Kuraldal brings prayers 3 times faster to the Divine

SASMUAN, Pampanga–”A mixture of praying while dancing will find quick answer to what you’re wishing for to God three times faster.”
This is how Allan Marajgun, a devotee of Sasmuan’s Kuraldal Atlung Ari, explained why people from all walks of life gather in the more-than 400 years old feast.
Psalm 100:1-2 of the New International Version said “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.”
Marajgun, a native of Lubao town, 30 years old, started attending the festival since he was a child. His parents taught that as you rejoice with this celebration, honoring the patron saint of Sasmuan, Santa Lucia, your wishes will come true.
As more than 5,000 people danced January 10 which was the “Kawakasan” (ending) of the feast, they shouted “Viva Apu Lucia! Pwera sakit!” (Long Live, Sta. Lucia! Deliver us from sickness!), a wide vast of individuals from infancy to maturity were tucked.
Catalina Banal, 80, was far from the stage where the image of Sta. Lucia was placed but still danced towards the area to the beat of the melody being played through barangay Sta. Lucia. With an angelic face and smile, Nanay Catalina narrated in Filipino: “I was here since I was a child. The same prayer I’ve been doing for more than I can remember – good health, long life, and prosperity.”
A mother of five, she observes the tradition together with all her siblings. Even her grandchildren followed her lead.
“This is my devotion for Apung Lucia. That’s why we are still here, doing this ritual until now. As you dance, the image of God becomes more visible, thus we feel nearer to Him,” she said.
Five-day ritual
The five-day ritual started January 6, in time with the feast of the Three Kings. The rite was believed to not only help afflicted people but also those mothers or women wanting to bear a child.
Sasmuan’s Kuraldal is considered one of Pampanga’s two most important religious events that are largely unknown outside the province, said Kapampangan writer Nina Tomen, who authored “Kuraldal Atlung Ari and Libad Bangka ng Apung Iru: Beyond the revelry.”
The other occasion is Apalit town’s fluvial procession of Apung Iru or St. Peter, patron saint of the said town.
Local folks said “kural” means dasal or prayer and “dal” as dance, hence, the ritual is a combination of praying and dancing.
Sta. Lucia is Sasmuan’s patron saint, which was brought by the Augustinians in the early 1600s. Her actual feast day is December 13, but people in this town celebrates the rite from January 6 to 10.
Kuraldal and Feast of Black Nazarene
Kuraldal and the Feast of Sto. Niño are being compared as both festivals are celebrated almost on the same date. The Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila every 9th of the first month of the year, while Kuraldal’s Kawakasan is on the 10th.
Tatay Ponciano, another devotee, said that the only difference between the two is, in Kuraldal, people are allowed to wear shoes, sandals, and even slippers during the dance, compared to the other which encourages devotees to walk barefooted.
The wiping of clothes or handkerchiefs to both images is present, too. In Kuraldal, the devotees choose among the images of the Virgin Mary, Baby Jesus or Sta. Lucia, or all of them, to wipe, while in the Black Nazarene, it is the image of Jesus bearing the cross alone that draws the devotees.
The story of Sta. Lucia
Francis said “there was a kind of air in the atmosphere that spelled out celebration as a unified spirit in adoration of the Saint and Martyr Lucy and the Virgin Mary holding in her hands the baby Jesus. People cheered and danced while shouting their petitions out loud. Some asked for flowers offered to the saints believing that by doing this they would come closer to being favored by the divine.”
“Furthermore, devotees also believe that mystical power is acquired by wiping their handkerchiefs to the patron saints. I guess people just have to believe that, to get rid of disease, to have a long life, a prosperous and abundant year means to sink in to the experience. The unbreakable faith which binds people together is best portrayed by celebration through a continuous dancing in praise and worship of the divine,” he added.
The image or poster placed on the stage, in front where the crowd dances is the patron saint, Lucy. It shows that her two eyeballs are placed on the platter to her right hand signifying total devotion to the divine.
Francis recalled how this story came about.
“Lucy had this pagan suitor who claimed to have dibs on her because of her beautiful eyes. Knowing this, the saint, out of her total devotion to the Christ, gorged both eyes out, put them on a golden plate and offered them to her suitor. Feeling rejected, and perhaps to a greater degree insulted, the guy ordered his henchmen to burn her at stake. Thus, St. Lucy is also known for her martyrdom. People might have done the same in a more subtle way by asking for favor they dearly wished to achieve.”
Francis, 25, a guidance counselor disclosed the experience he had had which allowed him to think that “devotion is real. It is perhaps the true key to the divine and mystical. What we believe in or to a greater extent put our faith in is the real source of the cure to our own diseases. The magic by which one’s petition works is the attitude, that heartfelt and passionate desire to be healed and be blessed by the divine. There are many faith stories in the world that touch people’s hearts and tickle their minds but to experience one of them is far more real than just listening to the stories. And we have such experience set in our locality. Viva Apu Lucia! Pwera Sakit!” ●By Joelyn G. Baluyut
http://www.headlinegl.com/kuraldal-brings-prayers-3-times-faster-to-the-divine/
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