Continuing my Holy Week 2025 travel series is the culmination of the most sacred week in Christianity: Easter Sunday, or Easter in short. This is the day when we Christians rejoice: celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the central feast of Christianity.
For this year, I traveled a hundred kilometers south of the capital Metro Manila to Ibaan, a small town in the province of Batangas, for our annual Holy Week.
The Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of St. James the Greater, a Spanish colonial-era church founded in 1832, is the main focus of this blog.
Note: This is a continuation of my 2025 Lenten and Holy Week Pilgrimage from April 13 to 20, 2025. This is the last of four parts; see these links for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Easter Vigil: The Mother of All Vigils
Considered the longest liturgy in the Church, it starts late in the evening of Holy Saturday into Easter Sunday. This unique liturgy is the most important among all Masses of the liturgical year.
It starts with the lighting of an Easter fire outside the church (also known as the Lucernarium), followed by the associated blessing rites for the bonfire and the Paschal candle. The latter symbolizes the Eastertide season, which starts on Easter Sunday (2025: April 20) and ends on Pentecost (2025: June 8). After these rites, the priests lead a procession with the Paschal candle to the altar.
A sea of candles in a dark church defines the first part of the Easter Vigil.
The Easter Proclamation or the Exsultet was then chanted.
After four minutes, we all sat for the proclamation of seven long readings detailing the biblical Story of Creation, Abraham being tested, the Passover story, and more.
Procession of the Resurrected Christ image to the altar!
The high point came during the singing of the Gloria in Excelsis Deo. The lights of the church were turned on, the altar candles were lit, and the image of the Risen Christ was processed to the side of the main altar. Gloria was sung at 22:52. The return of the Alleluia, a hymn of praising the Lord, came after the epistle.
Candidates for the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation at the front of the altar
After the homily, candidates for the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism and Confirmation) were then called as we renewed our baptismal promises. Historically, it is in this vigil that catechumens were admitted to the Catholic Church.
The liturgy went forward with the usual form of Catholic Holy Mass. It ended at 00:32 of April 20.
First Mass of Easter Sunday and Pagdagit
The parish patio set-up for the pre-dawn Easter Mass.
Our parish church holds the first Mass of Easter Sunday outside, at the parish patio. This also serves as a parking area for vehicles, which is closed during major activities of the church.
The sky gradually lights up on Easter Sunday!
In Ibaan, the parish church is not big enough to accommodate thousands of guests for big events. Hence, they hold events for Easter Sunday outside. This is also where they hold events for Christmas Eve (including the Midnight Mass of Christmas).
This year's Pagdagit is taken on by Zet Ma. Svetlana Perez Alcover.
Pagdagit is one of Ibaan's well-known Easter traditions. It is a variant of the “Salubong” tradition done in other parishes in the Philippines. A small “angel” descends to an image of the Virgin Mary, veiled in black. She removes it to symbolize the joy of the Blessed Mother after her Son, Jesus Christ, rose from the Dead.
Applications usually begin in December, with qualifications being a little girl aged up to twelve years old. These are then raffled in January, where the name picked by the parish priest will take on the prestigious role of going down through the Galileo structure. The others that were not chosen would be given priority for the slots of the other angels.
Sayaw ng Pagbati kay Kristong Muling Nabuhay!
The performers for the Sayaw ng Pagbati ready to show off Ibaan's long-cherished tradition!
Pagbati (or Sayaw ng Pagbati) is a traditional dance performed in a fast tempo by a lady acting as the kapitana, with her two male escorts (the kapitan and bise-kapitan). This was introduced in 1901, and in its history, it was not held twice: in 1942, due to the Second World War; and in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike before, the pagbati performance was typically done at the Ben R. Medrano Plaza located across the church after the performance at the latter. However, since the refurbishment of the plaza was carried out during the term of Mayor Joy Salvame, the itinerary was changed, with the patio and plaza performances being consolidated to just one.
A general rehearsal is first held on Black Saturday at 19:00 at the parish patio before the main performances at 06:00 the next day. Below is the list of performers for 2025:
- Kapitana - Mariejo Allen Guerra Caringal
- Kapitan - Lorenzo Miguel Reyes Toreja
- Bise-Kapitan - Fietrro Martin Reyes Mapalad
The kapitana waves the bandera as she takes the stage!
The dance is divided into three parts. All three performers dance simultaneously in the “Martsa” part, the first of three. During the second part, the kapitana only performed in this part, showcasing her unique dance steps only (normally) danced by her. The kapitana also holds a flag, also known as the “Bandera”, hence, the other name “Bati de Bandera”. Finally, all simultaneously dance in the last part as the performance nears its conclusion.
Take a look at more pictures of the Sayaw ng Pagbati:
Watch my short video on Ibaan's Easter traditions here:
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