The “Pabása ng Pasyón,” literally the “Reading of the Passion,” is a Catholic devotion in the Philippines and is popular during the Holy Week. It involves the uninterrupted chanting of the “Pasyón,” an early 16th-century epic poem narrating the life, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Readers take turns in chanting verses from the book as a devotion made in fulfilment of a panatà (vow). The “Pabasa” may be chanted “a cappella” or with the accompaniment of musical instruments. There are two common styles of chanting, the first of which is the alternate singing of two persons or two groups of people. The second method has each chanter or group of chanters taking turns in singing the stanzas.
In the Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Quezon City in the Philippine capital, the “Pabasa” started on April 4, 2023. (Photos by Jire Carreon)
