MAY FESTIVAL IN THE PHILIPPINES

May is the merriest and the most beautiful month of the year. It is the season of colorful festivals and Flores de Mayo or Santacruzan is one such festival. During the month of May, the fragrance of flowers floats in the air. Pagpatak ng ulan, humahalimuyak na ang amoy ng ibat-ibang uri ng mga bulaklak. The Filipinos don’t need to stop to smell the flowers. The fragrance of sampaguitas (Philippines’ National Flower), kalachuchis, roses and other blooms, floats in the air. When the rains begin to pour after a long dry spell, flowers magically bloom overnight. And being predominantly Catholic, the Filipinos celebrate the beneficial rains by giving praise to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The townsfolk gather the colorful flowers to decorate the Parish Church altars and aisles. They bundle the blooms in exotic arrangements for the many different festivities all together referred to as the “Flores de Mayo” (Flowers of May).

Flores de Mayo History

Flores de Mayo is celebrated in the month of May in tribute to the Virgin Mary. The Santacruzan was a novena procession remembering St. Helena’s mythical finding of the cross. St. Helena was the mother of Constantine the Great. According to legends, 300 years after the death of Christ, at the age of 75, she went to Calvary to conduct a search for the Cross. After some archeological diggings at the site of the Crucifixion, she unearthed three crosses. She tested each one by making a sick servant lie on all three. The cross where the servant recovered was identified as Christ’s. St. Helena’s feast day falls on August 8 but the anniversary of the finding of the Cross is on May 3^rd, in the Philippines, this celebration took the form of the Mexican Santa Cruz de Mayo.

Nine days of prayer (a novena) in respect of the Holy Cross lead the Flores de Mayo or Santacruzan. This festival was introduced by the Spaniards in the Philippines and has since become part of Filipino traditions recognized with youth, love, and romance.

Over the years, this flower festival has lost its true fragrance, if not its spirit. In Spanish times, daughters of the wealthy were chosen by the parish cura to serve as hermanas. As sponsor or hermana mayor, they were responsible for planning the festival and for decorating Mary’s caroza and the church in preparation for the nine-day novena that precedes the big procession. They were also responsible for shouldering the various expenses associated with the festival.

The big procession is really a grandiose affair. In socially-conscious Philippines, this is called the “pabongga,” the height of ostentation. Sagalas handpicked for their wealth and beauty by the hermanas are dressed to kill, so to speak. After all, it is the hermanas reputation as sponsor of the festival that is at stake. Elegantly dressed and coiffed, these ladies adorn the procession. Not to be outdone however, the hermanas themselves come last, dressed in ternos to end all ternos, fanning themselves and smiling piously at every stop at the whole admiring, gawking town.

The Pabitin

Isang kaugalian na lubos kong kinagigiliwan ay ang “Pabitin.” After the procession, there is a pabitin that serves as a culminating activity for all the children and adults to enjoy. Pabitin is a square trellis where goodies (candies, fruits like pina and buko, etc.) are hung by strings. This trellis in turn is tied to a rope and is suspended on a strong branch or pole. The children and adults gather under the trellis and they jump as high as they can to try to pick the goodies as the trellis gets lowered to them while someone pulls it up and down until the goodies are gone. Usually they have separate pabitins for the children and the adults.

Kabayan, sana inyong naibigan ang aking sinaysay tungkol sa ating mga kaugalian ngayong buwan ng Mayo. Hala magempake na ng gamit at umuwi sa Pilipinas para muling pagbalikan ang alaala ng Santacruzan at Flores de Mayo. Magandang araw sa inyong lahat!