Films to watch this Holy Week

It’s Holy Week! It’s time to reflect on the life, death and message of Jesus.

The most sacred of the year, each blessed day of the Holy Week is special and has something unique to offer. It begins with the Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday. The Triduum (Holy or Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) is a day of sober reflection. And on Holy Saturday, that is the Easter Vigil, Jesus rose triumphantly from the dead.

Years ago, the week used to be marked in the color red on a calendar. The neighborhood was so quiet. Business establishments were closed for one week. The elders bought rice and viands good for one week. My lola and aunties warned us not to take a bath at 3 pm. on Good Friday,  monsters and demons are most powerful during Good Friday, wounds heal longer when acquired during Holy Week and traveling during Holy Week will bring accidents. (It was an effective stay at home parenting.)

People could only go to church. Lola told us to celebrate the Holy Week by fasting (menu: porridge or lugaw, binignit and puspas) and attending church services. Families prayed at the Stations of the Cross, listened to the Siete Palabras and meditated on the Word and suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was a must to attend the procession or libud during Good Friday to see the images of saints and Jesus on decorated carrozas.  Those who stayed at home could watch movies on TV. Since our options for Holy Week cinema were rather limited, we were gravitated toward an annual viewing of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments, Marcelino Pan Y Vino and Himala.  

Time has a way of changing things. However, as we journey through Holy Week, let us draw closer to Christ in many meaningful ways.

If you decide to have Holy Week movie marathons, here are some flicks to watch in order to allow this significant season to touch your life more deeply:

Himala

Son of God-  Son of God came out in theaters this past weekend. Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado portrays the role of Jesus as the film spans from his humble birth through his teachings, crucifixion and ultimate resurrection. (Jesus Christ: We are going to change the world.)

The Ten Commandments- One of cinema’s greatest movies of all time. The Ten Commandments is iconic filmmaking. (Moses: There is a beauty beyond the senses, Nefretiri. Beauty like the quiet of green valleys and still waters. Beauty of the spirit that you cannot understand.)

The Passion of the Christ- This movie is a revealing, personal look into Jesus’ final hours on Earth. Amid much controversy involving Mel Gibson and various religious organizations, the intense nature of the film’s depiction of Christ’s sufferings is worth watching. (Jesus Christ: My heart is ready.)

Joseph King of Dreams- The Bible provides the subject matter for this story about Joseph and his brothers. From being a servant, Joseph became second in command to the pharaoh of Egypt. (Joseph: I'm your brother!)

Jesus of Nazareth- This movie by Franco Zeffirelli is a classic!

The Prince of Egypt- This epic animated feature covers all the classic story points of the story of Moses, including the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. When Moses encounters the burning bush and confronts a God who calls Himself “I Am That I Am,” it is almost as if the scene compels the audience to remove their shoes for holy ground is underfoot. (God: Who made man’s mouth? Who made the deaf, the mute, the seeing or the blind? Did not I? Now go!)

End of Days- It’s about Satan's love life. Satan has returned to Earth and is walking the streets of New York City to find a woman will bear his child (The Man: For a thousand years you've waited for my return. Behold, you have failed. And with your dying breath, you will bear witness to the End of Days.)

The Da Vinci Code- Dan Brown's controversial best-selling novel about the Church’s powerful secret that's been kept under wraps for thousands of years comes to the screen. (Silas: Lord give me strength.)

The Greatest Story Ever Told – Like The Ten Commandments, it highlights the events of Jesus’ life from birth to his death and resurrection. It also portrays the warmth and connection between Jesus and ordinary people. 

Himala-This CNN Viewers Choice Award as Asia Pacific Best Film of All Time tells the story of Elsa, a barrio lass whose visions of the Virgin Mary change her life and cause a sensation hysteria in a poor, isolated village in the midst of drought. (Elsa: Walang himala! Ang himala ay nasa puso ng tao, nasa puso nating lahat! Tayo ang gumagawâ ng mga himala! Tayo ang gumagawa ng mga sumpa at ng mga diyos..)

