SAN SIMON, Pampanga—Change has caught up with a 60-year-old Catholic procession here of images of saints that the archdiocese of San Fernando holds every year.
For the first time, the procession became fluvial when Church leaders decided to hold it along the Pampanga River, which drains more than 30 rivers in Central Luzon to Manila Bay.
Auxiliary Bishop Roberto Mallari, head of the archdiocese, said the procession was taken to the river because “we want our fellow Kapampangans to see the beauty of the Pampanga River and make this treasure grow.”
The procession, officially known as the Crusade of Penance and Charity, was started in 1952 by Bishop Cesar Ma. Guerrero four years after the diocese of San Fernando was formed out of the archdiocese of Manila.
Charles Henry Espiritu, head of the archdiocese’s Office for Assumption Mission, said the crusade’s initial objective was to become a “remedy for the surging tide of social unrest in the province.”
Devotee Tomasa Mero, 81, does not remember seeing or attending fluvial parades for the images here.
Monday’s procession from Candaba, San Luis, San Simon and Apalit covered only 20 kilometers but took nearly five hours. A barge carried images of saints escorted by at least 100 boats.
The procession started in Candaba past 7 a.m. after Mass and ended up in Apalit about noon.
Like they do during fluvial processions for Apung Uri (St. Peter), devotees viewed the images and prayed from the riverbanks where white and blue flags were planted. White and blue are colors identified with the Virgin Mary.
From a bridge, members of the Parish Pastoral Council and local government of San Simon welcomed the images by showering these with white petals, lighting firecrackers and releasing 200 balloons in the air.
Fr. Mark Manabat, crusade director, said the archdiocese supports a campaign to clean the river.
Regular tests by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources consistently found high levels of coliform and E. coli bacteria in various stations downstream. The river originates from parts of the Sierra Madre mountain ranges, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Bulacan.