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Fiesta as cultural blending

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Today is Nov. 25 and it is the fiesta of Dumaguete City in honor of Santa Catalina–actually referring to St. Catherine de Alexandria (Egypt).

Fiesta or pista, as a Catholic practice, is historically traced to Spanish influence, which was then employed to hasten the religious conversion of the natives. Historians and anthropologists explained that Spanish friars had capitalized on fiestas as festive celebrations to draw in people from outside the town to participate in religious processions and related church activities.

At present, fiesta is not only celebrated in cities and towns, but also in the remotest barrios or barangays.

It is interesting to note how barrios have always a chapel or kapilya, and this means the presence of a patron saint, and that a fiesta is being celebrated sometime during the year.

The chapel is usually maintained by the elderly, especially women, and lay ministers. During the annual fiesta in a remotest barrio, and maybe the only time in the year, a priest would come to officiate mass, as well as to give the sacraments of baptism and matrimony.

Thus, the pista and the kapilya are unifying cultural elements of a Catholic community.

But how did fiestas evolve? Why does a devout Catholic really save up, or even borrow money for feasting? What are the secular functions of fiestas for it to be kept as a tradition?

Like some South American countries colonized by Spain, fiestas were easily accepted by pre-hispanic Filipinos who were incidentally labeled as “pagan” because they worshipped several gods and goddesses. They were regarded as monotheistic but they actually also believed on someone supreme or makagagáhum which in Tagalog is called Bathala (god) or Maykapal (creator). The lesser gods were collectively called anito which include nature-spirits and those of deceased ancestors–a manifestation of animism.

The pre-hispanic Filipinos held regular ritual offerings in thanksgiving, or for appeasing the gods who, they believed, may have been offended.

For example, when harvest was bountiful, they would have a feast to honor the gods; which they would also do when harvest was poor — to ask for better harvest the next season.

The association between food production and feasting may explain why ritual offerings were commonly-held after harvest, which coincided with the dry season and when they were not preoccupied.

The accommodation of two religious practices by pre-hispanic Filipinos after their conversion to Catholicism did not seem to be a burden to them at all, perhaps due to political pressure or for mere convenience.

Since the intent for the ritual offering that involved feasting was almost the same as that with the fiesta, it was easy for what they regarded as supreme-being and lesser gods to be replaced by the Christian God and the saints, respectively.

Meanwhile, the influence of the saints to Catholics, particularly among the elderly, is also noted by the baptismal names given to babies.

For example, the name Catalina is common among those whose birthday is Nov. 25. And because of their extraordinary deeds when they were yet alive, the saints were considered as mediators or intercessors between God and the faithful.

At present, feasting is not anymore an obligation among Catholics; in fact, lavishness is discouraged. But several personal stories are shared why they continue to spend a huge amount for the occasion, like what is observed during Christmas and New Year.

For many Catholics, celebrating fiestas or coming home from a distant place just to participate in the festivities is, for many, a panaad (promise) to the Almighty. It is an act of thanksgiving, and more than just a tradition without sentimental meanings and later, sustained as an inherited practice from the deceased parents.

Certainly, the religious angle of fiestas, as manifested here, is similar to what the early Filipinos had before Catholicism was introduced to the country.

You may have noticed, as anthropologists have, that celebrating fiestas is also a way of strengthening or building social networks, bonding with relatives who had been away for some time, and a means for redistributing resources through feasting.

And since fiestas have latently become an occasion for displaying possessions and achievements, they have likewise become an avenue for revalidating or reinforcing social status.

Political alliances are likewise noticed during fiesta celebrations, particularly when elections are approaching.

Thus, fiestas as a cultural complex have hosts who may be primarily inspired by its religious meaning, but who are also driven by the social, economic, and political functions shared by others.

Tensions, however, are noticed because the lavish preparation for fiestas and the attendant merriment — which offers business opportunities to some that you may have noticed infront of the Cathedral Church or around the City plaza — have seemingly dominated their original and primary reason: religious event.

In one barrio fiesta I attended, the priest celebrating the mass was so frustrated to see only a handful of churchgoers, as compared to the number who went to the public dance, or the coronation of the fiesta queen the previous night, or the cockfight throughout the day.

Although today’s fiesta is a cultural blending of pre-hispanic religious practices and official Catholicism as well as the sacred and the secular, it does not actually make it any less Christian because the sacred theme is not totally lost but is kept alive by the elderly or by those who really appreciate its full meaning as a form of religious reverence.
Today’s fiesta is an expression of the creativity and flexibility of Filipinos.

Also, you must have noticed that the fiesta is not exclusively a Catholic event now, considering that those who enjoyed and benefited from it in different ways include non-Catholics.

Happy fiesta Santa Catalina! And happy birthday to our beloved Mama Catalina Oracion!

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