Salubong (The Encounter/Welcome)

The Gospels provide us with the Risen Christ’s first appearances to his beloved friends and followers – Mary Magdalene, the apostles, the disciples bound for Emmaus. But perhaps no words could capture the meeting of Jesus with his mother, her heart pierced this time by the exquisite sword of joy. Despite the lack of scriptural basis, the Risen Christ’s meeting with his Mother has become a vital part of Easter celebrations in the Philippines and among Filipino Catholics in the United States. The meeting is reenacted in an elaborate ceremony called Salubong (Tagalog for “welcome”) staged in the hours before dawn on Easter morning. - aleteia.org