Flores de Mayo

Flores de Mayo (Spanish for "flowers of May") is a festival held in the Philippines in the month of May. It is one of the May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary and lasts for the entire month. The Santacruzan (from the Spanish santa cruz, "holy cross") is the ritual pageant held on the last day of the Flores de Mayo. It honors the finding of the True Cross by Helena of Constantinople (known as Reyna Elena) and Constantine the Great. Its connection with May stems from the May 3 date of Roodmas, which Pope John XXIII deleted in the 1960s due to the trend at the time to abolish holy days that were either duplicates or dedicated to ahistorical saints. The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14, which commemorates the recovery of the relic by Emperor Heraclius from the Persians instead of the finding by Saint Helena combines that occasion with Roodmas in the present General Roman Calendar. The name of the festival is derived from the Spanish language word flores meaning "flowers." Other names are "Flores de María" ("Flowers of Mary") and "Álay" (Filipino for "offering"). In the Bicol Region, the ritual begins with the recitation of the rosary, and the last day is simply called the "katapusan" which is marked with a Mass, a Santacruzan and procession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The traditional "María" with its respective meaning is said after the recitation of the Salve Regina in Spanish and the Litany of Loreto. After the ceremony, simple snacks are given to the children who attended the devotion. Alabasyón (from the Spanish for "praising") is the term for prayers sung in honor of the Holy Cross. The towns particularly in Iloilo has their respective puroks or streets and the barangays which has their respective chapel or house of prayer or even in the church where an image of the Virgin Mary is venerated and children gathers to have a simple catechism and teachings about the life and story of Mary, history of Marian apparitions, Christian doctrines and values, holistic values and virtues and other life's teachings.