Santo Entierro de Lukban

Although Good Friday is still plenty of hours away, I thought I would post this video of the procession of the Santo Entierro of Lukban, in the province of Quezon. This image is unique in that, not only is it thought to be miraculous, it also provides one of the most awesome spectacles of Semana Santa in the Philippines. Like many images of the Dead Christ, Lukban's has its own 'family', which takes great care to appoint it with an inheritance, and its general upkeep. At morning of Good Friday, the image is taken by a group of men, dressed in white, where it is wrapped in a white cloth and prepared for the afternoon's procession. The events reach a fever pitch come afternoon of Good Friday; the image is then processed, to the clap of dozens of bamboo clappers, which take the place of the rueda (wooden clapper), as bells are prohibited to be rung until Black Saturday. The devotees scramble to get to the image as it returns to the Church; some of them go about it drunk, and even try to bite a piece of the Lord away, in the hopes of securing good luck and divine protection in the year ahead.