A few days ago I was asked "as a Filipino, how do you feel about celebrating the holidays?" If there is only one Philippine festival touted for its utmost grandeur, magnificent range, profligate in its opulence and splendid in its style, it is the most awaited annual celebration of Flores De Mayo, concluding ostentatiously with a pageantry of beauty and refinement . known as Santacruzan - the re-enactment of the biblical quest for the holy cross. Furthermore, in the Philippines, it is widely known as the 'Queen of all festivals', as it is celebrated every year throughout the month of May, also known as the month of celebration in the Philippines - which Filipinos usually dedicate to as a sign of gratitude for the festive goodness of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. Through these, the religious faith of Filipinos was strengthened as they live in a predominantly Catholic society – and they were also constantly reminded of the importance of family, motherhood, and unity as a community and nation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay How do I feel about celebrating festivals? Furthermore, to further understand the nature and importance of this cultural tradition, a revisiting of the past done before is necessary. First of all, it must be understood that 'Flores' - a Spanish word meaning 'flowers' - are the main elements of these May festivities, for the reason that people often gather in church - where the altar is usually generously decorated with flowers so that they can pray and offer flowers to the Blessed Virgin Mary. So, these flowers not only represent the beauty of these holidays, but also the joy and hope they bring to people, because it also means the time of personal growth and that people bloom just like flowers during spring in other countries. .Moreover, during the Spanish period, when Flores de Mayo came onto the scene, it was initially regarded by Filipino farmers as a simple celebration of tribute and thanksgiving. Mainly, one of the reasons is that they firmly believed (then) that it brought more rain to their vicinity, which was a great help for them to more successfully grow and harvest their crops during this time of the year. And since then, this has been going on for years. Finally, in 1854, with the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception which acclaimed Mary (mother of Christ) as the one who was conceived without any original sin, this celebration has become a cultural tradition, a religious custom and a Philippine cultural tradition, where Most Filipinos dedicate themselves with gratitude to the Blessed Virgin Mary, believing in her goodness and purity, and to thank her for always interceding for us with Jesus Christ and for always being there when we have the most need her. Apart from that, they are also very absorbed in the religious parade called Santacruzan, where beautiful girls usually parade through the streets with their fancy dresses. This is actually a sign that the festivities and celebrations are almost over. Therefore, at the end of the month, various towns or barangays usually hosted a Santacruzan, a parade commemorating Saint Helena's search for the Holy Cross. In this regard, it was believed that 300 years after the death of Christ, archaeological excavations carried out at the site of the Crucifixion in Jerusalem had directed 75-year-old Queen Helena in search of the cross of the Redeemer. The excavations uncovered three potential crosses but were unsure which one was real. The queen then summoned a sick servant to touch and lie on the three crosses and the one who healed him was believed to be the saint. InPhilippines, Flores de Mayo is considered a national celebration, but there is no single way to celebrate it. celebrating it in various cities, the barangays and cities have their own versions of the celebrations which make them more diverse and very rich in culture. For example, in Batangas, they usually celebrate Flores de Mayo by joining in traditional Tagalog poetry in which the names of sagales were read aloud and invoked, as well as describing the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the salvation of Filipino Catholics. Meanwhile, in Pampanga, the Santacruzan procession is usually interrupted by costumed Moros who challenge the escorts to fight them. In this case, this tradition is called Sabat, in which it represents the ambushes of the Moro people on Queen Helena and her crusade as they returned to Europe with the Holy Cross. On the other hand, from my personal experience, when my family and I still lived in Cabong, Zamboanga del Norte, I was able to witness a different way of celebrating Flores de Mayo. I still remember how we played fun Filipino games - like pabitin and hampas palayok - with the other guys in our barangay. In the pabitin, since the snacks and money were all tied to the bamboo hanging above us, well, I remember, as a child as I was before, I really tried my best to jump higher to reach anything from the prizes. Luckily I was able to get a lot of things, as the game didn't stop until all the prizes were taken by the participants. In the other game "Which was called hampas palayok" a player was usually chosen from the crowd, and he or she was blindfolded at least 3 meters away in front of the suspended plate and was tasked with hitting the plate full of goodies after spinning . around several times. A long bamboo is usually provided as a tool to hit and break the plate, while the crowd was tasked with distracting the player by shouting all sorts of instructions and misleading information. In this matter, this made the game more challenging and fun. However, it is a win-win situation as the crown managed to take all the prizes from the pot while the one who broke it won the prize money. With these, the different cultures, beliefs, customs and traditions that every Filipino possessed were seen and manifested. And now, when my family decided to settle in a small town in Janiuay, Iloilo, I said that most Filipinos are really party fanatics. because they love parties and festivals so much. However, as a child I didn't really understand the importance and value of Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan or all the holidays in the month of May. Then I could only attend and participate in the Flores de Mayo and enjoy the celebrations as a child because at the beginning of the celebrations it is my birthday, so I can always celebrate it with all my friends and family in church. I remember being excited because I would finally be able to make my own bouquet of flowers to offer to mother Mary. Santans in red, orange and pink are definitely our favorite flowers, along with red gumamelas because they were so pretty. However, just like other children, I also remembered how naughty I once was because I would sometimes steal flowers from our neighbor's garden and offer them at the altar. This was mainly due to the fact that my mother would get angry if we picked flowers from her beloved garden. Moreover, in the last few days, the beauties wearing their gorgeous and glittering outfits during Santacruzan have also never failed to amaze me, considering that some of my childhood crushes often attend, so I am also there for moral support even without them knowing .ConclusionIn all of these, I realized that one of its cultural values ​​in the Philippines is that it has.