Jerusalem Filipino celebration

Last Sunday, May 22, 2016, was a very festive and colorful day for both the Good Shepherd Filipino Catholic Community and the San Lorenzo Ruiz Filipino Community as they celebrated together the much awaited Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan. This event brought many Filipinos in Jerusalem together for a day to enjoy and feel at home away from home.

Flores de Mayo is a month-long celebration in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Santacruzan is the highlight of the month, commemorating the finding of the True Cross by Empress Helena. This religious-historic tradition has been celebrated for centuries by the Filipinos and has become one of the many events that Filipinos all around the globe look forward to. With the help of the Filipino Chaplaincy in the Holy Land, the Catholic Filipinos of Jerusalem still continue to savor that tradition that we are used to during the month of May.