🙏 A Tradition Written in Blood: Repentance Through Pain

✝️ "Where faith is worn like armor, and repentance is written in blood."

🩸 A Sacred Sight: Men & Women Repenting Through Pain

If you've ever been to Marinduque during Holy Week, you might find yourself caught off guard by a raw, emotional sight:

Men—and even some women—walking barefoot through hot pavement, whipping themselves as an act of repentance.

They wear crowns of thorns, cover their heads with white cloth, and use wooden rods—usually marked with numbers—to hit the wounds they first inflict with razor blades. Each strike is done in rhythm. Some count aloud, others just grit their teeth through the pain.

As blood drips down their backs, no one flinches. No one screams.

It’s not a performance.

It’s a deep, personal expression of faith and sacrifice.

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🔪 The Process

It begins with a self-inflicted cut using a razor blade, usually across the back shoulders, arms and legs. Then, using a bundle of wooden rods, they begin to beat the wound over and over again. Some are soaked in red, others lightly bruised—but all are doing it to seek forgiveness for their sins from the past year.

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📏 The Meaning Behind the Rods

When I was a child, my Nanay once explained something I never forgot:

🪵 “The number of wooden rods a penitent carries represents how many years they promise to do this form of sacrifice.”

So if you see someone carrying a rod with more sticks, it’s not just random—it’s a vow.

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🌊 The Sea as a Sacred Healer

When the procession ends, many of them head straight to the beach. According to Nanay, this is where they soak themselves in saltwater to help cleanse the wounds.

Thinking about it now, I can almost feel the sting—that sharp, salty pain as the sea touches the open cuts. But perhaps, that too, is part of the offering.

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🕯️ Why Do They Do It?

These acts of self-flagellation are rooted in Catholic penance.
Many believe that by physically punishing themselves, they are:

• Cleansing their sins
• Honoring Jesus’ suffering
• Fulfilling a panata (vow) for a prayer that was answered

Some do this in silence. Others pray as they walk.
The atmosphere during these processions is solemn, spiritual, and humbling.

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😳 My Personal Experience

 It's a haunting and humbling sight—men, and sometimes women, walking barefoot, their backs dripping with real blood, striking themselves with wooden rods as an act of deep repentance.

I remember the first time I saw this as a child.  I was scared, confused, and couldn’t look away. All I could think was: “Why are they hurting themselves?”

But as I grew older, I began to understand that this isn’t violence—this is devotion in its rawest form.

It’s not for show. In fact, most of them don't want to be photographed or filmed. This moment is between them and God.

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🙏 More Than a Show of Faith
This isn’t just tradition. It’s not for spectacle.

It’s a profound expression of guilt, penance, and hope—a raw and painful plea for mercy.

And whether you’re a believer or an observer, it’s impossible not to be moved by the faith and sacrifice poured into every drop of blood.

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🕯️ Tips for Visitors:

• 🧻 Bring tissues or a handkerchief. Some scenes can be emotional or intense.
• 🙇‍♀️ Be respectful. Don’t laugh, stare, or take photos without consent.
• 🩹 If you’re queasy, step back. But try to witness it once—it may change how you see devotion.
• 📍 This usually happens on Good Friday during the afternoon processions in many towns across Marinduque.

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💭 Seeing this for the first time may shock you—but it will also make you reflect. In a world where faith can feel so quiet, Marinduque’s Holy Week reminds us how loud devotion can be.

These men and women aren’t asking for applause.

They’re walking with their pain, offering it to something far greater than themselves.

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💬 Have you witnessed Holy Week in the provinces? Or experienced a local tradition that moved you? Share your story in the comments—I’d love to hear how faith is expressed in your hometown.