There are two important dates in the Catholic Calendar. These are Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the Saviour of the Catholics, Jesus Christ. As a preparation for the commemoration of the birth of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, there is what we called advent season in the Catholic calendar. It happens every four Sunday before Christmas where Catholics are asked to prepare themselves for the big day, Christmas, by repenting on sins, having confessions and reconnecting with God.

On the other hand, Easter Sunday is honoring the resurrection of Jesus Christ who died for all of us to redeem us from all of our sins and thereby leading us to eternal life. Easter Sunday is the peak of Holy Week.
Holy Week is the last 8 days of the Lenten Season which starts from Palm Sunday Up to Easter Sunday. This tradition is celebrated by Catholic Filipino faithful to regenerate their faith and to have an intimate time with our God.

If Easter Sunday is the peak of Holy week, Holy Week, on the other hand, is the peak of the Lenten Season. Lenten season is 40 days reflection on faith which usually starts during Ash Wednesday. This is 40-day preparation for the big day, Easter Sunday. During Lenten Season Catholics are adviced to engage in fasting, almsgiving or charity and confession too as part of the preparation for Easter Sunday. Holy Week is where we relive the life of Jesus from his entrance in the City of Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) to The Institution of the Holy Eucharist (Maundy Thursday) to His passion (Good Friday) to His resurrection (Easter Sunday).
This is an annual tradition of commemorating of Catholics belief about Lord God Jesus's sacrifice in saving humanity from death towards eternal life. We honor God's love for humanity by sacrificing his only Son Jesus as payment for the sins of the entire humanity.

As of now, it is Lent Season in the Philippines and we are in the Holy Week. Since we were featuring bloggers, we decided to handpick blogs related the season. There were handful articles to choose from. We narrow it down to five.

"Penitensya" (Penance) by Jampol Dolor

For our cover image for today, we picked this article of Sir Jampol Dolor (@johnpd). We chose this post because of its unique way of presentation. Unlike the usual straightforward presentation like giving trivia and facts, Sir Jampol's attack was a fictional story. He made a story as a way of conveying what a Penitensya is. The story perfectly showcased this tradition of fanatics. But then again, there was also an explanation at the end of the story. We like the disclaimer that this kind of act is not advised by the Roman Catholic, however, there are a lot of Filipino practicing such activity in the belief of payment for their sins which was well told in the story. Actually, this is condemned by the Catholic church and not even part of Catholic doctrine. But a tradition is a tradition. Despite the restriction, there are still Filipinos who practice this.

Penitensya is a way of showing remorse for sins by hurting the human body. It is a way of repentance by humiliating oneself by walking almost naked or dressed in sacks or dried banana leaves. Usually, males engage in this kind of tradition but there were also few ladies who participate in the sacrifice. They usually scourge themselves while almost naked as they walk barefooted towards the nearest church while their faces are concealed with pieces of cloth. Some carry crosses towards a certain church and permitting other people to step on their backs while laying down on the floor. Some voluntarily submit themselves to be crucified on the cross. As you can see, this is the literal way of reliving the passion of Christ.

According to Catholic laws, penance nowadays can be done true confession, charitable acts, and fasting and not by physically hurting one's self. Since Christ already suffered for us in a such a way like in His Passion, there is no need of doing it again in the self but rather have a genuine conversion. Religiosity over Spirituality. Essence over Form.

Jampol's article is at this link: https://steemit.com/philippines/@johnpd/penitensya-a-filipino-short-story-in-prose. It is written in Tagalog language so Filipinos may understand it deeply.

Palm Sunday by Juvie May Caluma

There were other posts regarding this topic and among those Juvie's (@juviemaycaluma) blog bested other blogs. The photos were really sharp making you feel the atmosphere of the tradition even just from the picture. There were facts written to understand Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is the commemoration of Jesus triumphant entrance inside Jerusalem. He was welcomed by the people in the entrance by laying down leaves of Olive trees in his path while riding on a donkey. Since there were no Olive trees in the Philippines, resilient Filipinos used Palm tree leaves. They designed it turned it into ornaments and is famously called "Palaspas". After the mass, the "Palaspas" are blessed and kept inside the home as an additional part of the altar.

fore more about Palm Sunday click this link to Juvie's post: https://steemit.com/philippines/@juviemaycaluma/palm-sunday-philippines-2018

"Alay Lakad" by Rojelly Ann Sotto

We choose this pic for its sharp photos and facts in the story. There were other bloggers who featured "Alay Lakad" but only Rojelly (@rojellyannsotto) featured the main reason why it is being done here in Antipolo. "Alay-lakad" is a Filipino tradition in which people walk barefooted going to a Church to pray intently for repentance and supplication. Aside from the sacrificial walk as an offering, one of the reasons why devotees do "Alay-lakad" is to pray the Way of the Cross at the church which is the reason why there are Prayer Stations at the Church field. Way of the cross is a prayer depicting the 14 highlighted events of Jesus's road to Calvary. On the other hand, there is a place in Antipolo where you can pray the Way of the Cross. It is called the Via Dolorosa hill also well-known as The White Cross. At the "Alay-lakad", after praying for their intentions at the Immaculate Conception Parish, devotees again walk towards **The White Cross** to pray the **Way of the Cross** while climbing up the hill or grotto.

here is Rojelly's article: https://steemit.com/philippines/@rojellyannsotto/alay-lakad-2018-in-antipolo-philippines

"Senakulo" by Marie Joy Cajes

Senakulo is the theatrical reenactment of the Passion of Christ. From His arrest towards His crucifixion is the theme of the act. This tradition is a community effort. There are a group of people usually a clan who spearheads the program. Its either they choose or accept volunteer actors/actresses who will play the role of the characters in the bible. Fortunately, this zealous blogger, @mariejoyacajes, still found this tradition in the flesh even if it is little by little disappearing nowadays. There are other Holy Week traditions Marie Joy shared on her blog. Kindly check it out in this combination:

https://steemit.com/busy/@mariejoyacajes/alay-lakad-2018

Maundy Thursday by Catherine Lauron

Here in her blog, @cathydiscussed what Maundy Thursday is all about and other tradition that coincides with it. This more on an informative or trivia blog that can clarify why there is such a Maundy Thursday. She stated based on facts that Maundy comes from a Latin word called "mandatum" which means command. The command we are talking about here is Gods "mandatum" to us of loving one another. During Maundy Thursday comes the symbolical ceremony of the washing of feet of the chosen 12 parishioners and a priest which Jesus did to his apostles before the Institution of the Holy Eucharist where he also said his "mandatum". This is the directions to Catherine's link :

https://steemit.com/feature-antipolo/@cathy08/royal-easter-maundy-thursday-2018-what-is-it

Filipino Catholics have a lot of Holy Week traditions as to purify one's self. Some other traditions not featured are the Pasyon (lyrical conveying of the life of Jesus through prose), Easter Vigil (a service in Catholic churches as the first official celebration of the Ressurection of Jesus), Good Friday Procession (precession of the images of Saints, Mother Mary in sorrow for her Son's death, and the dead Jesus). Traditions are just way of commemoration but it doesn't end there. Lets all not forget Lenten season's true meaning. Traditions help us remind of our faith and what should we be doing in everyday lives as believers. However, no matter how many traditions we comply with but doesn't live according to the Word it will still be useless. A tradition is just a form of faith. It is still spirituality that counts.

Congratulations to all chosen bloggers. There are tips on how to improve your upcoming blogs. Hope you will find it useful.