|
'Flores De Mayo' or the flowers of
May, this is a festival of flowers
offered to Virgin Mary. The archipelago
of Philippines is famous for variants
of flowers and their fragrance. The
variants bloom out gradually with
rain showers in this tropical country.
The festival is predominantly observed
by the Catholics residing in the Philippines'
Archipelago. The natives collect different
flowers and decorate the altars and
aisles of the Parish Church. The festival
sets its magical spirits from the
afternoon when all the Christian Brothers
and Sisters offer their heart felt
devotion to Virgin Mary, for the offerings
to Virgin Mary the festival is also
sometimes referred as the Flores de
Maria.
The historical relevance attached
to this festival goes back in the
ancient times when the mother of the
Great Constantine, St. Helena found
out the crosses on which Lord Jesus
was crucified. However, these crosses
were lost, after a serious search
out St. Helena and her son Constantine
found out the crosses and that particular
day was celebrated by making offerings
to the god. The Catholic mythology
holds that to offer thanks to god
for getting back the crosses, nine
days prayers were observed. This particular
tradition is still in vogue. The Filipinos
celebrate the Flores de Mayo for nine
days ushering their devotion to the
god.
These nine days of prayer is often
referred as novena. The Spaniards
in Philippines introduced this festival.
The nine different phases of prayers
have individual names. The festival
in the present day Philippines is
celebrated with long parade with people
wearing colorful attires and all sorts
of merry making stuffs. The entire
week is marked with merry makings
and delicious food items. Although
the festival was brought by the Spanish
rulers it has now got totally mingled
with the Filipino's culture and traditions.
To know more about different festivals
and their celebrations just browse
through the pages of .
|
