SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES
Saturday, March 28 | 5:00PM | Santa Cruz Town Plaza
OPENING OF MORYONAN BAZAAR AND MORION QUARTERS WALK THROUGH
Step into a vibrant convergence of local enterprise and living heritage. Visitors are invited to explore an encampment of Middle Eastern, Roman, and Bible-inspired tents. These detailed structures are thoughtfully crafted by community groups participating in the Morion Quarters tent design competition, showcasing the creative spirit of Santa Cruz.
Within these immersive quarters, guests can engage directly with the broader cultural and historical narratives surrounding the Roman era. Participate in interactive activities such as traditional drumming, arnis, and thematic painting. Each participating group also offers a curated selection of regional products and unique handicrafts for sale. Supporting these local initiatives provides a meaningful connection to the community and contributes to the sustainable cultural tourism of Marinduque.
Sunday, March 29 until Saturday, April 4 | Walk Starts at the Santa Cruz Town Plaza
DAILY CULTURAL PILGRIMAGE WALKS FROM THE TOWN PLAZA TO THE MORION CAMP AT DAPDAP BEACH
You’ve probably seen the Moriones — the masks, the armor, the parades that fill the streets every Holy Week. This year, Santa Cruz, Marinduque is opening a new way to experience that tradition through Via de Moriones, a cultural pilgrimage walk happening for the first time.
The walk follows 14 stations over nearly 14 kilometers, passing through rice fields, open roads, murals, and local communities. Moriones walk with the pilgrims, sharing the story along the way, turning Holy Week into something you experience up close and on foot.
VIA DE MORIONES is open to all interested individuals and groups.
Walk stations open at 7:00AM beginning March 29 (Palm Sunday) and participants are asked to register and receive their VIA DE MORIONES PILGRIM PASSPORT AND MEDITATION GUIDE from the Municipal Tourism Office Booth near the Town Plaza.
Participants have their passports stamped through the route and fully stamped passports receive a token, a certificate, and a drink at The Morion Camp in Barangay Tagum – the end point of the pilgrimage.
Holy Monday, March 30 | 5:30PM | Santa Cruz Town Plaza
CHANTING OF THE INCIPIT LAMENTATIO
The Incipit Lamentatio is one of the most hauntingly beautiful auditory experiences in the spiritual landscape of Marinduque. While the Moriones provide the visual spectacle, the Lamentatio provides the soul—a somber, ancient chanting that echoes through households during the Lenten Season.
Experience this unique cultural tradition at the Town Plaza, sit with the local chanters and learn the Incipit melody and tones on the spot.
Holy Tuesday, March 31 | 4:30PM | Parade begins at the Town Plaza to the Morion Place
COMMUNITY STREET PARADE &
DANCE COMPETITION
The Gunita Lenten Parade is a Holy Week cultural event held every Holy Tuesday in Santa Cruz, Marinduque. It presents a moving portrait of the ancient world that surrounded the life and Passion of Christ, unfolding slowly through the town’s streets.
Rather than a single narrative, Gunita offers a layered depiction of history, drawing from the cultures, powers, and belief systems that shaped the period. The parade is reflective in pace and intent, inviting attention to detail, symbolism, and context.
Along the route, figures appear inspired by Roman nobility and centurions, Jewish priests and prophetesses, Egyptians and Babylonians, Pharisees and scholars, as well as civilizations of the Byzantine, Gothic, Arab, and ancient Mediterranean worlds.
For one afternoon, the streets of Santa Cruz become a passage through time, where history walks, pauses, and then quietly moves on.
Good Friday, April 3 | 8:00 PM | The Morion Place, Barangay Manlibunan
THE SANTA CRUZ SENAKULO
(PASSION PLAY)
Kristo ang Tagapagligtas is the culminating event of Holy Week in Santa Cruz, Marinduque, gathering the community and visitors for an evening of reflection and remembrance. The passion play is staged at the iconic Morion Place, an open-air amphitheater designed to evoke the form and atmosphere of ancient Jerusalem, and attended by over 3,000 spectators each year.
The Senakulo is performed by local actors, artists, musicians, and voice-over performers, joined by LGU staff and public and private school teachers who make up the town’s senakulista group. For many, taking part is an act of panata, faithfully sustained for decades, with some performers carrying these roles for 20 to 30 years.
Presented as a shared offering, Kristo ang Tagapagligtas retells the life, passion, and death of Christ through collective voice and presence—marking the close of Holy Week in Santa Cruz through a tradition rooted in community, continuity, and place.
THE HOME OF THE SANTA CRUZ SENAKULO COMMUNITY THEATER
AN ALL AROUND OUTDOOR EVENTS PLACE
The Morion Place is known mostly as the site of the Santa Cruz Senakulo. Featuring permanent stages that depict Pilate’s courtyard, the Last Supper, the burial cave of Jesus, and the beheading area for Longinus, the sprawling location is also host to cultural, sports, and musical celebrations during the entire year.
PHOTOS FROM LAST YEAR'S MORYONAN ACTIVITIES
