Holy Week in the Philippines


In the Philippines, Holy Week is a significant religious observance for the country's Catholic majority, the Philippine Independent Church, and most Protestant groups. The Philippines is one of the few majority-Christian countries in Asia. As of 2023, Catholics made up 78.8 percent of the country's population, and the Catholic Church remains one of the country's dominant sociopolitical forces.
The solemn celebration of Holy Week begins on Friday of Sorrows, continues through Palm Sunday, and ends on Easter Sunday, lasting slightly over a week. Many communities observe Spanish-influenced Catholic rituals, such as processions, which have been syncretized with elements of precolonial beliefs. This is evident in some ritual practices not sanctioned by the universal Church and in the many superstitions associated with the occasion.
The days of the Easter Triduum, from Maundy Thursday to Black Saturday—also known as Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday elsewhere—are considered statutory holidays. During this period, many businesses are closed or operate on shorter hours. It is also customary for domestic radio and television stations to go off the air, with some stations instead broadcasting appropriately themed programs, such as religious dramas, films, and presentations of ceremonies and Masses.
Holy Week in the Philippines is also highly anticipated as one of the annual long weekends in the country. Non-Catholics and non-practicing Catholics often take this opportunity to go on vacation, resulting in a peak season in most Philippine tourist destinations.

Palm Sunday

On Palm Sunday, worshipers bear ornately woven palm fronds to church for blessing by the priest before or after the day's Mass. The fronds are often brought home and placed on altars, doors, lintels, or windows in the belief that these can ward off demons and avert both fires and lightning.
Some places hold a procession into the church before the service, a common starting point being an ermita/visita several blocks away. The presiding priest, vested in a stole and cope of red, either walks the route or, in imitation of Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, is led on horseback to the church. Sometimes a statue of Christ riding a donkey is used instead. Women customarily cover the processional route with tapis, which are large, heirloom cloth skirts or aprons made exclusively for this ritual. This recalls the excitement of the Jerusalemites as they spread their cloaks before Christ on his entry to the city.
Once the procession reaches the church or some other designated spot, children dressed as angels strew flowers and sing the day's processional antiphon of praise, "Hosanna sa Anak ni David". The antiphon's text, whether the original Latin or Filipino translation, is sung to traditional hymn tunes.
The blessing of palms and the intonation of the antiphon often occur in the church parvise, church parking lot, or town plaza, which usually is in front of or near the church.

Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday

On Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday, there is a major procession representing the Journey to Calvary. The main figure is the Fallen Christ, accompanied by images of the saints present during Christ's walk to Calvary:
  • St. Peter, holding the heavenly keys
  • St. John the apostle
  • The Three Marys
  • St. Veronica, with her white veil imprinted with Christ's image
  • The Virgin of Sorrows, Christ's mother
In some parts of the country with abundant wood, skilled craftsmen construct life-size wooden images that can move their arms and heads like puppets.
Holy Tuesday is a regular working day; for some private companies, it is the last full workday of the week.

Holy Wednesday

is officially the last working day of the week. Private companies are free to give full or partial holidays to their employees, while government offices implement a half-day suspension starting at noon for their employees. This allows those wishing to celebrate the Triduum to return to their home provinces, and holiday-makers to leave for their destinations. It is one of the country's busiest travel seasons.
In some parishes, Tenebrae service is held on Holy Wednesday, involving the gradual extinguishing of candles on a Tenebrae hearse, readings related to the Passion of Jesus, and the strepitus.
In the evening, long processions depicting the Passion of Christ are held in towns throughout the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Ilocandia, as well as in Makati, Metro Manila.
Except in Baliwag and Pulilan, both in Bulacan, the Passion tableaux are excluded from the Good Friday afternoon procession.

