on the last Sunday into the Holy Week.  Last March 16, the Palm Sunday for this year (2008), the blessing of hundreds of palms, done by Fr. Abejuela and Fr. Calderon at the spacious municipal gym, was punctuated by the waving of the blessed palms in the ensuing procession from the gym to the Saint Michael the Archangel Parish church which overlooks the whole poblacion from atop a hill in barangay Mercado.  The procession revivified the famous Jesus’ walk to and arrival in Jerusalem where the multitude of His believers waved palms as He passed by.

The palms were repeatedly waved, several times, during the first Holy Mass that followed the procession.  At the second Mass, Fr. Abejuela and Fr. Calderon blessed additional palms that were brought in by other churchgoers.

The Church preserves its own lukay cross until Ash Wednesday of the following year.  The year-old lukay cross is burned and its ashes are used in imprinting the sign of the cross on foreheads of Catholics during Ash Wednesday.

Outside the Church, the lukay or palm is hung at a preferred placed in the home, as an added defense mechanism against evil and bad fortune.  In the barrio, it is sometimes used by herbs men (arbularyo) for the treatment of the sick, mostly for panluon (producing smoke from lukay that is ritually passed around the body of the person being healed, especially one with allergy or skin rash, or with pi-ang [broken or swollen limb] or gin-ugmad [with trauma or one afflicted with fear]).

Religious Activities

The days before Maundy Thursday are also considered “santo” or holy, hence, Monday during the Holy Week is called “Lunes Santo”, Tuesday – “Martes Santo”, and Wednesday – “Miyerkoles Santo”.  On these days, the Basaynon families go to the church to do the Stations of the Cross after the 6 a.m. Holy Mass.  The Stations of the Cross – symbolizing original “stations” of the last days of Jesus – used to be 14, ending with the Station on the graveyard of Jesus.  According to Eliacim Centino Cabuquit, a high school teacher in the Basey National High School (which occupies the erstwhile “Junior” island in brgy. Buscada) where his specialization is put to maximum use in Music, Arts, Physical Education (PE) and Health (or MAPEH), there are now 15 such stations as the “Resurrection” of Christ had been added about eight years ago.

Aside from the Stations of the Cross, there are also confessions for elementary pupils and high school students (inspired by the Lady of Charity who had been conducting catechism work in the past days) on Martes Santo, and, on Miyerkoles Santo, the Holy Communion is administered, plus a series of meditations by the Catholic families who visit the Church.

Huwebes Santo

Maunday Thursday, or Huwebes Santo (taken from the Spanish Jueves Santo, or Holy Thursday), begins with confessions in the morning for all the faithful.

By 3 p.m., during the Holy Mass, the priest (as Jesus) re-enacts the washing and kissing of the feet of the “Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ”, characterized by pre-selected men (sometimes middle aged, or the elderlies, or children – such as in the time of this writer and 11 other children, whose “Jesus” then was our parish priest, Msgr. Pedro Yrigan).  Afterwards, the Holy Eucharist is then conducted in procession inside the church, followed by Its enshrinement at the monument at the left side of the altar.

The Last Supper is re-enacted by them at the Convent, just behind the church, usually at 8 p.m.

Overnight, until 9 p.m. of Good Friday, families take turns in doing a one-hour vigil at the church.  The Cofradia also does its own vigil.

Biyernes Santo

The Siete Palabras (Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ) in Basey unwinds at 1 p.m. of Good Friday (Biyernes Santo, or Viernes Santo in Spanish) inside the Saint Michael the Archangel Parish Church.  This is assigned to the Adoracion Nocturna, an all-male group of adorers.

There is a Holy Mass but sans reading of the Epistles and the Gospel.  The Mass ends with the Consecration and the Holy Communion, followed by a procession of the Santo Entierro (the Dead Christ as taken off the Cross) around the town, and back to the church.  This starts at about 5:30 p.m.

By 7 p.m., Eliacim tenders supper for the Twelve Apostles, at his home in Sulod.  This hosting has been a yearly self-assumed responsibility continued by him from a worthy practice by his father, Juan Cabuquit, Samar’s only sculptor of wooden icons of saints until he joined his Creator.  The movers of the carrozas or carros (wooden floats) join the Twelve Apostles during this activity.

