Flores de Mayo or Flores de Maria
is a Philippine wide Catholic festivity celebrated during the month of May. It
is a celebration in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a CONTINUING tradition
despite the radical changes in cultural and religious orientation of the new
age.
In the Philippines, the month of
May is considered to be the most flowery and the most fruitful month of the
year… the scent of fragrant flowers fills the air and the sight of trees
embellished with fruits is distinctive as the rains start to pour. Flowers and
fruits are abundant anywhere in the Philippines and therefore are used as
offertories during thanksgiving rites.
Flores de Mayo is said to have
been introduced by the Spaniards to the Philippines and is believed to have
started after the Vatican proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in
1854. This may also have been extracted
from the publication circa 1867 of Mariano Seville’s translation of the
devotional Flores de Maria where flowers are offered to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Nationwide the festivity is called Flores de Mayo which means Flowers of May
and is also known to many as Flores de Maria which means Flowers of Mary.
For the entire month of May each
day is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Children dressed as angels with
basket full of petals and cut flowers march down the center aisle of the church
or chapel, offering the flowers to the image of the Blessed Virgin. Followed by
the devotees old and young alike with hands holding cut banana trunk decorated
with wild flowers gently attached to a “tukog” coconut leaflet’s bone or stick
pierced around it. Hymns to the Virgin Mary are sung throughout the offering
while novena prayers are said before the floral offering.
Prayers, Praises, Devotion,
Faith, and Thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin Mary are few reasons for the
observance of Flores de Mayo. Highlighted with different religious activities
makes the celebration more meaningful and more festive which certainly will
leave a mark in your heart. Santa Cruzan is one of the activities and is
celebrated in honor of St. Helena who discovered the relics of the True Cross
or the Holy Cross. Queen Helena was THE MOTHER of Roman Emperor Constantine the
Great who embraced Christianity which ceases the persecution of the Christians
in the Roman Empire. Constantine regarded himself as Emperor of the Christian
people and is revered as a Saint for his EXAMPLE as a "Christian
monarch."
There are many versions how St.
Helena found and discovered the True Cross or Holy Cross, but this one seems
interesting, as follows: Some 300 years
after the death of Jesus Christ at the Cavalry, Queen Helena found 3 crosses
and asked 3 of her sick servants to each choose and touch only one cross. THE
CROSS that healed her servant miraculously was believed to be the same cross
where Jesus Christ died.
In the Parish of Catmon, Cebu,
the Santa Cruzan is the culminating activity of the Flores de Mayo which is
originally held every 31st of May. The Santa Cruzan is celebrated starting with
a Novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary within a Holy Mass. Before going to Church,
all participants, the little angels, flower letter bearers, kids with FLOWER
BOUQUET will all lined up in the street fronting the current Hermano-Hermana
Mayor residence, then off to Church for the Novena and Holy Mass. The walk is
headed by the letter bearers of the angelic salutation "AVE MARIA", a
girl or a LADY WEARING a long white dress and a white veil.
After the Mass, Hermano-Hermana
Mayor for the next year’s celebration will then be determined through luck.
Candidates will pick one rolled paper from among the many, all are unmarked
except for one for the lucky one. Then, parade will follow going to the current
Hermano-Hermana Mayor’s residence for salo-salo or lunch. The parade is
featured with dancing, singing, and laughing accompanied by the jolly beat of a
local brass band.
Games and Fluvial Parade
(Biray-biray) will follow after the feasting (salo-salo). The games will wind
up late afternoon, while the Flores de Mayo Youth Organization “FYO” Officers
and Members are busy preparing the community plaza stage for the Santa Cruzan
IN THE EVENING. Procession will commence
the activity later on the day and is joined in by town belles in ornate gowns
like queens portraying various biblical and historical characters and their
handsome escorts under the hand-carried bamboo arches adorned with fragrant
native flowers. It is a procession of live biblical characters, headed by St.
Helena and her son St. Constantine the Great holding the Holy Cross.
Each Biblical Characters will be
presented at the town plaza and will walk from the entrance gate and into the
stage accompanied by customary music and their life’s narrative piece. The
evening event is simply called SANTA CRUZAN. After the event, the floor of the
plaza will be opened to all disco lovers… dancing, dancing, and more dancing.
