Good Friday in Philippines

Iloilo City, Philippines. It was already 4:30 PM of April 10, 2009, a Friday, and everybody was up after an afternoon nap and getting ready to go to church. But this is not just any ordinary Friday. It was Good Friday and we have to go to church before 6:00 PM. You see, here in the Philippines, we commemorate Good Friday with The Way of the Cross in the morning, a Passion Play that can be heard in Catholic churches all over the country, on the radio and on TV and just before dusk, a street procession where you can see a long line of different carriages or floats with images of different saints, different images of the Christ, the Virgin Mary and other religious figures.

While some people are away spending their time at beach resorts like Boracay Island or Guimaras Islands, some of us prefer to spend the Holy Week celebration especially Good Friday, Black Saturday and Easter Sunday the traditional and religious way- reflecting on the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ.

It was almost 6:00 when we arrived at Santa Ana church in Molo, Iloilo City, which is just about a 10-minute walk from the house. We bought candles just before the start of the procession and we positioned ourselves, the whole family, at the 6th carriage. All in all, there is a total of 24 carriages being paraded here on Good Friday and it took around 2 hours and 30 minutes to go around the district of Molo, starting in front of the church.

Everybody was exhausted but everybody was inspired, blessed and our Faith has been renewed again and as we go home after the procession, we are all looking forward to come back to church again on Sunday, the Easter Sunday, the day that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.

Pictures of different images used during the street procession are uploaded here for everybody to view.

But there is one more thing that we are looking forward to this Easter Sunday and that's to celebrate Easter swimming in the beach!!!