Abstract

This research investigates the ritual nailing on the cross every Good Friday in Cutud, Pampanga, in the Philippines as a local religiocultural performance. It highlights the ritual's evolution and historicity of suffering in the context of panata (religious pledge/ vow), as a characteristic central to the Filipino people since precolonial times. The roots of the ritual can be traced from pamagdarame (flagellation) and the sinakulo (passion play) written by Ricardo Navarro in 1955. Devotees (participants) of pamagdarame and the sinakulo are participating with intentions of panata. The ritual, manifested through a performance of pain and suffering, allows the devotee's inner core (kalooban) via his sacrifice to be one with the Supreme Being. The ritual, which has developed into a multifaceted tradition, is not only a religious occasion (an experience of a personal sacrifice or panata for the individual) but also a social drama (an expression of pain and suffering through the performance of Via Crucis o Pasion Y Muerte [Way of the Cross or Passion and Death] and the nailing on the cross performed for the good of others).

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