By Dhel Nazario
As the Traslacion made its way to the end of Jones Bridge, devotees started to prepare the image of the Nuestra Señora dela Soledad to await the arrival of the carriage bearing the Black Nazarene for a Tondo parish’s traditional “Sungaw.”
(PHOTO BY DHEL NAZARIO/ MANILA BULLETIN)
The event symbolizes a mother in anguish looking upon her son who was in suffering, according to Rev. Fr. Jeremiah Adviento of the Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Manila Parish in Binondo, Manila
Adviento said the word “sungaw” was derived from the phrase: "Subaybay at dungaw ng inang nagdadalamhati sa anak na nagpapakasakit."
The newly canonically erected parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila has been doing the Sungaw for the last three years. In the previous years, they conducted the ritual Dasmariñas Street, yet now for the first time, they were able to coordinate with the Quiapo Church and was accepted as an official prayer station for the annual procession.
This helped them put up a stage, which had the image of the Nuestra Señora de la Soledad that was covered in black veil.
Adviento stressed how the mother, despite all of her son's despair, will never leave him no matter what. "Ito'y nagpapakita sa atin na sa pagdadalamhati ng anak, nandoon yung ina na nagsusubaybay, hindi nangiiwan ang ina. At ito'y nagpapahayag sa atin na sa mga dalamhati natin sa buhay, sa mga hirap natin sa buhay, nandoon yung ina natin na di tayo pababayaan."
(This shows that during the son's suffering the mother is always there to look after him, the mother does not let him be. It also tells us that amid our grief, and sufferings in life, we can always count on our mother.)
As the carriage passed by the stage, it was a stunning and solemn sight as the veil was removed and a Marian hymn was played, while the devotees who were there were blessed with holy water.