Holy Thursday...
Holy Week commemorates passion of our Lord ROSES & THORNS By Alejandro R. Roces The Philippine Star 04/05/2007 The Philippines is the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia, the outcome of many years of Spanish occupation of the islands. Christianity in our country began in 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan came to our shores and planted the Cross, the symbol of Christianity. Since then, the natives have practiced different religious beliefs inherently Christian in origin. The observance of Holy Week, for example, has been a time-honored practice for Filipinos. Today being Holy Thursday, it is the anniversary of the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Mass, and the Sacrament of the Priesthood. But since we were young, we have always associated Holy Thursday with only two things — visita iglesia and the washing of the feet. During visita iglesia, we visit seven churches and that is because of the popular belief that the number seven stood for the s