The (Holy) Week That Was

"Saan ka mag ho-Holy Week?" That's always asked come Monday before Holy Wednesday. And by then, a lot of people have already booked their trips to the beach or abroad. I can't blame them -- next to Christmas, this is the chance one can get off work for a long time.

"Dito lang sa Manila." That's always my answer. Aside from the fact that Manila is so quiet and peaceful during this time of year, I try to keep the week to what it truly is -- Holy.

And this is what I did:

Maundy Thursday

Did the Visit Iglesia with friends. A very unlikely group I must say -- of course there's my hubby - who's ever so quiet and conservative, then there's Lilit - who's forever irreverent, then there's Chari - who's forever the little girl who just laughs at everyone's jokes and antics, and of course there's me - who's...never mind...you know how I am. But we all had fun hopping from one church to another, taking pictures in each stop. Check out Lilit's phlog for the, er, photos.

Good Friday

Did our annual Via Crucis in our parish (Mary Help of Christians). It's our family's tradition to go around a block or 2, going from house to house as we go through the 14 stations. It takes about 2 hours to finish all stations, under the scorching heat, but it gives me a sense of repentance and forgiveness.

Black Saturday

Spent some quiet time with my husband. Since we're both working now, we hardly spend some alone, quality time together. So, this was a perfect opportunity to (again) feel that we are married and not just room mates.

Easter Sunday
Yet another tradition of my family is to go to the Easter Vigil mass and the Salubong (sorry, couldn't find a better website that describes this). Going through the 3-hour event, gives you a better understanding of what Easter is really like and makes you feel the spirit of Easter so much more (but I still like the Christmas spirit better). Of course, Easter Sunday is also a day when families (and relatives) get-together, so we had lunch with mine and dinner with my husband's (missed the egg-hunt in my best friend's house because we fell asleep, tsk!).

The new Pascal candle

Bonfire

"Salubong" (I swear, I need a better camera)

Oh, but don't think that all I did was pray and tried being a Saint. You should know that The Pen was our 15th station (you must have seen it in Lilit's phlog by now), visited 2 families who had the unfortunate event of losing a loved one during this time, strained my eyes playing Tomb Raider and Incredibles 2 (battling over the PS2 with my husband who's playing Ultimate Spiderman), did a couple of laps in the pool, watched the marathon of Seventh Heaven, etc. After all, I'm just human, you know.

And that's how my Holy Week went. Happy Easter to you all and I hope you were able to contemplate on life and got your much needed rest like I did. Now, back to the grind.