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Sariaya will be celebrating the town fiesta on Sunday, September 14, 2008, in honor of its beloved icon, the 18th century Santo Cristo de Burgos, fondly addressed locally as “Ang Mahal Na Senyor”. Unlike last year’s festivities that saw a grand, week-long flurry of activities culminating in the one-of-a-kind solemn declaration of the 1748 church as the “Shrine of the Santissimo Santo Cristo de Burgos”, officiated by none other than His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the Archbishop of Cebu, everything will just be simple on its first anniversary.
On the night of September 12, Friday, there will be a boxing tournament at Sariaya Sports Complex, to be facilitated by the Kapatirang Pambayan ng Sariaya Foundation , Inc. (KASAFI) in cooperation with the Local Government Unit of Sariaya. This boxing tournament is open for Sariayahin residents only. “Arya Awitan”, an amateur singing contest, will be held in front of the the Municipio on the night of September 13, Saturday, which likewise will be open for all Sariayahins.
In the early hours of September 14, the residents will be roused from their sleep by the pealing of the church bells, as well as the lively sound of the “Banda ng Musiko” that will be roaming around town to ring in the festive atmosphere of the occasion. Masses will be held at 5:30, 7 and 8:30 am, with the influx of the revered icon’s devotees, even from neighboring towns and other localities, swelling the church capacity for the high mass at 10 in the morning, to be officiated by Lucena Diocese Bishop Emilio Z. Marquez. Afternoon masses would then follow at 3, 4:30 and 6 pm with the procession to be held at 4:30 pm after the 3 o’clock Children’s mass.
In addition, the revered icon San Pablo Apostol (St. Paul the Apostle) will be arriving on a vehicle from Tayabas town, escorted by a group led by Diocesan Chancellor Rev. Msgr. Mariano P. Melicia, Jr. P.A. to the appointed meeting place with their Sariayahin counterparts, near the Police Outpost at Calle Pablo corner General Luna. From there, it will be brought into a holy procession turning left at its corner with Calle Valderas proceeding westwards to the junction with Calle Rizal, then southwards to Calle General Luna en route to the church. A holy mass will be held in the saint’s honor at 3 pm to be celebrated by the Diocesan Chancellor, with Parish Priest Rev. Msgr. Melecio V. Verastigue, Rev. Msgr. Alex Oracion and Rev. Fr. Maano, before it heads for its namesake locality of San Pablo City, Laguna. This is in accordance with the Jubilee Year celebration declared by Pope Benedict XVI starting from June 29, 2008 to June 29, 2009, surrounding the 2,000th year anniversary of St. Paul’s birth. The nuns of St. Paul will be arriving to highlight the life and times of their beloved father saint to the Sariayahin faithful, with a power point presentation before the Holy Mass. Commemorative t shirts, prayer books, comic strips, and other items specially dedicated to him will be placed for sale on tables at the church entrance.
The novena masses for the Santissimo Santo Cristo de Burgos has been going on since Saturday, September 6th, which is broadcast live on Channel 3 Sariaya Cable Network (SCAN). A camera man is posted atop the church pulpit to cover the daily proceedings for the whole Sariayahin Catholic community. After each novena mass, a personal testimony was delivered by a Sariayahin devotee whose life had been touched by the “continuing miracles” of the “Mahal Na Senyor”.
And as always, Calle Rizal Ibaba from the Calle Mayor to Calle Gomez was closed to vehicular traffic care of the traditional “Perya”, which as of this writing (Friday afternoon, September 12th) has spread to its parallel area with the western side of Quezon Avenue, together with a few isolated makeshift stalls reaching the Calle Gomez – Quezon Avenue junction into the southeast and the Calle Bonifacio - Daliz intersection to the west. The now vacant lot of the erstwhile ruined Don Ernesto Gala house, now a much missed landmark of the 1961 town fire, contains the carnival rides that never failed to be full of the predominantly happy-go-lucky young souls screaming their thrilled and excited hearts out well into those late rainless nights. The local market scene nowadays is one of extra especial activity, what with a sudden increase in the number of enterprising people ready to cash in on the maddening rush typical of Sariayahins about to celebrate the town fiesta, even in these hard times. And come Sunday, the sumptuous tables will be filled with glorious food and sinful desserts once again, enticing the guests to partake even more and more of the still “legendary” hospitality so typical of this way of life, that inspired inherent Tagalog vocabulary as the “Bulyada”, and expressions as the “Patay baboy, patay baka”, aptly delivered and enunciated with that characteristic lilt that is definitely and unmistakably from Sariaya.
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