Traditional pabasa a dying passion?

MANILA, Philippines - The Pabasa ng Pasyon or chanting of the Passion of Jesus Christ may be a dying tradition, replaced with pilgrimages to Catholic churches by the Filipino faithful during Holy Week.

Emeritus Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said he had noticed a change in the Holy Week tradition in recent years.

“Maybe in the cities like Manila, Cebu and others, there are some traditions that instead of weakening are being replaced. There are more pilgrimages going on nowadays compared to before,” he said.

Rosales said fewer people are doing the pasyon and more are visiting churches.

“Along highways you see jeepneys and buses – there are signs that a certain parish is on a pilgrimage,” he said.

Rosales said the pasyon appears to be dying in some parts of the country.

“The parents, the elders in their community, failed to pass on the tradition to the younger generation,” he said.

Rosales said when he was Archbishop of Manila in 2011, he often had difficulty getting out of the Arzobizpado de Manila during Holy Thursday because many Catholics go to the Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church for the Visita Iglesia.

“I have never seen a crowd like that,” he said.

“It took us half an hour just to go from the Archdiocese of Manila to Plaza Roma (fronting the cathedral). The size of the crowd was much bigger than the crowd who gathered for the wake of the former President Corazon Aquino.”

Pasyon in Braille

In Bicol, blind people reciting the passion of Christ in the Bikol language through Braille and a priest portraying Jesus in a Senakulo or Lenten play are this year’s highlights of Holy Week.

Antonio Reyes, Legazpi City tourism officer, said at least 45 blind people belonging to VIVA (Visually Impaired Voices of Albay) would be reciting the passion of Christ for the first time in Bikol through Braille.

It will be done at the Peñaranda Park in Old Albay District in Legazpi City for 24 hours from 9 a.m. of Holy Thursday to 9 a.m. of Good Friday, he added.

Mayor Noel Rosal said the event is expected to draw tourists to Legazpi City.

“The city government is giving all out support to this event as this religious activity both affirms our being devout Catholics and adds tourism attraction to our city,” he said.

The blind people, mostly masseurs, have been propagating the Catholic faith through passion reciting every Holy Week, Rosal said.

Event coordinator Jeff Cuella, a VIVA member and also a blind masseur, said 10 to 15 of their members will be reciting the passion of Christ one at a time in alternating sequences for 24 hours.

The National Library of the Philippines commissioned the translation of the centuries-old religious narrative, he added.

Cuella said VIVA was able to produce through donations at least 10 copies of the Bicol Braille version to be recited for the first time on Holy Thursday.

They hope to instill in Catholic Bicolanos, especially the younger generation, of the importance of the socio-cultural practice through the activity, he added.

The Legazpi City tourism office sponsored this year’s event.

Fr. Rex Palayan, parish priest of the Black Nazarene Church in Calabanga town, Camarines Sur, will portray Christ in the Senakulo at the Amang Hinulid place in Calabanga town on Good Friday. – With Cet Dematera, Ric Sapnu