GUAGUA, Pampanga, Philippines — All Souls’ Day (“daun” in Kapampangan language) in the old district of Betis is so unique that its new parish priest, Fr. Raul de los Santos, decided to skip a clergy’s retreat and get to know why the feast of the dead is longer here than anywhere else.
“I want to see it and experience it,” said De los Santos, who was posted at the St. James the Apostle parish here only in June.
He had asked Archbishop Florentino Lavarias to excuse him from the Nov. 4-7 retreat so that he could understand the one-of-its-kind Catholic tradition.
Betis is one of Pampanga’s ancient coastal settlements. A town of seven villages, it was annexed to Guagua town in 1903. A territory of Augustinian Order since 1572, it was ceded to the Diocese of Manila in 1949.
De los Santos said his interest in the Betis daun was pricked by the faithful themselves. “They are proud of it. They always remind me about it,” he said. In Kapampangan, daun means offering.
9-day novena
“And they’re continuing it. There is no petition to stop it,” he said.
The Betis daun is held like a novena for nine days, starting with a Mass at the church on the eve of Nov. 2 and ends on Nov. 10 with a Mass at the Betis cemetery in Barangay San Nicolas.
“Betis people spend daun longer. They give more time for praying for the souls of their departed loved ones so they can return to God,” said Consuelo Jose-Mendoza, who at 87, still recites the old novena for souls in purgatory at the intercession of San Nicolas de Tolentino.
The nine days of lighting candles, she said, signify that the departed ones are always remembered and never abandoned.
New feature
The parish council is adding a new and more appropriate feature. Instead of ghosts and ghouls, saints and martyrs will be portrayed — an idea that Betis-born Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David began in Angeles City.
There are no archival documents explaining the nine-day feast of the dead, cultural historian Nina Tomen said, adding that the tradition is linked with the people’s deep sense of religiosity.
Archbishop Emeritus Paciaco Aniceto said the church teaches “catechism in visuals,” referring to the paintings and sculptures on ceilings, walls and doors that tell stories from the Bible.
In the olden days, this was how the daun was held, according to Mendoza.
An afternoon Mass is held on Nov. 1, but it is offered for the “poor souls in purgatory,” instead of saints.
In the next eight days, Masses are held for the intention, followed by the ritual of lighting candles at the tombs of loved ones, offering flowers and reciting the rosary between late afternoon and before midnight.
Gone
On Nov. 10, the priest celebrates a 6 a.m. Mass at an elevated stage in the cemetery. In the final blessing, the priest advises the living to keep on praying for their departed ones.
To end the nine-day feast, the priest and lay ministers bless the tombs by spraying holy water on these.
Mendoza said most features of the Betis daun are gone. These are the display at the altar of a large painting of souls being consumed by flames.
Another is the “tumba,” or a pile of two tables shrouded in black cloth with a big crucifix of Jesus Christ.
Back then, Masses are held at 6 a.m., followed by the procession from church to cemetery while reciting the “Decenario,” a long Kapampangan prayer for the dead.
Mendoza still has a copy of the “Novena Caring Caladua Qng Purgatorio (Novena for Souls in Purgatory)” written in Spanish by Fr. Jose March, and with illustration of San Nicolas de Tolentino, patron saint for the souls in purgatory.
“We held rosaries, not candles back then,” she recalled.