PROCESSION: A RELIGIOUS CEREMONY HELD FOR THE FESTIVAL

Hello, my fellow bloggers! Have you also witnessed this kind of ceremony during the fiesta at your place? If you're curious, feel free to read this if you want to know how and why we do this kind of event.

Once again, I am Tulip, hoping that you'll have a wonderful day ahead! Let's start, shall we?

At 5 p.m., the bell in the chapel rang. A sign that the mass is about to start. My father called us to inform me and my sister that we should get ready so that we could go to the chapel before the priest arrived.

On our way there

Attending the mass before participating in a procession is a must. But let me ask you: do you know what procession means? It is where we lined up in an orderly manner and walked around the community, more like a parade but a formal one. It is a sign or a thing for the Catholics to do during the fiesta in their places. It is done in a formal way because it is part of a religious ceremony that is being celebrated. Particularly, this thing is known as 'festival procession' since I already said that it is part of the fiesta celebration.

Before we entered the chapel, a lady approached us, asking if we could buy some of her candles that she was selling, and since we really needed a candle at the moment, my dad bought a total of 5 candles for us.

_{(I stopped taking pictures once I entered the chapel to show respect to the priest and everyone there.)}

While I was listening to the word of God, the priest was suddenly talking about love (also connected to the love of our God for us). I remember him saying, "Let your love overpass the anger that you felt." Nowadays, many people break up because of misunderstanding issues. They felt that the relationship wasn't working anymore because of their issues. They most likely end their relationship when they are driven by their emotions, which are only anger, pain, and any negative emotions. But let me ask you a question: do you also end your relationship with love? Well, this kind of thing happens in our high school days because this is the time when we want to explore and experience different things. The love we felt in our high school days is like a fairytale, or, should we say, a puppy love.

The priest even says something about divorce for the married couple. One thing that he said that stuck in my mind is, "To start with love and to end marriage with love," don't just look for the "kilig" or "spark" when you're entering a relationship, because not in all situations there's something like that. He taught us so many things about love, and some of them are still stuck in my mind.

After the mass, we lined up for the procession.
Some people prepared the Virgin Mary statue (birhen in Tagalog) because we would follow it until the end of the procession. Candles and flowers were all over the statue, making it more elegant and lovely to look at. From what I've heard, the Virgin Mary statue is like an indication of recognition. I hope for a more abundant and peaceful community for all the people living there.

Others were already lighting up their candles and going to their loved ones to light up their candles using their own candles that were already lit up. I don't know, but for me, it is a romantic thing to know that one person is willing to light your candle using theirs just to show how much they appreciate you. Just that simple gesture will mean a lot to someone.

And finally, we also lit up our candles because my cousin approached us and shared the fire in his candle. I was so happy to see everyone so cooperative and well-disciplined. You can never hear any ruckus from them.

Drums and trumpets are all you could hear from the place. We walk around the neighborhood, and you know what's more amazing? Whenever we passed by a house that had candles in its gates or just on the floor, we would go there to also light their candles and smile at the house's owner. I can never describe what I felt whenever I did this.

Afterwards, the drums and trumpets stopped, a sign that we should all recite or say the "Santa Maria" or any other religious rosary prayers. Santa Maria is also called Hail Mary in English. A prayer of thanksgiving and intercession to Mary, the Theotokos (Mother of God).

_{There's actually a lot of people behind us}

While we are roaming, someone suddenly ignites the fireworks, making us all startled because of the sudden sound coming from it. I'm not really sure if it was part of the plan, but I'm glad they made that kind of move because it was so pleasing and magnificent to watch.

Why do we exactly do this?
Simple, because we want to praise God publicly and ask for his blessings and protection over the city. We also did this kind of ceremony to celebrate Christianity's victory and triumph. It is also held to honor the place's anniversary.

I really don't know if this was also done by the other religions. But if not, it is completely okay since I respect their own religious beliefs and their own celebration.

Thank you so much for reading my blog! I hope you learned something from here and I hope you were also amazed by things like this. Bye!❤️

_{Credits: Most of the information about the procession stated above was given by a trusted source, a reliable online platform, and my relatives, who have participated in this kind of ceremony multiple times.}