Tanging Yaman- This heartrending drama opens our eyes to what truly makes a family.  It tells the story of family’s matriarch and her struggles to unite the family. (Loleng: Cake ko yan!)

Magnifico- It is impossible to resist watching this movie about a young boy Magnifico who wants to give

his ailing grandmother a decent funeral. The movie is a definition of sentimental overload.

GMA News reporter John Consulta reported that workers and volunteers are busy for the reconstruction of the Our Lady of Assumption Church in Dauis town. Likewise, parishioners are so excited that the church will be opened this Easter Sunday. Most of Bohol churches were destroyed by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake but not the faith of the people. “This Holy Week would be a showcase of their faith, they are going to get involved actively in this celebration of this paschal mystery of Jesus Christ,” Msgr. Jeffrey Malanog, vicar general of the Diocese of Tagbilaran, told GMA News.

Lovingly Yours, Helen (The Movie)-  Due to immense popularity of the program, Lovingly Yours, Helen was turned into an anthology movie. The first movie episode, Akin ang Walang Diyos, is our own version of the Exorcist and the Exorcism of Emily Rose.  Julie Vega starred as a girl possessed by an evil entity. (Demonyo: Akin kayo na walang Diyos!)

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Virgin Mary appearances in Bohol

 God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive
He lived and died to buy my pardon
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

-Because He lives

That song, Because He Lives by Bill and Gloria Gaither, clearly affirms the hope believers have in Jesus Christ.  Easter Sunday signifies a new beginning. With the risen Lord Jesus Christ, it is in our hope that we rise above life’s challenges, trials and difficulties renewed and strengthened faith, hope and trust in the risen Lord.

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As a young child in the old Booy neighborhood, this city, Holy Week, one of the holiest times in Christendom, is a time of believing superstitious and folk practices. I’d noticed that some of them remained last week like decorating doors with palms to ward off evil spirits, never take a bath on Good Friday, monsters and other evil creatures are most powerful during Good Friday, wounds heal longer when acquired during Holy Week, amulets or anting-anting and charms are best empowered and renewed during Good Friday and abularyos or traditional faith healers recharged their powers in the forest and in unexplored caves.

Roberto Lumba

Many years ago, people could only go to church. Families prayed the Stations of the Cross, listened to the Siete Palabras and meditated on the Word and suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. If they decided to stay at home, they should pray or watch The Ten Commandments, Marcelino Pan Y Vino and Himala.  The elders also shared stories of miracles and Marian apparitions.

And since we are at it, it won’t hurt if I share stories of Marian apparitions in Bohol relevant-to-the-occasion piece. Here it is:

Miniature image of Mary draws believers to Calape

Steady streams of people continue to shuffle into Roberto Lumba’s house in Sitio Cambag, barangay Tinibgan, Calape town. They pray for healing. They ask for help. Some hold flowers, others candles or pictures. Before them, on an altar of roses and prayer candles, is a miniature statue of a woman, what Catholics now believe is an image of the Virgin Mary.

"Nakit-an nako ang gamay nga statwa samtang nanghipus ko sa mga basiyo. Akong gitan-awa murag si Birhen Maria nga nagdala og bata (I saw a small statue while arranging the cases of soft drink bottles. I started looking at it until I realized it was the Virgin holding a child)," said Roberto,  a bottle boy.

He kept the statue inside his home until the Virgin Mary appeared in his dream. The Virgin Mary told him to put her in a modest abode inside the house. Roberto did what the Virgin Mary told him. He looked for a natural stone enclave to hold the Virgin Mary statue and put a pane of glass that shelters the statue.

 The image, which measures two inches, was dull when Roberto found it. Months passed, colors of blue and red became visible. Roberto just realized that the image, undeniably, was that of Nuestra Señora Virgen de Regla.

