Hey hey hey! Have you ever witnessed the burning of blessed palms? I don't think I have until this Monday! 😲
Yesterday, before Lent officially starts for Catholics, a historical parish did their burning ritual. Actually I had no plans to attend or take part in such but hey I was in the area and they did it after mass so I thought I might as well join. 😆
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Here in the Philippines we take part in the religious traditions of the Catholic Church because we are a Catholic country. ❤️🙏 And since the Lenten season is upon us, all churches must prepare the ashes to be used on Ash Wednesday! This year it falls on March 5.
What is Silab-Sala?
This is a Filipino term which literally translates to Blaze-Sin. Also known as Sunog-Sala (literal translation is Burn-Sin), this is the ritual of burning the blessed palms we got from Palm Sunday last year.
This parish activity symbolizes conversion and is an invitation to all Christians to repent. Apparently it is paraliturgical, meaning it happens outside the liturgy. That's why it was done after the celebration of mass. Hehe.
Actually I didn't know about this term before. Seriously, I didn't care about such things in the past. Haha. Thank God I'm finally back in the Lord's flock so I'm now getting to know my religion more and more each day since Lent 2023! 😆
A Little Bit of Church History
As mentioned, since I was in the area I went to mass at the Holy Cross Parish in Krus na Ligas, Quezon City. It's actually a historical site because several heroes of the revolution against Spain in the late 19th century stayed there and even used it as meeting place, hideout, etc.
Here's an old photo from their Facebook page.
Photo from Leticia A. Lagmay's book - Cruz Na Ligas: Early Socialization in an Urbanizing Community, 1983 | source
Didn't take a photo of the current church façade though. I know I did sometime in the past but I can't find it at the moment. Lol.
The Burning Ritual
Anyway, after the mass we all went outside and participated in the prayers then burning of the palms. I really don't think I've ever joined this church ritual before. Even as a kid I don't have any memory of ever witnessing this.
So anyway here's photos I took of the activity. 😁
A huge and lit church candle is brought near the place where the palms will be burned. Just in front of the church entrance.
Here the priest is reading the prayer just outside the church entrance before the burning starts.
And here we gooo. The priest lights a smaller candle.
The year old dried palms are starting to burn!
Burn burn burn...
And eventually it really blazed as more palms were added by people.
The priest then blessed the burning palms and said a few more prayers but I wasn't able to take any more photos. Hehe.
My Thoughts on This Church Activity
I think it's a nice way to prepare ourselves for Lent. For most people it starts when they receive the crossed ash on their forehead. However since joining this ritual it seems kinda proper and quite inviting to take part in all the religious Lenten activities. I say it's a good experience!
That's all folks! Have you joined anything like this before? How was it?
XOXO,
@artgirl