Easter Sunday "Salubong"

Easter morning or Linggo ng Pagkabuhay is marked with joyous celebration, the first being the dawn ceremony called the Salubong. Images of the Resurrected Christ and the Virgin Mary, are brought in procession together to meet at a designated area called a "Galilea", usually located at the plaza fronting the church or beside the river. It plays out the imagined reunion of Jesus and his mother Mary after the Resurrection. In some locales, statues of other saints involved in the Resurrection narrative accompany them, such as San Pedro Apostol and Sta. Maria Magdalena, as well as San Juan Evanghelista.

Santa Maria Magdalena

San Juan Evanghelista

The Moment where an angel removes the black veil of Mary.
Showing the transformation of the Virgin Mary to
Nuestra Señora de Alegria

The Virgin Mary is clothed or at least veiled in black to express bereavement. A girl dressed as an angel, positioned on a specially constructed high platform/scaffold or suspended in mid-air, sings the Regina Coeli in Latin or a local language and then dramatically removes the black veil, signifying the end of her grieving. This is accomplished by the angel simply pulling off the veil, or by tying it to balloons or doves and releasing these into the air. The Virgin is then transformed into the Nuestra Señora de Alegria, or Our Lady of Joy. The moment is marked by pealing bells and fireworks, followed by the procession or an Easter Mass that begins right after sunrise either at 6 or 7 in the morning. In some parishes however the pratice is done on midnight of Easter Sunday after the Easter Virgil the night before.

3 angels appeared

3 Angels singing the Regina Coeli

Meeting of the Virgin Mary and the Resurrected Christ

Procession towards the church begins

Procession at Mabini St. near the church

Infront of the church

The Resurrected Christ