Flagellants bared their backs again for flogging under the heat of the sun on Good Friday, April 15, in Barangay Kapitangan, Paombong, Bulacan.
The barefoot penitents walked through the streets while whipping themselves with sharp wooden sticks tied to their arms as they took part in the rituals to atone for their sins, thank God for the blessings they received, as well as to ask for an end to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic, a rare and old Lenten tradition at a century-old Catholic Chapel in Bgy. Kapitangan used to attract multitudes of faithful as well as local and foreign tourists. Every Good Friday, faith healers were nailed to a wooden cross at a man-made Golgotha beside the Catholic Chapel in the farming village.
Due to the pandemic, no faith healers were allowed to be nailed to a wooden cross at the man-made Golgotha.
The last flagellation and nailing to the cross by devotees that drew a big crowd was in 2019 wherein three faith healers were crucified.
They were identified as Timoteo "Tammy" Mondragon, 33, of Bagong Silang, Caloocan City; Rogelio "Roger" Marcos of Barangay Sto. Rosario (his 12th time); and “Ka Precy,” 50, who was nailed to the cross for the 7th time.
The faith healers told the Manila Bulletin that crucifying themselves during Lent in the farming village is their way of repenting and sharing in the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
They went to the chapel at midnight on Holy Thursday to take part in an age-old Lenten tradition where a venerated crucifix was bathed in oil and perfume.
The image of the Crucified Christ was taken down from the chapel’s main altar before it is doused and bathed in oil and perfume and later distributed to the faithful.