It is May again and it bursts with the fresh spunk of festivals. Shining among the festivities of this month is the observation of the Flores De Mayo. This tradition started during the Spanish Era where young girls, in their pristine innocence, offered flowers for the Virgin Mary in a parish church in Malolos, Bulacan. This humble act of reverence for the Mother of God is a clear sign of Filipino devotion, a showering of flowers signifying our maternal affections.
Happening on the last day of the Flores de Mayo is the Santacruzan. As a procession held in honor of Queen Helen’s finding of the cross of Christ, it has become a spectacle with throngs of crowds in the streets eager to have a glimpse of stunning women garbed in traditional Filipiniana together with their dashing escorts. But there is a deeper meaning to this procession. For there are characters culled from the Bible that represent the various travails and mysteries of the Christian faith. The personas and personalities here include queens of various virtues, honorable saints, and the Virgin Mary, among others. The end of the procession features Queen Helen herself. Usually portrayed by the most beautiful lass in the community, she is accompanied by her son, the mighty Roman Emperor Constantine as a child.
Because it is a festival practiced by the Catholic faithful, the Santacruzan should be observed with utmost sincerity and respect. As a procession, it invokes everyone in the community to come and join. The thrill of it being a spectacle can somehow blur our understanding of its religious importance. In the process of this procession which has been going on for quite some time now, our faith should encourage us to commune with the other members of society eventually removing the “otherness” and turning it into “oneness.” But in the process, we should always keep in mind the virtues and values that we champion, the ones that hold us together as a community and a nation.
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