Visita Iglesia, Pabasa, Sinakulo: Holy Week Traditions That You Need Not Travel Far For

A lot of families are using the Holy Week break to finally go on a trip more than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020. But if yours is not one of the vacationers, you can still have an enjoyable respite and also a meaningful Semana Santa without traveling far or leaving your neighborhood.

Go on a visita iglesia in your city or town

Visita iglesia means visiting at least seven churches normally on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. It is one of the most popular sacred vows, or panata, of Pinoy Catholics that also doubles as a tour of some of the best known churches in the country.

You and your family can do it around your city or town, and you may be surprised with what you'll discover in other barangays. This is a good way to talk to your children about your city or town, and also your experiences growing up or from the time you moved to the area.

First, make a list of the seven or more churches you'll visit. You can start with the nearest to your house and then to the ones you've been to or heard of. You can verify the location with a little online search, which usually results to a link to the church's Facebook page.

Next, plan your visit and make the necessary arrangements, including your baon as business establishments are usually closed on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Take note also of the modes of transportation available on those days, if you'll commute.

When you've started the visita iglesia, keep in mind to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament or of a row of the Stations of the Cross in each church you visit. There's a belief among devotees that prayers are granted after completing their panata.

If you opt not to travel outside your barangay, you can try instead going on a via crucis, or way of the cross. Your local chapel or parish church designates spots for each one of the Stations of the Cross, and you can check out all of them while reliving Christ's last moments.

Participate in a pabasa in your neighborhood

Pabasa is the nonstop reading or chanting of the Pasyon, a narrative book that tells the life story of Jesus Christ. It lasts for a full 24 hours or more, depending on the pace of the readers or chanters, but it should end by Good Friday. It's supposed to be a form of meditation and expression of faith to God, as well as a communal activity.

Some families make it their panata to host a pabasa, so there's at least one reading in a barangay. After the reading, they usually serve lugaw and other refreshments as a gesture of thanks and camaraderie.

Watch the sinakulo

Sinakulo is also spelled as senakulo or cenaculo, the Spanish word for cenacle that pertains to the main room where Jesus Christ and His disciplines had the Last Supper. It dramatizes the life and Passion of Christ either onstage on in the streets.

In many parts of Cainta municipality in Rizal, residents dress up as characters in the passion play even if they're not part of the street play. So if you fancy dressing up as a discipline or centurion, and you're near the area, why not heading to this suburb.

Attend the salubong

Salubong is the anticipation of Christ's resurrection as the culmination of the Lenten Season. The ritual starts early in the morning at the parish church and ends in preparation for the Easter Sunday Mass.

Read here on how to explain the significance of Holy Week to young kids and here for the Pinoy pamahiin during Semana Santa.