CHRIST’s redemptive act at the cross of Calvary has already been done 2000 years ago yet its efficacy is still intact at this point of time. “He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever.” (Heb 10:12 ASV). The effect of that one time event in Golgotha is non-stop for eternity and covers every person on the planet. However there are a superstitious people in our country (The Philippines) who insist that they too can literally imitate what Christ has done in the cross. Every year during the Lent, these flagellants parade themselves on the streets, shirtless and soaking with their own blood as they hurt their own bodies with razor-sharp bamboo sticks tied at a rope. The grotesque image of mutilated flesh are exposed to extremely hot noontime sun as onlookers alternatively strike them with whips that are especially designed for that purpose. Most of the time, the Namamanata or the devotees cover their heads with black saffron to hide their identity. (Actual photos taken by Pastor Herbie Carmona) The climax of their religious saga is the actual crucifixion of their wounded and tired bodies
Their religious display usually climax on the actual crucifixion of their exhausted bodies at the place prepared to look like Golgotha of the Biblical narrative. There, onlookers wait to witness the actual pounding of stainless steel nails through the palms of the devotee’s hands. Then the devotee will be hanged on a wooden cross for about 30 minutes under the heat of scorching sun. It is actually a dramatized reenactment of the Passion of the Christ, only the pain and the crucifixion is for real. Every year, in a village called Cutud in San Fernanado Pampanga Northern Philippines, about 10-12 people volunteer themselves to be crucified. It became a tourist attraction for both local and foreign visitors. When this writer went to document the event last April 2, 2010, he saw around 3,000 people from almost everywhere came to witness the Cenaculo or the reenactment of Christ’s crucifixion.
The façade is almost for real except that spiritual fervor is missing. For many it was purely out of curiosity and a social interest. Onlookers don’t even discuss the real meaning of Christ’s redemptive act. They were there just to witness the bizarre dramatization of the lent. In fact almost everybody knows that the flagellants were either drunk or high on drugs that’s why they can bear the pain. Even the Roman Catholic Church does not endorse the practice.
