Salubong 2014

The Easter Morning is marked with a very blissful celebration. It is welcomed by a dawn ceremony known as “Salubong” (Tagalog term for “meeting”). This ceremony re-enacts the imagined reunion of Christ and his Mother after the resurrection). Statues of the Risen Christ and the Virgin Mary are borne in two separate processions that meet at a designated area called a Galilea, usually in the plaza fronting the church.

The Processions are also sex segregated in which male devotees will follow Christ while female devotees will follow the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary is initially veiled in Black to express her bereavement. Kids that are dressed as angels are positioned on a specially constructed high scaffold or suspended in mid-air, sings the Regina Coeli in Latin or in the vernacular, and then dramatically removes the black veil to signify the end of Mary’s grieving.

The moment is marked by pealing bells and fireworks, followed immediately by the Easter Mass.