All roads lead to Palo, Leyte which is about 7 kilometers from Tacloban City,
on Good Friday as the faithful from all over Eastern Visayas flock there for
the observance of Holy Week traditions that have been kept alive all through
the years.
Aptly, Palo was declared in
the Diocesan Synod of 1910 as a center of faith and religiosity in Eastern
Visayas.
At center of the activities
is the Archdiocese of Palo under the pastorship of Archbishop John Du and the
parish priest of the Lord’s Transfiguration Parish Monsignor Bernardo Pantin,
with full support from the Municipal Government of Palo under the leadership of
Mayor Remedios Loretto Petilla.
The Holy Week tradition
starts with the Palm Sunday rites held at the Lourdes Grotto at the Church’s
patio with a vantage view as it is facing the highway.
On Holy Thursday, the
priests of each vicariate gather with the Archbishop to consecrate holy oils,
which are used throughout the year for the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation,
Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick. This ancient practice, which goes
back to the fifth century, is known as the Chrism Mass and stresses the role of
the bishop as a successor to the apostles. "Chrism" is a mixture of
oil and balsam used for the holy oils.
It is during this time when
all the priests under the Archdiocese renew their vow in the presence of
Archbishop Du.
At 5:00 o’clock in the
afternoon, “The Last Supper” is observed in the cathedral with Archbishop Du
leading the activity.
The Pamalandong or
meditation on Good Friday is the highlight of the Palo Lenten traditions. So
grand the Pamalandong has become that several Palo roads have to be closed and
traffic has to be rerouted.
Pamalandong because of its
significance and crowd-drawing potentials has been adopted as the first part of
the 4Ps Tourism Promotion program of the municipal government under the present
administration of Mayor Remedios Petilla; the other Ps being “Patron ha Palo”
(Fiesta in Palo), “Pagbalik ha Palo” (Leyte Gulf Landing Commemoration) and
“Pasko ha Palo.”
Pamalandong is a re-enactment
of the Lord´s Passion celebrated in Palo. It consists of religious rituals
which start at 12:00 at noon at the Lourdes Grotto at the grounds of the Palo
Cathedral.
The Good Friday rites
include "The seven Last Words" as explained by the best priests in
the Archdiocese, during which, the Passion of Christ is re-enacted by
participants in full regalia who underwent recollection to spiritually prepare
them for the role they would be playing.
“Providing spiritual
assistance to those who are participating in the re-enactment is important
because the role the actors will be doing is part of a spiritual activity,”
Msgr. Pantin stressed.
Oldest of Palo’s Holy Week
traditions is the Penitentes, a penitential fraternity of cassocked, barefoot,
and hooded members organized by Fray Pantaleon de le Fuente, OFM in 1984
supposedly to replace the flagellants, fanatics who whipped themselves or have
themselves whipped to atone for wrong doings, whose cult of fanatics was
gaining momentum among the faithful.
It is popularly known among
the locals as “tais-dupol,” as those penitents who wear “tais” or
pointed hoods are married men and “dupol” for single men.
With the seventh last word
uttered and the death of Christ depicted and brought down from the cross, a procession
that includes all the biblical characters of the Passion play starts.
A quaint Good Friday local
custom is the gathering of the leaves from the mock-forest where the three
crosses stand, by the people who believe that the same would bring luck, cure
illness and other attributes.
With their faith rekindled
and their thirsty souls quenched, the pious go home ready once more to face
trials and tribulations.
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