Two hours later, the Soledad (the icon of Virgin Mary) is led outside of the church, in a procession.  This is carefully managed so as not to chance upon the Santo Entierro that is already returning to the church from an earlier procession.  The procession of the Soledad symbolizes the solitary search by Saint Mary for her Son whose body vanished from His Tomb.

The Good Friday procession has the following sequence of the carros: San Juan (St. John the Baptist), San Pedro (St. Peter, the Apostle), First Station: Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane (last year, the carro  for this was being prepared by Eliacim when chanced upon by this writer), Sixth Station: St. Veronica wiping the face of Jesus Christ, Siete Palabra (the Seventh Last Word): Jesus Christ hanging on the cross with Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist at the foot of His Cross, Tinanggal (the Pieta), Santo Entierro, and Dolorosa.

A taped music, a song sang by a choir of which Eliacim was then a member, is played behind the Siete Palabra carro.  The Samaracha band provides the band music behind the Tinanggal carro.

Sabado Santo

Black Saturday or Sabado Santo opens at 5 a.m. with the conduct of the Stations of the Cross by the general public.  Fifteen kalye (street) corners in the poblacion are designated one Station each.  At each stop, the religious say prayers.  A family or a cofradia is usually pre-designated to prepare the site for one Station of the Cross.  At brgy. Sulod, Eliacim, his younger sister Sarah (a public school teacher), and his nephews, as in the past years, will once again help put up the Sixth Station. The Station is a estampa (framed illustration of the Station described) on a decorated altar.

Carros (floats) are conducted in procession at this time are the following: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Nazarene (Jesus carrying a wooden cross on His shoulder), Dolorosa, Tinanggal (or the Pieta), and Santo Entierro.

By 9 p.m., church bells will peal. The Basaynon faithful gather at the church yard for the “Pagbabag-o han Kalayo” and then inside the church for the “Pagbabag-o han Tubig”.  These are symbolic rituals.  As for the first ritual, the parish priest will bless the tap-ong hin sungo (few firewood that is enkindled).  Inside the church, after that, he will bless the water that is placed inside the banga, one of the oldest porcelain wares owned by the church, that is known to the religious as the taberna.

This will be followed by the Litania Heneral, a long litany, led by Fr. Calderon, and a Holy Mass said by him, then by a procession for the Sugat, which re-enacts the moment when Virgin Mary finally found her Son.

The Virgin Mary icon, called the Sugat Virgen, is covered with a wide black veil.  The icon is conducted out of the church to the sugat (encounter) site, in front of the residence of the sugat hermano (borther or host for this event).  (This year’s hermano is a child of the late Liga ng mga Barangay president Esperato “Pepeng” Palomino and of Mrs. Agus Palomino, in Sulod.  The Palomino family owns the prestigious computer school in Basey.)

The icon of the Resurreccion (the Risen Christ in Resurrection) takes another route from the same church and heads for the sugat site.

Says Eliacim, the Virgin Mary and her Son should not meet until the Sugat moment.

At the Sugat, when the two icons finally meet – each standing high up on its own carro, and with the carros almost head-on to each other – an “angel” moves down from somewhere and takes off the black veil to show the brightened up face of Virgin Mary.  (For sometime in the past, the “angel” was a human being, a girl, dressed like an angel with wings, who would recite a himno [hymn] for the Sugat – as what happened with this writer’s younger sister, Ma. Nenita, in the Sugat at Buscada many decades ago.)

From the Sugat, the two carros go together in procession back to the church, led by the carro carrying the Resurreccion and followed by the Sugat Virgen.  At the church, the Resurrection goes to the altar.  It will be enshrined there by Mansueto Delovino, provincial environment and natural resources officer of Samar, to whose family the ownership icon of the Resurreccion passed from its original owner, the Tabunda family in brgy. Sulod, Basey, particularly through “Lola Merced”, whose house stands next to where Eliacim’s family lives.

Domingo Resurreccion

The Sunday after that is called in Basey the Domingo Resurreccion.  The day opens with a Holy Mass for Easter Sunday, followed by a regular mass and a hunt for Easter Eggs in the vicinity of the church.

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