Devout Roman Catholic Ruben Enaje donned a crown of thorns as he put himself through the agonising ordeal of being nailed to a cross — for the 22nd time.
The 47-year-old decorator was the first of 19 men in this northern Philippines village Friday who underwent the gruesome Easter crucifixion ritual, an extreme form of penance by devotees wanting to thank God for answering their prayers…
Neighbours costumed like Roman centurions dragged Enaje and the other penitents through the village streets and toward a barren hill where three wooden crosses and a large crowd of at least 2,000 tourists awaited.
He screamed in agony as seven-inch (18-centimetre) metal nails were driven into both palms and feet while lying spread-eagled over the cross…
The government does their bit – advocating tetanus shots and requesting that “equipment” is clean and well-maintained.
And people of religion wonder why others view them as crazy…
Tourist?!! I can think of a bunch of other stuff I’d rather be watching while on vacation!
Oh tourist board, why have you forsaken me?
Dimwits.
Aside from the obvious, the nails go through forearms just above the wrists, not the palms, or they tear out.
Not necessarily – Ancient Romans could hav easily used a piece of wood as a washer to keep the palms from ripping through the flesh.
Frankly, I don’t think a Christian has to go to such extreme lengths to understand the depth of Christ’s sacrifice for mankind. However, I wouldn’t for one minute ridicule a man because he seeks to understand it in this fashion.
And anyone who does only shows their religious bigotry.
I’m a proud Christian, but I don’t think this is what Jesus meant when he said to “take up his cross”.
He died once, that was enough for me — I don’t need to recreate it.
#5 – how to go. Blame folks for laughing at your brethren.
Lets see–God sacrifice his only son, who was himself at the same time, to die on the cross, but be ressurected for ever because he, god, never dies, and this was to forgive our sins. Those sins being we did something God didn’t like even though he created us knowing we would do it, but he gave us free choice, still knowing we would do it, because that is how HE made us, but its still our fault.
And if we don’t believe the above, then we can roast in HELL for eternity, even after we figure the above out and say we are sorry?
Did I miss anything other that this is the love and mercy he has for us?
A waste of perfectly good nails.
You guys are all nuts. I hang myself from an ash tree to celebrate the magnificent death of Odin.
#3 Phillep, that’s the problem with this new generation. No one knows how to do a proper crucifixion anymore. It all goes downhill from here 😉
I love easter.
The death of the savior to rescue all of mankind. The Palm trees representing purity. The chocolate represents the color of the cross….wait.
“He screamed in agony”
Anyone else think this is just a stunt.
Don’t nail me, bro!
“Don’t nail me, bro!”
I nominate that for “Untoppable Line of the Day” 😉
You guys knew this show was sponsored by Coca-Cola?
http://tinyurl.com/2o6sxj
First Santa, now Jesus? Where will it all end?
It’s the Christian version of Johnny Knoxville.
he could get bank for a coca cola tat on his belly .
I just love it that Coke has jumped on the bandwagon, maybe they can put this guy on tour.
You know why they only used 3 nails to nail Jesus to the cross? They ran out of nails.
I always wondered what INRI meant on the cross above his head. Apparently it means, “I’m nailed right in.”
Why can’t Jesus eat M&M’s? They fall through the holes in his hands.
I’ll be here all week…
#4, dimwit
But they didn’t. If a wooden washer was used, it would be to prevent the condemned from pulling his body off the nail.
They put the nails through the end of the forearm or the carpel tunnel. Also, they put the nails through the top of the ankle/bottom of the leg. Because nailing the ankles would delay death, often they would break the legs so the condemned couldn’t rest his weight on the nails.
The condemned died because their diaphragm could not retract with the arms pulling on the rib cage and the weight pulling on the diaphragm. They would slowly suffocate.
Sometimes a cross was used and sometimes a straight pole. The word excruciating is derived from crucify.
They were never nailed through the palms, it was done at the wrists. Vise Grips would have been handy.
I’ll bet this guy used anesthetic.
#21, Nappy,
Naaa, he looks like a Crazy Glue type to me. Those “nails” are just little stick pins without the pin part. Hey, they look authentic though, don’t they?
Jesus hung on the cross. The hot sun beating down. His lips dry and cracked. The tongue swollen. He couldn’t sweat any more, his body was too dehydrated. His skin burned and blistering.
Slowly his head rose. His tongue flickered out, attempting to put some moisture on his blood flecked lips. The eyes looked over the crowd, seeming to see through the dull haze of crust.
The lips moved. A croak emerged. He swallowed, more dust than saliva.
The lips moved again. The only ears to hear were his own.
Reaching down inside himself, finding something, again he cried. This time a faint “Peter” escaped his mouth. Closing his eyes, grimacing, putting all his strength into the cry, he called out,
“Peter”. Those in the front of the crowd almost heard him. Some though saw the straining, the effort, the lips moving.
“Peter”. Now more heard the feeble, pained cry.
“Peter”. The name was almost clear.
“Peter”. This time they understood who he was calling.
“Peter. Come here” Somehow, through the pain, the dried mucus encrusted mouth, the swollen tongue, the non-moving lungs, the words came forth.
“Peter, come here, I want to tell you something”.
Quickly the word was spread from the front of the crowd. Soon, all the crowd was calling for Peter.
On the edge of the crowd, comforting Mary, Peter heard his name. As he stood, closing his zipper, he looked to find who called him.
“Peter !” He saw a man calling him.
“Yes” Peter replied.
“Jesus is calling you” said the man.
Peter started moving towards the hill with his savior. “Excuse me” he repeated said in an endless stream to the crowd as he pushed his way through.
“Peter. Come here, I want to tell you something”. The words came to Peter from far up the hill. From the very cross of the almost dead Jesus. Their eyes met.
Peter pushed and shoved his way. Angry onlookers pushed back. Some tried to give him a clout.
“Peter, Come here”
“Yes my Lord. I’m coming”
He pushed past the curious, the cheering, the mean spirited, the angry, and the crying crowd.
“Peter”
Pushing harder, he shoved the unwilling to move from his path.
“Peter”
“excuse me, excuse me, excuse me…”
“Peter”
Finally he reached the foot of the cross. Jesus, his savior hung before him. Blood dripping still from the nails. Long dried trails of sweat through dust on his body. Urine and feces on his legs, feet, and ground.
“My Lord, I am here”. Peter knelt and pressed his face on the ground, humbling himself before his master. The stench of feces under a hot sun filling his rapidly breathing nostrils. His forehead now wet and sticky.
“Peter,” said the Lord with a smile on his tortured face.
“My Lord” Tears now flowing from Peter’s eyes in a torrent.
“Hey, did you know I can see your house from up here?”
To quote Hermione Granger of Harry Potter fame: “What an idiot.”
#23, good one Paul. 🙂
The thing I thought right away when I first heard Coke was sponsoring it was what could the advertisement for that be?
I came up with “Always Look on the Sprite™ side of life.”
#4 – Prochnow, I don’t mean pulled straight through the palm, I mean ripped long ways out the palm between the fingers. All there is between the fingers/phalanges is a bit of skin and cartilage.
A nail between the bones of the forearm would hang on the wrist bones.