Old calendar sets March 19 as fiesta in Baras
Posted on May 4, 2008, 5:37 PM under Culture and Tradition, Religious AffairsIn the wake of last Thursday’s Tromba Festival, I came about this e-book entitled “Dimasalang Kalendariong Tagalog.” This is basically just a electronic version of the old book that was published 86 years ago, by Honorio Lopez.
It is a calendar. What’s interesting in here is that it lists March 19 as the feast date of Saint Joseph, husband of Mary. It specifically mentioned Baras, Rizal as one of those towns having the feast date. The exact entry says (with minor corrections):
“19 Linggo _Ikatlo ng Kurisma._ Ang pista ni San Jose asawa ng Birhen Maria, pintakasi sa San Jose del Monte, Bulakan; Baras, Rizal; Polilyo, Tayabas; Balanga at Kabkabin ng Bataan. Ss. Apolonio at Leoncio mga ob. at kp.”
You can find another version in Project Gutenberg.
Well, that’s the feast of Saint Joseph. Religious feast is one thing, town fiesta is another. I have to check the National Library for the actual book.
There’s also this article in the Sunday Inquirer Magazine today, written by Michael Tan. The socio-anthropologist said:
“The fiesta keeps many non-religious functions. I sometimes even suspect that fiestas function to challenge Catholic austerity and solemnity, what with the excesses in eating, singing and dancing. Some early Spanish chronicles had the friars complaining about the not-so-religious behavior of their parishioners during the fiesta… Today, the fiestas have become more “pagan,” sometimes even bordering on the sacrilegious.”
The UP professor basically points out the lavish spending of Filipinos just to celebrate fiesta. This leads people to go in debt for the sake of pakitang-tao.
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