Lenten Activities

but nowadays, Holy Week is being spent or treated as a time for vacation, though there are still a lot of devotees who really know the true meaning of the Lenten Season.

actually in my observation some people only now a days who still do that,pabasa and pasyon are most of the elders and the Visita Iglesia usually done by the youth,and this this thing called one of their sacrifices or fasting during holy week.

There has been "pabasa" here in our place. It went for two days, during night time. I did not participate in that. I did not do the visita Iglesia as well. But my mother and I attended the procession this afternoon in our church. I think we walked for more than 3 kilometers. It was tiring but it was a fulfilling experience.

I think we inherit that tradition from Spanish, so for sure they also practice that tradition in there and some more countries that Spanish have also influenced.

some people do the traditional way, and im missing that.. because here in our place i can't even hear the voice singin of pasyon i wonder what happened to people here, unlike when i was younger i heard them singing loud and graceful.. maybe in some other places does, but here _

Yes Catholics, besides Filipinos do this. The passion of Christ, or in your words Pasyon, is actually Good Friday Service from 12pm-4pm. Some churches do gregorian chant. The station of the crosses can be walked at any church any day of the week during holy week. The churches are specially opened for this.

Those are tradition from our people and I know that Mexicans have similar tradition but am not sure if it is exactly like what we do during holy week. besides, i think prayer and talking to the lord is enough. before i used to hurried myself to the church or confession, in the long run i ended up doing the sins again. besides, i can't do that much sacrifice like they do, younger generation does it for raps

I wonder about that too. Anyway, I like our culture with regards to these things even though some criticize it. There was a Pabasa ongoing in our street last Wednesday and I admire those people who really sacrificed their time singing until the wee hours of the morning.

Our catholic traditions are similar to the rituals in Spain and in other South American countries which are sometimes mixed with folk religiousity and even pagan practices. Catholics in America are more liberal and do not commonly practice these traditions. Maybe 'Visita Iglesia' could be an exception. Even my immediate family who are catholics don't even follow the tradition strictly like abstaining from eating pork and not taking a bath on Good Friday. We just had a sumptuous meal this lunchtime with squid rings and...pork sausages. It's not really being insensitive to the teachings of the Catholic church. But I think a lot of the catholic faithful do read their bibles and can separate observance of certain traditions from having a deeper personal relationship with God.