The management of Mount Calvary is not expecting a large crowd to visit this holy week due to the absence of major activities usually practiced by devotees.
Fr. Jasper Tabangay, parish priest of San Antonio de Padua-Tagburos Quasi-Parish, which supervises activities in Mt. Calvary every Holy Week, said that the venue is still not allowing large activities in the area except for the Station of the Cross, which will be conducted by the Catholic church on Good Friday. He added that the activity will start from Honda Bay to Calvary at 4:00 a.m.
“Yong activities lang na iyon ang pinayagan at mga misa sa chapel. Maliban sa nabanggit ay wala nang iba. Pwede naman pumunta sa calvary sa umaga at hapon ngayong week na ito para magdasal at magnilay ng personal sa mga istasyon at sa chapel,” Tabangay said.
Tabangay said that the parish wants to limit the crowd to avoid the flock of visitors. The devotees may have their prayers in the area and join the parishes doing sacred activities during Holy Week. It can be recalled that it was temporarily closed for visitors starting in 2020 in observance of the increase of COVID-19 cases in the city.
Devotees flock to Mt. Calvary every Maundy Thursday and Good Friday before the time of the pandemic, where thousands of locals pray and visit the stations of the cross as part of the observance of Holy Week.
“Pwede naman pumunta sa Calvary for personal prayer at may kanya-kanya naman parokya na nagsasagawa ng mga banal na gawain at doon na muna sila mag-join,” he added.
