It was all Saint’s Day yesterday. All the people in Roxas City found themselves treading the same path. If the age-old maxim says all the roads lead to Rome, well, forget it! For here, every November 1, all the roads lead to the cemetery.
What is peculiar about this VERY Filipino tradition is that it’s supposed to be the day of the saints, not day of the dead. But that’s what we’re used to here. Much more, I can’t yell at people and tell them to go home and return to the cemetery on November 2.
Anyways, expect for clichés to converge. People from all walks of life have one and only aim on this day: and that is to visit the dead and offer them prayers and bunches of blooms. Never will you be able to see the kind of reverence that Filipinos give to the dead. The elders always say that the dead has this power and ability to intercede between us and God and that if you pray for your dead loved one, he’ll for sure guide you and protect you at all times. And as a part of the overflowing faith of the Filipinos, reverence to the dead is like a ritual that should never be forgotten, at least once a year, least bad luck strikes!
I do not eagerly share this belief with the elders. The reason why I can’t help but visit the church is to pray to God and hope that my long-gone loved ones are now at His kingdom, resting in peace and enjoying eternal life with Him.
And as for the crowd, they just keep on getting more and more, that when nighttime arrived, there was a commotion rushing to and fro. Lights are all on and it seems that this Filipino holiday is always here to stay, just as it has been for centuries now.
