Moriones Festival 2014 Schedule of Activities

Moriones Festival is an annual religious festival held during Holy Week (starting Palm Sunday up to Easter Sunday) in my home province- Marinduque. During the Holy Week, the streets of Marinduque come alive with scary-looking masked people who are decked in a replica of the garb of biblical Roman soldiers.

photograph by: pinoyAdventurista 

The festival re-enacts the seven-day search for  Longinus. Men and women wearing mask and costumes replicating the looks of a Roman Centurion are called Moriones/Morions. They usually roams in the streets searching for Longinus, and  also serve as their way of "Panata"(devotion) or "Pagpapahirap sa Sarili"(penitence). Moriones came from the Spanish root-word morion which means mask.

The highlight and final event of the festival is the Pugutan- a theater presentation featuring the story of Longinus - Roman centurion who was blind in one eye, was one of the soldiers present at Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. When Longinus plunged his lance into the side of Christ to check if He was dead, a drop of Christ's blood splashed onto his blind eye and its sight was restored. Later, according to some versions of the legend, Longinus was also one of the guards at Christ's tomb, and was a witness to the Resurrection. These miracles impelled him to convert to Christianity, earning the ire of the authorities and leading to his arrest and execution.

Below is the unofficial festival schedule of activities in the Capital Town of the Province - Boac, Marinduque.

Moriones  Festival 2014  Schedule of Activities

APRIL 13, 2014 - PALM SUNDAY

• 5:00 am - Holy Mass
• 6:30 am - Holy Mass
• 7:00 am - Blessing of Palms| Hosanahan and Procession (a celebration of Christs Entry to Jerusalem)
• 8:00 am - Holy Mass
• 3:00 pm - Holy Mass
• 4:00 pm - General Station of the Cross

APRIL 14, 2014 - HOLY MONDAY

• 5:30 am - Holy Mass
• 7:00 am - Participation in the GRAND PARADE
• 8:00 am - Pilgrimage | Registration of all Morions                                                              
• 10:00 am-Opening of LEGIONS PHOTO EXHIBIT
• 10:00 am-Opening of the Marinduque Moriones Festival Trade Expo
• 3:00 pm  - Moriones Parade Around the town
• 6:30 pm - Morions Torch Parade (MISTAH)
• 7:00 pm - mass and Installation of New MISTAH Members

APRIL 15, 2014 - HOLY TUESDAY

• 4:00 am - Pagbasa ng Pasyon sa mga Barangay ng Boac
• 5:30 am - Holy Mass
• 7:00 am - Pagbasa ng Pasyon
• 8:00 am - Registration of Morions | Visita Iglesia to 7 Parachial Churches in the Province
• 9:00 am - Morion Parade
• 4:00 pm - Morion Parade

APRIL 16, 2014 - HOLY WEDNESDAY

• 5:30 am - Holy Mass
• 8:00 am - Participation in the GRAND PARADE | Community Parade of Costumes                   
• 10:00 am - Maskara Mo, Kulayan Mo
• 3:00 pm - Sacrament of Confession | Morion Parade
• 4:00 pm - Holy Mass
• 5:00 pm - Religious Procession
• 7:00 pm - SENAKULO

APRIL 17, 2014 - MAUNDY THURSDAY

• 5:00 am - Holy Mass
• 8:00 am - Chrism Mass  | Morion Parade | Battle of the Morions
• 10:00 am-Maskara Mo, Kulayan Mo
• 3:00 pm - Morion Parade
• 5:00 pm - Celebration of the Last Supper & Washing of Apostles Feet
• 6:00 pm - Start of Vigil at the Blessed Sacrament
• 7:00 pm - SENAKULO (The Last Supper)

APRIL 18, 2014  - GOOD FRIDAY

• 9:00 am - Via Crucis (Way of the Cross Re-Enacted along the street of Boac)
• 10:00 am-Maskara Mo, Kulayan Mo
• 1:00 pm -The Seven last Words
• 3:00 pm - Celebration of the Passion of Christ
• 4:00 pm - Veneration of the Holy Cross
• 5:00 pm - Religious Procession

APRIL 19, 2014  - BLACK SATURDAY

• 8:00 am - Survival Kabugsakan
• 9:00 am - Morion Parade
• 10:00 am-Maskara Mo, Kulayan Mo
• 3:00 pm - Morion Parade ( All Morion Groups)
• 7:00 pm - SENAKULO (The Beheading of Longhinus)
• 8:00 pm - Torch Parade
• 9:00 pm - Celebration of the Resurrection of Christ  | Blessing of Fire and Bonfire

APRIL 20, 2014 - EASTER SUNDAY

• 4:00 am - SALUBONG ( ritual and dance celebrating the appearance of the Risen Christ before the Blessed Mother
• 5:00 am - Holy Mass
• 6:30 am - Holy Mass
• 8:00 am - Holy Mass
• 9:00 am - CHASE OF LONGHINUS (Day Version) and Morion Parade
• 10:00 am- PUGUTAN SA ARAW NG LINGGO NG MULING PAGKABUHAY

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NOTE: The schedule above was based from previous year’s timeline of activities. The actual schedule will be updated once released by the festival organizers.

TRAVEL NOTES

Marinduque Province is composed of six (6) towns namely Mogpog, Sta. Cruz, Torrijos, Buenavista, Gasan, and Boac (the capital town). Take note that each town celebrates Moriones Festival; meaning festival can be watched in every town of the province.

Don't forget your camera! Moriones Festival is one of the most colorful religious festivals in the Philippines.

HOW TO GET THERE

By Land and Sea

• From Metro Manila, ride in a bus bound to Grand Central Terminal of Lucena City (Quezon) where passenger jeepneys and tricycles bound to Talao-Talao Port are available. To avoid the hassle of transferring from one transport to another, better to find buses with direct route to Talao-talao Port. Travel time from Metro Manila to Talao-talao Port is approximately 3-4 hours depending on traffic in Laguna and Quezon.

• From Talao-talao Port, there are RoRo vessels and fastcrafts with regular trip to the island province. Take note that there are 3 main ports in the province – Buyabod Pier (Sta. Cruz), Cawit Port (Boac), and Balanacan Port (Mogpog). Travel time ranges from 3-4 hours for RoRO and 2 – 2.5 hours if via fastcraft.

 By Air

• No airline servicing Manila-Marinduque route  as of the date this post was published.

Other Post|Travel Story About Marinduque:

• Poctoy White Beach of Torrijos, Marinduque

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