Part of Filipino Holy Week Celebration is the Penitent or Penitence.Penitent -- means, a feeling or expressing humble or regretful pain or sorrow for sins or offenses. In Roman Catholic is a person who confess and submits to a penance.
Yesterday, Good Friday, me and my children went to Bustos, Bulacan, to watch the penitent there. It's a large group of person (I've heard yesterday its around 150 person) marching from one end of the river and end inside the church in Tibagan Bustos, Bulacan.
As they were marching they were whipping their own backs that cause it into bleeding
so much. They were marching on the very, very hot road barefooted and sometimes
they all face down lied on the road (I think 3 to 5 times).You can imagine now how they endured
the suffocating and burning atmosphere and the pain on their backs. Others carry a cross and sometimes others ended in crucifying themselves but its very seldom here, in other places they used to crucify annually.
After they reach inside the church, they were all assisted by their relatives or friends because others are so weak already and sometimes can't walk straight anymore and they headed back to the river to jump and wash their bloody body there. They said it must be wash in the river not in any shower, when you jump in the river they said the wounds on their back will miraculously soon heal. Once they started this ritual, others do it annually for the rest of their lives but others just do it for 9 consecutive years only. They did this to free themselves from their sins.
I was taking photos nearly but suddenly my new silky white shirt was sprayed by blood as they whipped their backs. I felt strange so I rushed inside the fence of my friend and ask her for another shirt, luckily she said she had a new shirt for me.
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