Holy Week is a time for facing 'Judgment Day'

As Holy Week reaches its climax starting with Maundy Thursday, we try to recall how the only Catholic nation in Asia has observed the religious holiday on television. There have been classic movies replayed like the ubiquitous Marcelino Pan Y Vino, The Ten Commandments, Song of Bernadette, even the controversial Last Temptation of Christ and The Da Vinci Code. We miss Eat, Bulaga’s Lenten dramas that were meticulously written and directed. They helped the viewers who were not carousing in some crowded beach to muse on what the future had in store for mankind.

But even more than old movies, we find ourselves looking into the documentaries, portent of a Doomsday hovering above us, a Wrath of God, the End of the World.       

Ang Katapusan from TV5 News & Public Affairs aims to explain the facts behind the Nicene Creed that foretells the so-called “Judgement Day.” Luchi Cruz-Valdes, News5 chief correspondent, travels to Israel to investigate these Doomsday theories, discussing with Joel Rosenberg, New York Times best-selling author of Epicenter, his discoveries based on Biblical research. Ang Katapusan, airs 9 to 10:30 p.m. simultaneously on TV5 and news channel Aksyon TV, Good Friday (April 6).  

On the same vein, ABS-CBN airs Maundy Thursday and Good Friday two documentaries shot in Israel, led by Manila Archbishop Chito Tagle, and produced by Jesuit Communications Foundation. Sa Mga Yapak Ni Hesus has Filipino pilgrims brought by Tagle to a deeper understanding of the triumph and joy of the risen Christ. Narration by Cheche Lazaro, airing tomorrow, 12 noon. Ang Makabagong Disipulo is Archbishop Tagle’s personal journey, on his first pilgrimage to the Holy land prior to his installation. Hosted by ABS-CBN News’ Bernadette Sembrano-Aguinaldo, it airs Good Friday, 5 p.m.

Not to be left out, GMA News & Public Affairs in its Semana Santa 2012 coverage pledges up-to-the minute reports from GMA Flash Report. The leading all-news channel GMA News TV and DZBB radio will be on extra alert. Share photos and videos through www.twitter.com/gmanews, with the hashtag #Holyweek2012.

Tony Adriano’s Maundy Thursday Altar of Repose

Ermita altar draws crowds every Maundy Thursday

Religious traditions never die. One of the longest lasting is that of the Maundy Thursday Visita Iglesia at the Ermita Church where crowds mill to witness the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament from the main altar to the Altar of Repose where it stays until Good Friday. Tasked with furnishing a new altar yearly for almost three decades is interior designer/religious furniture maker Tony Adriano who inherited the responsibility from his grandfather.

“I make sure I don’t repeat my design. This year’s design will give the Altar of Repose elegance amidst very liturgical meanings, with an environmental message,” Adriano explains, adding that it will sit on a garden setting of plants and flowers. In the past, his altars have had Baroque, Corinthian styling, gold leaf sidings, pedestals and arches. The Ermita Church is also famous for being the home of the miraculous Nuestra Señora de Guia, oldest statue of the Virgin Mary in the country, washed ashore and discovered by a Spanish soldier on May 19, 1571. Adriano has long been recamador or caretaker of the Virgin.

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