In Bocaue, Holy Cross fluvial procession brings out devotees despite rain
BOCAUE, BULACAN—Residents of this town and other parts of Bulacan braved the rain on Sunday to join or watch the fluvial procession marking the 175th year of the feast of the “Mahal na Krus sa Wawa,” or the town’s Feast of the Holy Cross.
Bocaue Parish Priest Fr. Mario Jose Ladra led this year’s celebration with a series of morning Masses before the pagoda bearing the Holy Cross sailed through the Bocaue River.
“Rain and sunny days are showers of blessings the town has been receiving,” he said, as he led the parishioners and devotees in praying that the Holy Cross would continue to ignite genuine love among the people.
Fr. Jerry Pascual, in his homily during the Mass, expressed appreciation to the people of Bocaue for keeping a strong faith in God and in the Church. “While in some areas, lesser people are coming to church, not here in Bocaue where the faithfuls have remain[ed] active in going to church,” he noted.
Safety first
Noel Mariano, an engineer from Pulilan town who was chosen by Gov. Daniel Fernando (this year’s Feast of the Holy Cross hermano mayor or major sponsor) to build this year’s pagoda, said the steel-made, three-story structure paid close attention to the safety of all the parishioners and devotees.
“It can accommodate up to 200, but for safety, we only allow 120 people on board,” Mariano told the Inquirer shortly before the pagoda procession started.
Fernando, as hermano mayor, led hundreds of local folks who braved the rains as they joined, celebrated and watched the pagoda sailed again in the town’s river.
“We strive for patience, understanding, humility and responsibility. We continue our devotion amidst war and conflicts countries face during these times, a power against another, the current political disunity in our country. Let us continue our prayer for our country,” he said.
Rising from tragedy
The Feast of The Holy Cross in Bocaue is celebrated every first Sunday of July, commemorating the time when the Holy Cross was found during a typhoon in 1850 and saved residents from drowning. Every first Sunday of July thereafter, local folk would hold a fluvial procession at the Bocaue River using a pagoda that carried the Holy Cross.
However, on July 2, 1993, on the eve of the last day of the nine-day novena before the actual fluvial procession, close to 300 devotees on board the pagoda drowned when the structure capsized.
Since then, no any grandiose pagoda had sailed again in Bocaue’s waters. But 21 years later in 2014, municipal, Church leaders and parishioners brought back the festivity in the waters during the Feast of “Mahal na Krus sa Wawa” on belief that graces and blessings would again pour in the town.
Ruben Mercado, a prominent local businessman, sponsored the return of the pagoda that year to ignite the return of the economic, social and cultural progress and development in Bocaue.
