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Declared as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Institute in 2007, a quick scan of the town center already reveals an astonishing number of early 20th century domestic architecture and other structures that give its provincial atmosphere a unique flavour.
Paete in Laguna is known for its expert wood carvers and during Holy Week, it’s carving prowess is shown by the number of carrozas bearing lenten images. It has also one of the most unique santo intierro, the dead Christ laying in state that is jointed and undergoes a very unusual ritual akin to Cordillera death rites.
The Friday before Holy Week, another image, that of the crucified Christ undergoes the same ritual but with lesser people and done below the belfry of the church.
The Santo Sepulcro of Paete in the ritual pagsusuob process
This is the 7th installment of my Semana Santa series where I feature rituals and traditions observed in certain places during this most solemn week in the Catholic calendar. Click on the image at the right to check the rest of the articles.
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The ritual is akin to ancient death rites where the body of the village chief is bathed, smoked and prepared for the afterlife. Paete, a lakeshore town in Laguna is famed for its woodcarving industry even before the Spanish era. The town’s woodcarvers have graced the various grand churches, houses and museums here and abroad.
During Holy Week, the town becomes one of Filipino Catholic folk religion’s pilgrimage areas, although not many know it, with its wooden and jointed image of the Santo Sepulcro undergoing an age old ritual that is pre-Spanish. A ritual that is akin to ancient death rites where the body of the village chief is bathed, smoked and prepared for the afterlife. This only means one thing, before the Spanish colonization, what we know of being practiced by the mountain tribes in the Cordillera before were also practiced in other parts of the archipelago.
The image, believed to have come from Mexico and brought by the Spanish friars in the town, is an amazing piece of work. The entire sculpture is jointed that enables it to be moved like a human being. Even the eyelids can be closed. At the back of its neck is said to be a date inscribed: 1516.
After the Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday) mass in the morning, the townspeople transports the image of the dead Christ from its altar niche in a procession to the house of Chie Afuang, the current recamadora whose family has been tasked to care for the image for generations. From Sunday to the morning of Wednesday, a vigil is held and the house opens its doors to devotees.Read More »Paete’s rite of the dead