"Patay pa ang Diyos." (God is still dead.) That is what our grandfolks, uncles, aunties and even parents told us before when we were children. They were referring to Black Saturday and why there was a need to be quiet as well as careful (as if no one was watching over us during this day post crucifixion (Good Friday) and before the Resurrection (Easter Sunday). Nevermind that many of us went to Catholic Schools and were taught otherwise. Some traditions were not meant to be questioned at this point and need not be.
Those were more innocent times when commercial establishments were closed at least from Maundy Thursday to Black Saturday. A few were open out of necessity (there was demand for food, drinks and other items) especially in my father's hometown where the atmosphere was quite festive. Every other year before Covid-19 they held the local high school's grand homecoming and combined with the annual Lenten kapilya or chapel competition among barangays (i.e., 14 stations of the cross), there are a lot of people about including balikbayans from all over the world. The homecoming was also an opportunity for family reunions so there are a lot more people than just the homecoming crowd. Entire families come to celebrate and that celebration starts way before Easter. I wonder if they resumed these activities this year as I haven't heard from our relatives or seen anyone from there posting about these on social media (another thing that we didn't have back in the day and perhaps that was a good thing!).
There was a time when Black Saturdays meant practically no TV as stations were also taking their breaks. We didn't have cable or satellite TV back then, and there was no internet yet so you didn't have these alternatives or options for entertainment and the like. Holy Week, if you're not so religious, was a timeout of sorts from busy schedules, from work. It was also a time when you can just read a good book or magazine. I usually had the latest copy of Reader's Digest or read the old ones at our ancestral home in Iloilo. Other times, we can just go out and take a stroll to the countryside (uma as they call it in Tatay's language) or perhaps the town plaza with my cousins. I don't remember getting bored. And having nothing to do was always an option unlike these days when young people are demanding one activity after another. Lost, it seems, are the quiet times that allow for one's mind to rest and be in peace. One shouldn't be doing stuff on Black Saturdays because "patay pa ang Diyos."
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