Good Friday: Memories and Beliefs
Good day, everyone! Today is Good Friday, a very important day for us Christians. It is the day when Jesus Christ was crucified to save us from our sins. So I know that most of you are making the most of it by going to a good place for relaxation, but let us not forget the true meaning of the Lenten season, and that is to reflect on our sins.
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My day began early this morning. I had to save water that would be used the whole day because it has been four days since our water supply has not been back to normal. We only had water early morning, and it would only last for a couple of hours, so we had to wake up early to save some. Then I was supposed to cook the "pambansang food" for this holy week, which is "witwit, bilobilo, binignit." It consists of bananas, sweet potatoes, taro, or sago, and sticky rice cooked in coconut milk. But because I did not know that remittance centers were closed today, I was not able to withdraw the BCH that I converted into our fiat. So cooking binignit was out of the picture, and we'll have boiled sweet potatoes for our snack instead.
I remember when I was a kid, my Lola was so busy preparing different foods that would be shared with everyone every Holy Week. It was like her "panata" to share food with everyone. I remember that we had to go to the mountain to dig sweet potatoes, cassava, and pick bananas along the way. While my cousins and I were picking dry wood to be used for cooking. Then my titos had to climb for coconuts. If they got lucky, they would have macapuno for us on our way home.
Most of the time, my Lola would prepare suman, or sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves, bukayo, biko, and binignit. She would start cooking it on Thursday and finish it early on Friday morning. I enjoyed every moment of it because it felt like we were having a feast. Then we would deliver the food to every neighbor, and sometimes we were given something in return, like what we called "lamaw" in Bisaya. It is a Filipino dessert or refreshment made from scraped young coconut meat in coconut water with sugar or condensed milk and biscuits.
It may look gross, but I can assure you that this tastes so good.
I also grew up believing some superstitious beliefs during Holy Week. The first one was that I should not cut or injure myself during Good Friday because, according to them, it would not be healed. One time, I was playing with my cousin when he accidentally pushed me and I bruised my knee. I cried so hard, thinking that the bruises would stay forever, the bleeding wouldn't stop, and then I would die. My Lola had to console me until I fell asleep while crying.
The second one was that it is forbidden to take a bath after 3 pm because Jesus Christ is already dead. I don't know the reason behind it, but until now, every Good Friday, I have taken a bath earlier than usual and it should not be after 3 pm, lol!
The last one was that after 3 pm, bad spirits, elements, or spirits from the other side were roaming around freely and would hurt us because Jesus was dead and no one would protect us from them. I don't know if you have heard it, but I grew up believing in that belief. Regardless, my cousins and I would play outside until dark, playing hide and seek and sharing ghost stories until everyone was terrified and ran home, lol!
Gosh, I miss those days. I don't know if those beliefs were still present at this time. But I doubt it because people nowadays celebrate the Lenten Season differently than in our generation. Regardless of how we celebrate this Good Friday, let us not forget the true meaning of it. Have a blessed Good Friday!
Date Published: April 15, 2022
buti nalang nagluto ng binignit yung in laws ko kaya nakakain din kami kahapun ng binignit