By Sister Mary Moylan SSC

Sister Mary Moylan, who worked before in the London Filipino Chaplaincy, writes about the Euro-Santacruzan, when Filipinos living in Europe walked in procession from Hyde Park to BatterseaPark, London, England, in 1997. Each year the festival is celebrated in a different European city.

One of the most colorful May processions in the Philippines is the Santacruzan. A popular devotion brought by early Spanish missionaries, it is based on the legendary Finding of the Holy Cross in 4th century Jerusalem by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, at the end of a long pilgrimage-search.

The Santacruzan

Today’s Santacruzan procession continues to include Helena, as Santa Elena, and the boy Emperor Constantine, combining the memory of that pilgrimage with the Flores de Mayo, the Philippine devotion honoring Our Lady with floral offerings. She has a special place in Filipino hearts.

The zagalas, beautiful young ladies in magnificent dresses, walk in procession under arches of flowers, accompanied by their escorts dressed in the traditional Barong Tagalog. At the end of the procession, with music and prayer, each zagala offers her garland of flowers to Our Lady.

Santacruzan in London

For several years on the last Sunday of May, London’s East End Filipino community, led by the hard-working Pia Mujer and the organizing committee of the Rosary Crusade, have continued the Santacruzan tradition.

The police escorting the procession through the street traffic compliment the organizers on the good order they achieve. ‘Your demonstrations are always so peaceful. We never have trouble with them. We really like them.’

Filipino migrants working in Europe have celebrated the Euro-Santacruzan festival for many years now in different countries. In 1997, London was chosen as the venue. Visitors came from Italy and Germany, Austria and Switzerland, France, Spain, theNetherlands and Belgium. They were welcomed and hosted by Filipino families in London. Jay Ibot was the overall organizer of the three-day festivities.

A great back-up team included Linda Roxas and her husband Cesar, of Couples for Christ (CFC), and the Filipino chaplaincy in the Archdiocese of Westminster, London. Ester Limot-Limot was behind all the careful preparations for the lovely closing Mass in Battersea Park.

Bring back the Faith

On the Saturday prayer groups across London met for a day of prayer in the basement of Our Lady of Victories Church, Kensington. Fr Albert Alejo, a young Jesuit from Mindanao who is in London studying Cultural Anthropology, spoke on the theme ‘The Spiritual Role of Euro-Filipinos toward the Third Millenium.’ He recalled the words of Pope John Paul II in Maniladuring World Youth Day 1995: ‘The faith was brought by Spanish missionaries to the Philippines 400 years ago. Now it is thePhilippines’ turn to bring back the faith to Europe.’

Spreading the Gospel

There was no mistaking the high level of energy among the participants who shared their experiences of migration and adaptation. They were overjoyed to have their experiences of lived faith confirmed. God was felt to be very present in their lives. Despite all the hard work and homesickness in a foreign country, His Providence is very real. So is the sense of God’s call to mission, and deep gratitude for His blessings. Filipinos in Europe are spreading the gospel by the example of their lives, and as Bishop John Patrick Crowley of Middlesbrough says, ‘By their smiles, their greatest gift to London.’

Mystery of the Cross

Father Albert reminded his mga kababayan that they had come to find a livelihood, not a way of dying. The hard truth is that many overwork – and even die – in the effort to send money home to their families. The costs of migration, the suffering and the pain of loss, have to be acknowledged. Their coming together to celebrate the Santacruzan suggests that the challenge now is to discover in our times the mystery of human suffering, the mystery of the cross.

In the course of the day young British Filipinos met their counterparts from continental Europe for a youth forum and exchange of experiences. The Festival was a time for linking up with friends from many places and for making new ones.

Filipino migrants today are scattered worldwide. We Columbans who worked in Pangasinan were delighted to spot in the procession a banner from Toronto, Canada, honoring Our Lady of Manaoag.

A public religious procession through the streets of London is such a rarity that a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) team attracted by the CFC banner of Our Lady wanted to interview them along the route. Clearly, a new sense of God’s call and God’s providence emerged during the festival in the shared experience of being migrants.

As Father Albert said, ‘Not one of you is here in England by accident.’