Quiapo and Antipolo, Connected Places for Performing Panata: An Analysis on the Idea of Commutatio and Transitio in the Study of Alay Lakad in the Philippines

Mark Inigo  M. Tallara,

Quiapo and Antipolo, Connected Places for Performing Panata: An Analysis on the Idea of Commutatio and Transitio in the Study of Alay Lakad in the Philippines

Abstract:

This paper focuses on Quiapo and Antipolo as a connected place for performing Catholic religious practices. The discussion explores Alay Lakad or penitential walk as a form of panata or sacred vow to the Black Nazarene of Quiapo and to the Black Virgin Mary of Antipolo. What makes the two places very popular for Catholic devotional practices? What draws many devotees to penitential walking? This paper argues that Alay Lakad as two distinct events that are “in season” and “out of season” in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. Moreover, this religious practice is very popular for many devotees to perform their personal and collective panata. The discussion highlights the presupposition of this study that: (1) devotees are using the symbolism of kalooban to account for their religious experience; and (2) as a form of panata and the recognition for their utang na loob or debt of gratitude, devotees in return are joining the Alay Lakad. This study is ethnohistorical. It traces the origin of the Quiapo-Antipolo penitential walk. The first part focuses on the re-enactment of the “transferring of the image of the Black Virgin Mary” that was temporarily enshrined in Quiapo Church; and the “retuning of the image” back to Antipolo Church in 1945. The second part of the analysis examines the more recent religious practice held every eve of Good Friday of the Holy Week known as the Alay LakadVisita Iglesia. The main argument and focus of this study are consistent with the theoretical and conceptual discussion on how substituting a sacred site or commutatio (Tallara, 2020) in performing Alay Lakad and the suspension of time or transitio (Turner, 1969) are crucial to the devotee’s motivation and how the changes on performing the Alay Lakad contributed to the interconnectedness and continuity of Catholic practices in the Philippines.