CamSur

Sunday, April 7, 2013

The Naga City’s Grand Holy Friday Procession

The Naga City’s Grand Holy Friday Procession
Mary Magdalene, the Supermodel
Virgin Mary, the Victorian Countess 
(Bicol Cuaresma Series 5)

There is nothing grander than
the holy week procession in Naga City
that we get to witness every year,



...and we, Naguenos are treated to the pomp
and pageantry of  beautiful larger than life
images of saints dressed ostentatiously
and paraded in colorful carozzas.



My wife always look forward on seeing
her favorite Saint- Mary Magdalene, whom she finds
as always elegantly decorated with fresh flower topiaries,
and daintily dressed with beautiful exquisite flowing clothes
of the finest silk and  delicate European laces.



She is mysteriously lighted with real candles
on her carroza, instead of usual electric lamps
that adds to her allure and  mystery - making you 
see less  of her and leaves you wanting to see 
more of her candle lit indistinctness.


I would tease her that the image is Naga Cathedral’s
version of Mary Magdalene as a super model.


My personal favorite is the Soledad.


The grandness of her carroza stuns me.
She has an imposing larger than life figure
and she’s always dressed like a Victorian royalty.


I have always wondered if Mary, the Mother of God
would ever dress herself like a countess?



Whenever I watch the Naga Holy Week procession,
I always classify the images to 3 groups,

The first group are  white faced antique images 
which have been a regular fare for a long very time.

.



These are life sized white faced images
but lot smaller compared to the newer Saints.






…which I suspect are made of ivory
and are centuries old as they have been a part
of the procession even when I was still a young boy.





The beautiful Mater Dolorosa, the very last image
in the procession, belongs to this group-

 


...and so was the Santo Entierro.



The second group are what I call the recent regulars,
a newer generation of beautiful images that joined 
the procession in the  mid to late 1990’s.


 

These are larger than life images-
beautifully decorated and well designed carrozas




Most of the images in this group depicts
the stations of the cross at the
Passion of the Christ. 



The third group is the grandiosely huge images
elaborately dressed with the best  and lavish
fashion of Renaissance and Victorian eras.



They had imposing facades,
and superbly decorated carrozas.





 



These newer images appeared in the 2000’s
and had added color, splendor and pomposity,






...to the present line up of Naga City’s
Good Friday procession-







...and makes the yearly procession worth waiting for 
until the next holy week celebration.
  

Watch out for my  Bicol Cuaresma Blogs 

CamSur to Albay via Sangay- Joroan Road Trip
 Scenic Pilgrim Road
 (Bicol Cuaresma Series 1) 

Graceland Goa
(Bicol Cuaresma Series 4)

Mang Inasal Plaza Quezon
(Bicol Cuaresma Series 6)
 
Holy Week Recipe Sharing
(Bicol Cuaresma Series 7) 

7 comments:

  1. Who is the Saint dressed like a nun, carrying a linen?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Virgen del Socorro

      Delete
    2. Is this Saint (Virgen del Socorro) inlcuded from Wed to Sunday procession?

      Delete
    3. I'm not aware of any Wednesday and Sunday processions in Naga.

      I'm sure of the Friday though

      Delete
    4. Thanks for responding Sir Ramon. We are actually here in cam sur as well, our family is searching nearby cities/municipalities for female saints included in Holy Week procession because next year we are planning to have one on our own although we are still stuck in finding a female saint. Please let me know if you know any female saint that might be up for us here in rinconada. We really wanted a female one so I am rooting for "Virgen del Socorro". I will ask our parish priest if we can include her also here.

      Delete
  2. Hi? Just facinated with this blog recently. Would it be alright if you name all the female saints that are included from Wednesday procession up to Easter Sunday? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete