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| | Pabasa
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Palm Sunday also signals the start of the “Pabasa”- the singing or chanting of the passion of Christ in a solemn but rather eerie tune. The 150-or-so-page book written by a Filipino in the early 19th century would be repeatedly chanted in chapels or in some houses from dawn of Palm Sunday until 3 o’clock in the afternoon of Good Friday, non-stop! There would be several groups of “singers” relieving each other, of course. Never mind the ear-damaging tune that blares endlessly in the air. The best part of it all is the delicious and hearty meals – usually rice cakes and chicken soup – brought by a lot of generous sponsors for everyone - singers and listeners alike.
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Then, there is this loooong procession of holy images in some parts of the country on Holy Wednesday and Good Friday. In Bulacan, a province north of Manila, the procession consists of at least sixty “karos” or carriages. Each karo carries a life-size image of a saint who plays an important role in Christ Passion (e.g. Peter, John, Mary Magdalene, the Blessed Mother, etc). But, there are also bigger karos which carry several life-size images that would depict a detailed scene from the Holy Passion. Imagine Last Supper with the twelve apostles in one karo, or the Crucifixion scene – complete with the three Marys, St John, the two thieves, three Roman soldiers gambling over Jesus’ robe, and another one on top of a horse! With thousands of devotees joining the procession, it usually takes more than three hours just to catch a glimpse of every karo. The lead of the procession would have usually returned to the church already after going around the whole town, while the tail would have just gone out.
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