2014 Sugat sa Guadalupe (Contributed Photo/Mandaue City PIO)
As early as 1 a.m. last Sunday, thousands of people trooped to the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Our Lady of Guadalupe in Cebu City to watch the “sugat” or Easter Sunday dawn procession.
Over 100 children were dressed as angels. On a stage decorated to look like the sky, four little girls were suspended in air to give the illusion of flying .
This was the backdrop for the climax of a two-hour musical which started at 2 a.m. and featured original compositions.
“Sugat” which is Cebuano for meeting is the traditional reenactment of the meeting of the risen Christ and his grieving mother, Mary, in religious processions.
Socrates Fernandez, Talisay City councilor, opened the event with a 30-minute reflection on this year’s theme, “Ang Kopa sa Kasakit” (The Cup of Suffering).
Devotees led by Msgr. Jose Montecillo accompanied the image of the resurrected Christ in a procession that started at the Guadalupe-Banawa corner. The carroza or carriage carrying the Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother) started from sitio Sandayong, behind the Guadalupe church, led by Fr. Ian Delos Santos, the parochial vicar.
Montecillo, the parish priest, had staged grand Easter Sunday productions before when he was assigned in Pardo, Cebu City and in Argao town before his Guadalupe assignment.
A big video screen at the right of the stage allowed spectators to get a good view. It ended with a dance representing elements of earth, land, air, water and fire, then fireworks.
The event is part of parish efforts to raise funds to complete a convent.
Liza Labiste, 56, of Green Village, Guadalupe, said she woke up at midnight, her routine for the past five years on Easter Sunday to catch the grand presentation. This time, she brought her young granddaughter who was excited to watch the little girls play the role of angels.
She said it was a family tradition.
“We offer to God our sacrifice of waking up early,” she said.