Philippines, being a predominantly Catholic country, celebrates Holy week, locally known as Semana Santa or Mahal na Araw, as one of its most important festivities.
The week starts with Palm Sunday wherein reenactments of Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem are present in almost all Churches celebrating the Holy Mass. Continuous chanting of prayers of Jesus’ life called Pabasa occurs from Holy Monday to Holy Wednesday. Maundy Thursday involves Church visits or Visita Iglesia while Good Friday is commemorated with street processions. Black Saturday should be observed with solemnity but ironically, this also happens to be the best time of the year for family reunions and outings. The week ends at Easter Sunday with a ceremony called Salubong featuring kids dressed as angels who are lifted up into mid-air.
We wonder if the tattoo was done as a form of penitensya, another peculiar activity by the Filipinos during Holy Week.
(for PinoyTattoos.com)
Considered as the first international treaty, Spaniard Miguel Lopez de Legazpi entered into a pact called Sandugo with Bohol chieftain Datu Sikatuna ensuring friendly relations with the Filipinos on March of 1565. Sandugo or blood compact is a Visayan term which fuses the words isang and dugo meaning one blood.
