Flores de Mayo procession to the sea, Bugasong, Philippines

Across the Philippine archipelago, a tradition known as Flores de Mayo, a daily offering of flowers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, is observed throughout the month of May. Typically the celebration culminates with a Santacruzan, a grand finale that, as its Spanish name implies, ties in a very different theological theme — the discovery of the True Cross by Reyna Elena, or St. Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine.

In Bugasong's Barangay Illaures, the youth and elders celebrated their own way. They processed a statue of Mary from San Marcial Chapel to the beach at Barangay Madarag. The image of Mary was secured to a floating bamboo raft, just offshore, and the group prayed the Rosary from onshore. After the Rosary was finished, the statue of Mary was brought to a fishing boat, along with two sacks of dried flowers gathered from the month’s offerings to Mary at San Marcial. The boat traveled along the shore while youth tossed the dried flowers to the sea. Afterwards, the participants shared in an agape feast, dancing and swimming.

Later that day, the people of Barangay Ilaures held a Santacruzan, part religious feast and part beauty pageant, to mark the finale of Flores de Mayo and celebrate the finding of the True Cross by Reyna Elena.

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This video was filmed by Arnulfo Valderama Fortunado for Catholics & Cultures, an initiative of the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Learn more at www.catholicsandcultures.org