Fulfilling a spiritual tradition

CEBU, Philippines - Today, the official start of Holy Week, a number of families and devotees from different parts of the province arrived in Cebu City in time for Palm Sunday.

Some of these devotees are palm vendors. However, these vendors have set aside the idea that their trip is to earn money, but is their way of showing their devotion to Jesus Christ.

Belia Tante, 55, from Kalignan, Carcar City in the south, told The Freeman that her selling palm does not give her financial gain but more of spiritual.

“My parents taught me how to make palms for Palm Sunday. It has been passed for several generations. I have also taught my children and grandchildren. This is more of a devotion because we don’t earn much. We get these for P3 each. We weave this and sell each for P5. Later on Sunday, the price drops to P3 or P1 just so that everything is sold and that we can go home,” Tante said.

She was with her daughter and grandchildren on the covered walk of the University of San Jose-Recoletos fronting Freedom Park in Carbon market area where they have been sleeping since Friday afternoon when they arrived.

They only have with them food and some personal items. “We sleep on the floor. It’s cold but we are taking it because it is better here than in our previous one in Sto. Rosario Church. We don’t get soaked when it rains here,” she said.

Aside from neighbors from Carcar, she also noted vendors from other southern towns like Dumanjug, San Fernando, among others.

Palm Sunday is the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem, where he was captured by Roman soldiers, tried, crucified, and resurrected.

Christians and Catholics, in particular, carry palms based on the Gospel where Jesus’ followers covered the path he took as done for respected and high-ranking persons.

The palm, for ancient Greco-Roman period, is a sign of victory so waving the palms represents a victorious procession.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma will lead the Palm Sunday mass on the second and last day of the Local World Youth Day at the University of Southern Philippines Foundation. —ATO (FREEMAN)