Filipinos observe Holy Week amid virus lockdown

The Washing of the Feet ceremony would normally draw Catholic faithful to church.

It is a religious ceremony completed after homily on Holy Thursday, re-enacting what Jesus Christ did for his disciples and reminding people that like Christ, everyone should be willing to serve others.

This year however,  Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Apostolic administrator of Manila, is performing the rites at the Manila Cathedral without a congregation.

Instead the mass is being streamed online, with the faithful having to settle for watching it through their screens from home in the Philippine capital.

Chico Cabalatungan, 23, said it is strange.

He and his family observed a yearly tradition for Holy Week.

Surrounded by devout parents, Cabalatungan was raised with their faith at the centre of their family life.

Preparing for Holy Week is very sacred to them, but for the first time, there will be no church visits, there will be no observations together as a Catholic community.

Churches are closed, masses can only be heard online, and no one is leaving home because of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Cabalatungan said it feels like living in exile, with the streets empty, the churches silent.

He and his family would normally visit at least nine churches for the traditional Visita Iglesia.

He said while marking the Holy Week from home feels strange, he also sees it as meaningful.

Father Aris Sison, parish priest of St. John Paul II church in Manila, has been celebrating mass by streaming it on social media since March.

He has not seen his parishioners for weeks, but he said the enhanced quarantine imposed on the Philippines' Luzon island since mid March, is also bringing people back to worship.

What would normally be distractions during Lent are not possible in this time of quarantine, so Sison sees it as a blessing in way.

And for the faithful like Cabalatungan, this too shall pass. He said Easter is coming and it gives him hope.