Good Friday in Baliuag, Bulacan

A couple of years back─about twenty years exact─I never imagined that I will be spending the Holy Week somewhere far from Valladolid, as three generations of family tradition dictate our responsibility to manage the Santo Entierro for procession every Good Friday. For as long as I could remember, it was a solemn time to be with family, wherein select members would devoutly pitch in, from the preparations of the bathing the wooden statue of the dead Christ, to stitching his garments, to selecting the perfume that will be used to wipe his feet after every kiss of the faithful, to buying the flowers that will be used for the carroza, down to preparing the meals for those who will be taking part the tradition throughout the night. It's our family's "panata" or sacred promise started by my great grandfather, to take part in the town's Good Friday procession every year and be the one responsible in taking care of the Santo Entierro. We are only one family of so many throughout the country doing this year after year.

And every Black Saturday back then, I would see in the news featuring the procession of Baliuag, and it was only last year when I saw the scale of their carrozas that made me realize how minute ours was in comparison. The town seemed both quiet and festive at the same time with the arrays of grandiose carrozas lining in the streets, each beautifully prepared for the processional rites. For the first time, I was there to witness what was being showed on TV for the longest time. Some larger-than-life-sized statues don intricately designed clothing, and it overwhelmed me to know that there were over a hundred carrozas that will be paraded for the procession, with numbers going up every year. 

I took a lot of photos, but I'll only be showing a quarter of the lot because some were blurred...and I wouldn't want to upload a hundred photos for this post. 

This is after the veneration and 7 last words, wherein the body of the dead
Christ is brought down from the cross to be placed in the carroza for the procession.

This is the scene where Jesus prayed at the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve
of his arrest, and found his apostles sleeping when he came back from his agony.

The trial of Jesus in court with Pontius Pilate.

The scene where Mary Magdalene wiped the feet of Christ with perfume.

The scene where Peter cut the ear of the Roman soldier and Jesus healed in back.

The mourning of the dead Christ after he was brought down from the cross.

Christ's body is being brought down from the cross.

Right before the procession started, carrozas already line the street in sequence.

This is to give scale of how large the icons are.

You can opt to go Baliuag via bus on a Good Friday, but do take note that bus operations stop late in the afternoon...something that we only realized when we were there...forcing us to look for and stay in a motel for the night. We were luck there was a room available that day, because there aren't many places where you could stay there. We stayed in Baliuag Dormitory, a green painted building that's right beside the Baliwag Bus terminal, and is in walking distance of the San Augustine Parish, where the procession is centered. We spent around P1200 for an air-conditioned room for three. It wasn't anything fancy, with the bed creaking at every turn, but that's what we got. 

Here are quick notes if you plan to go see the procession in Baliuag:

*It's about two hours away from Manila.

*There aren't many places to go there, and sit-in restaurants to dine in.

*There are fast food chains though: Jollibee, McDo, Greenwich...there's also 7-Eleven and other shops that are open on a Good Friday.

*There are food stalls right beside the church where you can eat good street food, especially the barbecues.

*A lot of people will go there, quite crowded, but not as scary-crowded as you might think, unlike MRT-rush hour levels. 

*THEY SUSPEND BUSES ON GOOD FRIDAY AFTERNOON, and resume operations on Black Sunday morning.

*There's a bus line that goes directly from Cubao to Baliuag, it's the Baliwag Liner, but it's not the final stop...you will have to tell the guy to drop you off that the Baliuag stop.

*The church you'll want to go is San Augustine Parish.

*Some roads will be closed off due to the procession.

*The procession will start after the Seven Last Words rites, which is probably around 4pm, due to the preparation. 

*The procession will take several hours to finish with over a hundred carrozas in the procession. I remember it was already four hours after it began and they were still making the rounds.

*Commute is not that easy in Baliuag, so we stayed in the center the whole time.

*You can do the du-aw or visit the Santo Entierro to pray and kiss the feet of the dead Christ after the procession, which usually ends around past midnight, depending on the crowd. 

*Tradition has it that the blessed flowers adorned around the Santo Entierro brings good luck if you take it home.

Jesus falls down from the weight of carrying his cross up Calvary.

Jesus accepting his passion on the cross.

One of the landmarks of Baliuag is the clock tower near the church.

Left: Jesus speaks to Mary and John while dying on the cross.
Right: Jesus speaks to his women disciples.

The Wedding at Canaan. Where he performed his first miracle of turning the
jugs of water into wine as requested by Mary, his mother.

The apostles seeing Jesus walk on water during a storm at the sea of Galilee.

Jesus performing miracles.

Zacchaeus climbed up a sycamore fig tree to get a glimpse of Jesus.

Jesus imprisoned after the trial with his hand bind and eyes covered.

Jesus goes into trial with the crowd.

Another scene of his trial. Goes to show how large the carrozas get.

Jesus is being beaten to get up after he fell down from carrying the cross. 

One of the most adorned carrozas in Baliuag, with costumes changing every year.

Christ's loved ones mourn over his dead body.

One of the glitziest carrozas in the lot. 

The Dolorosa is a depiction of the mother Mary in black, mourning for Jesus.
It is often the last carroza in the procession, and  also has her own procession
every Black Saturday.  

At the end of the day, if you have the opportunity to try and witness this religious spectacle in Baliuag, you should.