How to meaningfully celebrate Flores de Mayo

I grew up in Malabon, where the highlight of our summer vacations is the annual Santacruzans.  As children, we would  stay up late, and in our pajamas line up the streets to get a glimpse of our town’s beauties with matching artistas.  Malabon before was (in my mind) the best place to grow up in, that is pre-Venetian times (aka notorious flooding).  It was urban enough for simple pleasures and small enough that traditions were so alive.

Together with my like-minded-mommy-friends, I wanted to celebrate festivals with my children that were truer to the meaning than our urban (and sometimes commercialized) lifestyles have transformed it to be.  It was through the research the group’s  “concept director” that we found out that Flores de Mayo and the Santacruzan were actually not the same thing.

Our children enjoying their Flores de Mayo story

Flores de Mayo was in honor of Mother Mary and celebrated through a nine day novena where children dressed in white or Sunday best offer flowers at her feet.  This then culminates with a procession, the Santacruzan, with the various Reynas to carry the people’s various aspirations, virtues, and religious symbols.

Our children offer their flowers to Mama Mary

Our handmade flowers done with the help of our kids, offered to Mama Mary

With this new information, rather than just concentrating on parading our kids in their gowns, our activities centered on making the flowers to offer to Mama Mary.  Which then culminated in an original story to highlight the festival and a short walk (procession) to offer our handmade flowers to the Blessed Virgin as an offering for blessings that the coming rains will bring.

Hopefully, with our efforts, our children will appreciate the deeper meaning in our festivals and traditions and carry it on to future generations.

What other traditions would you like to revive and bring more meaning to your children?