A beloved Filipino tradition makes its first appearance in Pahoa this weekend as Sacred Heart Parish hosts Santacruzan on Memorial Day.
A pageant and celebration that follows the monthlong Flores de Mayo festivities, the Santacruzan commemorates St. Helena’s finding of the cross on a pilgrimage to Jersualem. St. Helena, or Reyna Elena, was the mother of Byzantine emperor Constantine.
Flores de Mayo is itself a celebration of the Virgin Mary, and has taken place in the Philippines since the mid 19th century.
Event coordinator Iris Gil Viacrusis grew up in the Philippines and has helped with Santacruzans in Honolulu, but Sacred Heart’s festival is a first for the parish.
The procession is “sort of like Merrie Monarch, with the royal court,” Viacrusis said. “She (Reyna Elena) is actually carrying the cross.” Viacrusis is well-versed in the Merrie Monarch royal court: He designs the queen’s dress.
Sacred Heart’s Santacruzan features 29 different queens. Per tradition, some of the queens symbolize a different aspect of Biblical history and of Christianity’s history in the Philippines. Others represent the many titles of Mary herself.
“We try to have it as intercultural as possible,” Viacrusis said. Traditional Santacruzan processions include a queen representing the Philippines’ indigenous people, the Aeda, as well as a Muslim queen (Islam arrived in the Philippines before Christianity did).
“In this case, because we’re here in Hawaii, I’m actually adding an alii,” Viacrusis said.
“They’ll be dressed in regal attire, with the crown and everything,” he said. “That’s where I come in.”
Viacrusis’ design studio has been busy the past few weeks as he helps Santacruzan participants alter and enhance their dresses to be festival-ready. Some people are renting gowns from him, while others opt for their own formal wear.
Younger children also participate. Eight girls in the role of angels form a small group, and the queens have their own accompanying angels as well. Reyna Elena is escorted by a boy playing Constantine.
Because the parade takes place on Memorial Day, Viacrusis hopes veterans will also be able to participate.
“We want to honor them as well,” he said.
The procession begins at the Pahoa community center at 9 a.m. and continues down Pahoa Village Road to the Sacred Heart church. Before Mass begins at 11 a.m., the cross will be presented to Sacred Heart’s priest, the Rev. Gregorio Apuya. Lunch and a fiesta will follow Mass, Viacrusis said.
“Everybody’s invited,” Viacrusis said. In the Philippines, he said, the Santacruzan is typically celebrated by the whole town.
Viacrusis sees the festival as a counterpoint to the challenges Pahoa has faced in the past year, from hurricanes to lava flow. Santacruzan provides an opportunity to reflect and to focus on the future.
“We kind of wanted to have that engagement with the community, to be sort of a Thanksgiving,” Viacrusis said. “Things could have been a lot worse.”
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com