Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle: a clarification (Fiesta Sampaguita 2015)

Glad to see that the festival's name is now called Fiesta Sampaguita.

Compared to last year, this year's Sampaguita Festival was simpler and had fewer events. Last year's theme was focused on San Pedro Tunasán's cityhood, that's why it was filled with more activities throughout the week-long festival. This year, instead of the festival itself, me and my family focused more on the real fiesta in light of the recent visit of Saint Peter the Apostle's successor, Pope Francisco. I'm referring to the feast day of the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle.

For centuries, this liturgical feast was celebrated twice a year: first on the 18th of January and second on the 22nd of February. However, these two feasts differ from each other. The January feast day commemorates the day when Saint Peter the Apostle evangelized in Rome, Italy while the February version pertained to his evangelization in Antioch, Greece. Sometime in 1960, for reasons I could not comprehend, Pope John XXIII removed the January 18 celebration, making February 22 the only feast day for the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle. With all due respect to the Vatican, this should not have been done because the fact will always remain that the January 18 feast day pertained to the "Chair of Saint Peter at Rome" and the February 22 feast day pertained to the "Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch".

One should also take note that San Pedro Tunasán was founded on 18 January 1725, exactly on the feast day of the Chair of Saint Peter at Rome. Besides, all images of Saint Peter the Apostle inside the Church of San Pedro Apóstol are attributed to his papacy in Rome, not in Antioch. And whenever one talks about Saint Peter's papacy, Rome always come to mind, not Antioch. In the province of La Laguna, the local government of the City of San Pedro Tunasán based its 13-year-old Sampaguita Festival to the February 22nd feast day. I hope that one day, our church leaders will put back the original feast day as it is heavily intertwined with San Pedro Tunasán's history.

Iglesia de San Pedro Apóstol. After Mass.

But last February 22, a Sunday, another confusion happened (at least to me and my family). When we went to Mass that day, we were surprised that there was no mention at all about the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle. After the Mass, we saw banners hanging by the church's façade announcing the feast day as February 21, the day before! We missed it! So that's the reason why our bishop officiated Mass on the morning of that day which was followed up by a procession in the evening. Qué lástima. We're obviously out of the loop... was there something we missed? Or was the feast day moved because February 22 was the first Sunday of Lent? Indeed, there is really much to learn about the exciting realm of Catholicism.

Anyway, the 22nd was still a part of the festival. In fact, an event was being prepared at the town plaza after the Mass. So we decided to go check it out, and might as well kill time.

But wrong date or not, at least the city government got one thing right this time when it renamed the Sampaguita Festival to its rightful Filipino appelation: Fiesta Sampaguita!

Krystal and her friend Myra Abonal.

We had a simple merienda here at Saint Peter the Apostle's namesake bakery.

Our boys among sampaguita shrubs at the town plaza (still trying to get used to calling it a town plaza).

It's not a globe. It's a balloon.

The stage was being prepared for an upcoming battle of the bands sponsored by Globe Telecoms.

Waiting for tonight.

Behind my girls is Saint Peter the Apostle's namesake school, Liceo de San Pedro.

On a side note, and going back to Pope Francisco, don't you think that his concluding Mass at the Quirino Grandstand —the largest papal gathering in history— was an odd coincidence? Because it was held on January 18!

The Fiesta Sampaguita runs until the end of the month! Come visit the City of San Pedro Tunasán! And please click here for the complete photo album of our February 22 stroll at the old town plaza. ¡Hasta la vista!