FLUVIAL PROCESSION. Catholic devotees join a traditional fluvial procession in Malolos City, Bulacan on Sunday (May 29, 2022). Boatloads of local residents and some foreign tourists participated in the event that was revived after two years of Covid-19 restrictions. (Photo by Manny Balbin)
CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan – Thousands of Catholic devotees gathered Sunday for the traditional fluvial procession here which was resumed after being halted for two years due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
Eduardo Cabigao, chair of Barangay Caliligawan, said the city’s coastal villages of Caliligawan, Namayan, Masile, Babatnin, and Pamarawan, under the parochial parish church of Stella Maris, resumed the celebration of the Ascension of Christ in Heaven through the fluvial procession along part of Manila Bay here.
The participating villages had their own fluvial “carosa” bearing the statue of the Ascending Christ, followed by boatloads of local residents and some foreign tourists.
Before the voyage, a Holy Mass was held at the Stella Maris Parish Church.
The Cursillo Movement of the Diocese of Malolos in Barangay Namayan initiated the fluvial procession to ask for God’s intervention against the dwindling catch of marginalized fisherfolk in the coastal villages due to the effects of pollution and climate change.
Former Optical Media Board chairperson and Malolos City mayor-elect Christian D. Natividad joined the devotees in the event.
The fluvial procession is one among the many age-old traditions still being practiced and observed in Bulacan. (PNA)
