Highlights
- Many Filipinos hold true to their faith
- With over 10 million FIlipinos living or working outside the Philippines, the church is often the first place where you may find Filipinos
- Every month of May, various sagala and santacruzan are being held to celebrate the May Flower Festival, just like some Filipino communities in NSW.
About 300-400 people are expected to attend the Flores de Mayo celebration in the Waitara area, north of Sydney this coming Sunday, May 9.
"This year, we want our celebration to be a little bit bigger because this year is the 500th year of Christianity in the Philippines," shares Deacon Roberto Corpuz from Broken Bay Parish.
Colourful Santacruzan
Apart from the upcoming Flores de Mayo celebration in Waitara, several groups of Filipinos in western Sydney already held their Santacruzan.
In Rosemeadow, NSW, at the inaugural Mayflower Festival organised by Lakas Filipina Inc., several members of the Filipino community took part in the colourful flower parade.
The event, featuring several ladies dressed as queens or princesses, along with their consorts, and children dressed in angels, is being held to recognise the major role that Mother Mary plays in the Catholic faith.
A similar parade was also held in Penrith to give emphasis of Flores de Mayo's relevance to Filipinos.
'Queen Helena' and her consorts at the May Flower Festival celebration of the Filipino community in Rosemeadow as organised by Lakas Filipina Inc. on May 1. Source: Lakas Filipina Inc.
"Filipinos have a strong devotion to Mama Mary. Because May is Mama Mary's and every May, in the Philippines, many flowers are in bloom which we can pick from our gardens," explains Deacon Corpuz.
Santacruzan is a religious-historical parade which started in mid 1800s and was first held in the Philippines in Malolos, Bulacan. The event gives honour to Queen Helena of Constantinople and her son Constantine the Great who were believed to have found the True Cross, which is said to be the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.
Strong faith
About 10-million Filipinos work or live in about 160 countries around the world. The church is where Filipinos would often go, especially if they are new to the country or area.
"We can never abandon our faith."
"When you go abroad and you want to meet or see fellow Filipinos, you should go to church, and surely, there you would see a Filipino - either attending the service or helping in the church or a member of the choir," Corpuz firmly points.
"That is how we show our faith. We demonstrate, we witness our faith. At nanggaling ‘yan sa ating mga ninuno 500 years ago so gusto nating itaguyod ‘yung ating pananampalataya."
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