On Maundy Thursday of Holy Week an estimated three million Filipino Roman Catholic pilgrims walk from Manila to the suburban community of Antipolo, a distance of some 20 miles.   

Many walk an equal distance home the following day. The religious procession begins at 3 p.m. and continues in a flood of pedestrians until 3 a.m., at which time the stream begins to reverse.  

Hundreds of thousands of them walk down the Ortigas Extension, in the province of Rizal, following the narrow two lane road that passes directly in front of the Asian Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary gate, at a rate of 1,000 pilgrims per minute.  

Many carry candles, statues of Mary or other saints, praying their rosaries, or stopping at make-shift shrines for prayer and meditation. Vendors selling food, drinks, and sandals line the route. The worshippers continue until they arrive at the religious park on a hillside near downtown Antipolo, the center of conservative Catholicism in the Philippines where the stages of the cross are featured, culminating in worship at the White Cross at its highest point.  

Tens of thousands congregate and sleep on the ground in the plaza, fronting the local Cathedral. Many testify that they don't really know why they do this pilgrimage, other than that it is a major social occasion.

APNTS has taken this ritual as an excellent opportunity for evangelism. Students and staff offer plastic baglets of water to the thousands of pilgrims while exhibiting the movie The Passion of Christ and other Christian film features to the passersby.  

Many stop to rest in the driveway of the seminary, absorbing the dramatic presentation of Christ's death. The seminary has been serving this community in this way for the past several years.

On Good Friday, a group of doctoral students, studying Theology of Compassion conducted by Fletcher Tink, a visiting professor at APNTS, drove to the province of Pampanga to watch the tradition of flagellation, which involves devout men flailing their backs with whips until their punctures - sliced by cut glass - bleed openly.  

The men then present themselves at various crucifixions, provided in several small town locations, before the cross of Christ, where men and women are physically crucified with two inch nails hammered through their hands and feet.   

These volunteers remain on their cross for about 10 minutes before they are removed and medicated for their wounds. According to a local newspaper report, 27 such volunteers were crucified this Good Friday, including two women, ages 22 and 50.

When asked why they engage in this exhibition of suffering, the volunteers offered answers that varied from "an expression of thankfulness for some miracle in the past", to "payment for sins committed", to identifying  "with the sufferings of Christ", to "hope for miracles in the future." One crucified man believed this would make him a great religious leader. Another has participated in this practice for 25 years. 
 
The Roman Catholic Church disavows these acts of self-mutilation. It seems, however, to be a growing tradition among some elements of folk Catholicism as now it attracts thousands of observers and the press from around the world. 

In contrast, the Angeles City Church of the Nazarene, under their long-term pastor (46 years), Angelito Agbuya, dispersed two inch nails to his congregation prior to Holy Week and asked the members to share the meaning of Christ's death to their friends, or stories about God's work in their own lives, even in suffering.  

On Easter Sunday evening, the congregation testified about their witness throughout the city, triggered by the symbol of the nails, quite a contrast to the bloody rites conducted nearby.  

The following related video is courtesy of the Asia-Pacific Region:

Panata (English) from Asia-Pacific Nazarene on Vimeo.