While Fr. James Balajadia celebrates the Easter Mass at the summit of Mt. Tapochau with hundreds of parishioners on attendance from all over the island, another large crowd gathered outside San Antonio Church accompanying the processions of large images of the Resurrected Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows who were coming from opposite sides of the street. For the Filipinos, this is called the “Salubong”.
The traditional “Salubong” (Tagalog word for Encounter) has been celebrated for years now in San Antonio Parish and is one of the popular Filipino tradition during Easter Sunday marking the end of the Holy Week. As per tradition, the Salubong began with two separate processions before dawn, where images of the Mater Dolorosa and the Resurrected Christ were carried from opposite ends and meets at a designated place where children dressed as ‘angels’ wait. Eventually, the two processions met at the front of the Church, during which an “angel” played by a young girl lifted the black veil from the face of the image of the Blessed Mother. At the moment the veil was lifted, the Hallelujah Chorus was played, and celebration ensued. The Easter morning mass followed in the church.
This year in San Antonio, there were about 15-20 ‘angels’ who welcomed the Resurrected Christ and the Mater Dolorosa. Mrs. Vilma Travilla who is one of the organizers in San Antonio, chose them from among CCD students and other parishioners.
“I am very pleased with the outcome of our annual Salubong because of the large number of attendees we have”, says Fr. Romil Aperocho who is the Pastor of San Antonio. He continued this Easter tradition since he came to the parish.
The annual Salubong coincides with the Easter morning Mass at Mt. Tapochau which is the most popular tradition in the island on Easter Sunday. For years now, hundreds of people would brave the early morning hike before dawn to attend the Solemn Mass and greet the Easter sunrise. Some of them even camped out the previous night.
In his homily, Fr. James explained how like Jesus we have crosses and sometimes we go through rain and storms of our life; it is not easy to be a Catholic but with Christ there is resurrection, there is a great promise of eternal life.
The Salubong provides an opportunity for those who are not able to climbed Mt. Tapochau for one reason or another to celebrate Easter Sunday and greet the morning of the Resurrection. For many Filipinos, it is a unique way of reconnecting with their traditional Christian roots just as for the people of Saipan, the Mt. Tapochau experience is already part of Holy Week and Easter tradition. These two traditions shows the diversity and the richness of the Christian faith of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa.
