The famous Lenten rites of San Fernando where penitents are nailed on the cross originate from this play staged every Holy Week depicting the Passion of Christ.
SINÁKULU • (sih-NAH-koo-loo)
Passion play, a Filipino dramatization of the life, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ
Tagálog (Filipino): senákulo
Etymology
Spanish cenáculo “cenacle, room in Jerusalem traditionally held to be the site of The Last Supper”,
< Latin cēnāculum (“dining room”), from cēna (“dinner”)
Origins of San Fernando’s Lenten Rites
The re-enactment of Christ’s crucifixion that is practiced each year in the City of San Fernando originated in 1955 with the staging of “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross), the only Kapampangan piece on the passion of the Christ written by an amateur, Ricardo Navarro.
It was only in 1962 that the barangay first witnessed an actual crucifixion during the play. The Christ was portrayed by Artemio Anoza, a resident of nearby Apalit town and a quack doctor who dreamt that he would become a religious leader and full-fledged healer. Wanting to realize this dream, he volunteered himself to be crucified as a sacrifice.
Since then, not a year passed without an actual crucifixion taking place during the reenactment that has now been joined in by many penitents as a “panata” or vow of sacrifice.
Source:
https://cityofsanfernando.gov.ph/forvisitors/maleldo
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