Believers say that the image is miraculous. People from different places in Bohol came to worship the Virgin Mary. They let the statue touched their head and shoulders and kissed the feet of the Virgin praying for healing and a miracle from her.

 “Ang Ginoo mag-uban kanato sa kanunay (God is always with us),” Roberto said.

Image of Virgin Mary appears on shell

Faithful and the curious, many carrying flowers and candles, have flocked to barangay Bentig , Calape town   to see the image of the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios known locally as Birhen sa Kalooy.

Sofia Dumayac, one of the caretakers of the chapel where the image is enshrined, narrated that sometime in 1800, Maximo Dumayac found a fragment of antuwang shell or tridacna on Calape beach. From the shell, rose the image of Virgin Mary. This phenomenon generated public interest.

Dumayac

The following is culled from the website:

One evening, Maximo went out fishing but he didn’t have any catch but every time threw the fishnet he would only catch was an empty shell.  Maximo threw the shell back to the sea but the shell was once again in his fishnet. He brought it home and put it in one corner of his nipa hut. Once in a while, he would use it as container of feeds for the chickens. 

One night, however, Maximo dreamed he was being asked by someone to make a nine-day novena to the Virgin de los Remedios.  Being religious and devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he made the novena together with his wife. Strangely enough, after the novena ended, people from neighboring towns of Jetafe and Inabanga went to see the parish priest of St. Vincent Ferrer Church of Calape, asking him on the whereabouts of the Lady in a Miraculous Shell. They claimed that they were asked in a dream to go to the barrio of Bentig, where they will find the miraculous shell.  Maximo, unaware that his shell was a miraculous one, showed it to his neighbors and they were the first to discover that there was a strange growth in the once empty Antuwang shell. Maximo then cleaned the shell and kept it inside his baul (old chest). Meantime, people started flocking to his place and donated small amounts of money, which Maximo used in reconstructing his nipa hut.

Time went by and people later on noticed that the growth in the shell had become transformed into an image of a very beautiful and radiant lady. The shell looks like ivory and the miraculous lady seems to be made of ivory. She wears a white long robe, her eyes are beautiful and gentle and even her cheeks and lips are somewhat reddish.  Almost every five years, the Virgin would add some trimmings to her robe and mantle, like for instance; she is now wearing a white robe with gold trimmings whereas before, it was not visible to the naked eye. Until today, the image of the Lady, which is about seven inches tall, is still very much attached to the shell.

 Devotees of the Birhen sa Kalooy come from as far as Mindanao and Luzon.The chapel, which used to be of wood, is now a concrete edifice built through donations and offerings to the image. Pilgrims continue to come from far and wide to worship the Blessed Mother of Jesus.  Up to this day the heirs of Maximo Dumayac take turns in keeping watch over the image enthroned in a more decent home.

Virgin Mary seen in tree stump

Have you heard about the Virgin Mary spotted in a mangrove tree trunk in Riverside, Dauis town? Marian devotees said the appearance of Mary in tree stump is a divine “blessing.”

The image, which resembles the mother of Jesus in her traditional prayer pose, has reportedly been causing local residents to shake and cry in wonder.

Until now, people come see the likeness of Virgin Mary. They offer flowers and candles.

There have been hundreds of "sightings" of the Virgin Mary down the centuries, but recent years have seen her appearing in ever more unusual places.

The earliest known claim was from St. James the Greater who saw the Virgin Mary while he was in preaching on the banks of the Ebro River in Saragossa, Spain in 40 A.D.

The most famous apparitions have been those reported in Guadalupe, Mexico (1531), Rue du Bac, France (1830), Lourdes, France (1858), Fatima, Portugal (1917), and Medjugorje, Bosnia-Hercegovina (1984). The most recently Vatican approved apparitions are those from Le Laus, France (1664) which were approved in 2008. The most recently occurring apparitions with full Vatican approval are those from Kibeho, Rwanda which ended in 1989.

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