2014 Penitensya
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My finale documentation of my trip to the Philippines was highlighted with this tradition during Holy Week. We call it "Penitensya". I was very lucky to witness this event in my ancestral province of Binan, Laguna. Many may not agree with this act of penance but the locals have accepted to be part of their tradition.
In the Philippines, penitents have enacted a much greater mortification on Good Friday since the Spanish era -- flagellation.
Flagellation (penitensya in Filipino) is an extreme act of mortification in which the penitent scourges himself by whipping his own flesh. This art of mortifying was popularized in the Catholic Church during the 13th and 14th centuries by radicals in the Catholic Church. It began as a militant pilgrimage which the Catholic Church later considered as heretical. The Flagellation refers in a Christian context to the Flagellation of Christ, an episode in the Passion of Christ prior to the Jesus' crucifixion. The practice of mortification of the flesh for religious purposes was utilized by some Christians throughout most of Christian history, especially in Catholic monasteries and convents. and was later condemned by the
Despite the condemnation of flagellation by the Catholic church, many of its devout still practice this extreme form of self mortification every Good Friday in various countries with a dominant Catholic population. As in the Philippines, flagellants - hooded, half-naked men under the unforgiving summer sun - first cut their backs with a blade or knife then begin whipping their backs with bamboo-tipped burillos or with whips embedded with thorns and glass shards as the blood flows out of their wounds.
Flagellation (from Latin flagellare, to whip) was not an uncommon practice amongst the more fervently religious. As well as flagellation, the rituals were built around processions, hymns, distinct gestures, uniforms, and discipline. It was also said that when singing a hymn and upon reaching the part about the passion of the Christ, one must drop to the ground, no matter how dirty or painful the area may seem.
Taken on Good Friday, 4-20-2014.
Read MoreMy finale documentation of my trip to the Philippines was highlighted with this tradition during Holy Week. We call it "Penitensya". I was very lucky to witness this event in my ancestral province of Binan, Laguna. Many may not agree with this act of penance but the locals have accepted to be part of their tradition.
In the Philippines, penitents have enacted a much greater mortification on Good Friday since the Spanish era -- flagellation.
Flagellation (penitensya in Filipino) is an extreme act of mortification in which the penitent scourges himself by whipping his own flesh. This art of mortifying was popularized in the Catholic Church during the 13th and 14th centuries by radicals in the Catholic Church. It began as a militant pilgrimage which the Catholic Church later considered as heretical. The Flagellation refers in a Christian context to the Flagellation of Christ, an episode in the Passion of Christ prior to the Jesus' crucifixion. The practice of mortification of the flesh for religious purposes was utilized by some Christians throughout most of Christian history, especially in Catholic monasteries and convents. and was later condemned by the
Despite the condemnation of flagellation by the Catholic church, many of its devout still practice this extreme form of self mortification every Good Friday in various countries with a dominant Catholic population. As in the Philippines, flagellants - hooded, half-naked men under the unforgiving summer sun - first cut their backs with a blade or knife then begin whipping their backs with bamboo-tipped burillos or with whips embedded with thorns and glass shards as the blood flows out of their wounds.
Flagellation (from Latin flagellare, to whip) was not an uncommon practice amongst the more fervently religious. As well as flagellation, the rituals were built around processions, hymns, distinct gestures, uniforms, and discipline. It was also said that when singing a hymn and upon reaching the part about the passion of the Christ, one must drop to the ground, no matter how dirty or painful the area may seem.
Taken on Good Friday, 4-20-2014.
