In northern Luzon, Philippines, greater than 2,000 devotees gathered at daybreak for a deeply symbolic ritual rooted in religion and historical past. Individuals lined themselves in mud and wearing dried banana leaves earlier than strolling by means of rice fields to a Catholic church to supply prayers for world peace.
The custom commemorates a 1944 occasion throughout World Warfare II, when Japanese troops had been about to execute villagers, however a sudden rainstorm, seen as divine intervention by Saint John the Baptist, saved them.
As we speak, the ritual honors that legacy whereas echoing prayers for peace in war-torn areas like Ukraine and the Center East.
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