Maundy Thursday

is the first statutory public holiday of the week, marking the beginning of the Paschal Triduum. 'Maundy' is derived from the Latin mandatum, referring to the new mandate Jesus gave his apostles at the Passover meal, held on Thursday that year, when he said: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."
Prior to the Second Vatican Council, the Procession of the Passion of Christ was held on Maundy Thursday. This celebration was later transferred to Holy Wednesday for Latin Church Catholics, however. The Philippine Independent Church retained the Maundy Thursday date. Among the most famous processions of the Philippine Independent Church are those of Concepcion in Malabon, Metro Manila and Santa Cruz and Paete in Laguna.
File:Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula officiates the Chrism Mass at the Manila Cathedral on Maundy Thursday.jpg|thumb|Chrism Mass at the Manila Cathedral in 2023, presided by the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Jose Advincula
The first rite of the day is the Chrism Mass, in which parishioners join their priest for morning Mass in the cathedral, especially in the large dioceses and archdioceses. The clergy renew their priestly vows on this day. This Mass, which is presided over by the bishop or archbishop, is when the chrism and the oil for the sick are consecrated after the homily. After the service, priests bring portions of these oils to their respective parishes and store them for future use. Where logistics and other valid reasons hamper gathering the clergy on this day, however, the Chrism Mass is held earlier in the week—for example, on Holy Tuesday in the Archdiocese of Lipa and the dioceses of Dumaguete and Malolos.
File:Jf2012Saint Monica Parish Church Minalin Washingfvf 07.JPG|thumb|left|Washing of the Feet at Santa Monica Parish Church in Minalin, Pampanga
The day's main observance is the last Mass before Easter: the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper. Though not mandatory, the afternoon service customarily includes a re-enactment of the Washing of the Feet of the Twelve Apostles. The service ends abruptly with a somber procession of the Blessed Sacrament, which is brought to the church's Altar of Repose. Churches remain open until midnight for those who want to venerate the Blessed Sacrament, or go to one of several priests on standby to confess their sins.
File:Catholics venerate the Blessed Sacrament at SVD Quezon City 2022-04-14.jpg|thumb|Pilgrims pray before the Altar of Repose at the Shrine of Jesus the Divine Word in Quezon City as part of the Visita Iglesia
One of the most important Holy Week traditions in the Philippines is the Visita Iglesia, a Holy Week practice of visiting and praying in at least seven churches. Throughout the day, worshipers pray the Stations of the Cross inside or outside the church, while at night, the faithful pay obeisance and perform supplications to the Blessed Sacrament within the altar of repose.
In Antipolo, the Alay Lakad penitential walk is held from Maundy Thursday to Good Friday, in which devotees walk for along Sumulong Highway to the Antipolo Cathedral, with some even walking barefoot. Upon reaching the cathedral, devotees offer a short prayer or make a wish before donating coins or paper bills in front of the altar. In 2024, 7.4 million devotees visited the cathedral during the penitential walk. As of 2025, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antipolo is applying for a Guinness World Record for recognition of its being the "Largest Gathering for a Walking Spiritual Pilgrimage in 12 Hours".

Good Friday

is the second public holiday of the week, and considered the most solemn day of the year. It is observed with street processions; the Way of the Cross; sermons and prayers with meditation on Jesus' Seven Last Words ; and the staging of the Passion Play , which in some places already began on Palm Sunday.
The Baliwag Good Friday procession is the longest Lenten procession in the Philippines. Baliwag, Bulacan, currently has 118 statues and scenes portraying the life of Christ. This activity, well-attended by both local and foreign tourists, follows the main liturgical service of the day.
Mass is not celebrated on this day. Instead, people gather in churches in the afternoon for the Veneration of the Cross service and the Mass of the Presanctified, which is a liturgy in which Eucharistic consecration is not done because the sacramental bread was already consecrated on Maundy Thursday. The altar has previously been stripped of linens and decorations. Nationwide, the veneration service begins silently in unlit churches at 15:00, remembering the "ninth hour" that was the point at which Christ died, according to the Gospels.
File:Trio on crosses.jpg|thumb|San Pedro Cutud Lenten Rites in San Fernando, Pampanga
File:Self-flagellants make their way to Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City on Good Friday.jpg|thumb|Self-flagellants at Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City
In some places—most famously in the province of Pampanga, where the day is known as Maleldo—processions include devotees who flagellate themselves and sometimes even have themselves nailed to crosses, most notably a carpenter who has been crucified 36 times over the years, Ruben Enaje. While the practices are discouraged by the Church and health authorities, they are considered by devotees to be personal expressions of penance, whether in fulfilment of a vow or in thanksgiving for a prayer granted. The San Fernando local government says these reenactments are regarded as a part of the province's and the city's cultural heritage. Reenactments of Christ's crucifixion in the village began in 1958, but the first actual crucifixion took place four years later in 1962.
Other penitents, called magdarame, carry wooden crosses, crawl on the rough and hot pavement, and slash their backs before whipping themselves to draw blood. This is done to ask for forgiveness of sins, to fulfill vows, or to express gratitude for favors granted.
The pabasa, or continuous chanting, of the Pasyón, usually concludes on this day before 15:00. Television and radio stations airing their special Lenten programming also broadcast their own special Siete Palabras programs from large churches in Manila, usually beginning at noon so as to end before the veneration service.