Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pahoa will celebrate Santacruzan and Flores de Mayo on May 14 with a procession through the village.
Santacruzan is a religious holiday traditionally celebrated throughout the month of May, honoring the mother of King Constantinople, Queen Helena, and her role in bringing Christianity to the Philippines.
Since May also is the month Christians dedicate to honoring the Virgin Mary, this year’s Pahoa event will commemorate Flores de Mayo, or Flowers of Mary.
The procession through the village will take place after a 4:30 p.m. Mass at Sacred Heart Church. It will start at Sacred Heart Church, then onto Pahoa Village Road and end on Kauhale Street at the Pahoa Community Center.
Spectators can expect to see a colorful pageant procession, with women dressed in their finest attire carrying symbols of the Santacruzan, escorted by men under hand-carried bamboo arches adorned with flowers.
The women and men will represent various historical-religious figures detailing the search of the Holy Cross by Queen Helena and her son, the newly converted emperor Constantine the Great, and the return of the Holy Cross from Jerusalem to Rome. An emcee will narrate the procession and the re-enactment of this pilgrimage.
The procession will feature statues of the Virgin Mary and Our Lady of Grace and also include ethnic dances of the different cultures in the Hawaiian Islands.
Nine days of prayer, or a novena, in honor of the Holy Cross precedes Santacruzan and Flores de Mayo. Introduced by Spaniards, the festival has since become part of the Filipino traditions identified with youth, love and romance.
The Sacred Heart Church community hopes to make the Santacruzan and the Flores de Mayo Festival a tradition for Pahoa Village.
For more information, contact the Sacred Heart Church at 965-8202 or email shpahoa@hotmail.com.
