San Beda celebrates annual Frolics

TRADITION PLAYS an important role for the members of the San Beda community. That’s not only through its tradition of scholastic success, or its tradition of winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). These are traditions that are instilled in every member of the Bedan community, such as the Benedictine values of ora et labora (work and prayer).

This January, signals the Pista ng Sto. Niño, more popularly known to Bedans as the annual Frolics. Some consider the Frolics to be the foundation day of the school, usually held on the fourth weekend of January (January 28-30).

The three-day activities started yesterday, January 28, at 5 am, with the annual marathon, which passed through Nagtahan, Otis, and Ayala Bridge, before heading back to San Beda. The ribbon cutting formally opened the Frolics celebration.

The Frolics is an open-for-all event. Visitors are required to purchase a ticket at the gates to enter school grounds and participate in the raffle on Sunday.

People can enjoy the food and drink stalls, and also experience the carnival rides.

Highlights include exhibits of different academic departments, the car show at the quadrangle, and the the collection of sculptures of the Sto. Niño dressed in different costumes.

The culminating event is the annual procession of the Sto. Niño, in homage to San Beda's patron, the Sto. Niño of Prague. Other Bedan campuses, like Alabang and Taytay, also practice this time-honored tradition.

At 3 pm, the procession starts from the main gate of San Beda, passing Mendiola and other nearby schools like Centro Escolar University, La Consolacion College and College of the Holy Spirit.

Then the procession will pass through the Nagtahan gates of Malacañang palace.

More people will gather as the procession reaches St. Jude Church, and will continue along Malacañang palace, until the people exit through the Arlegui gate.

Traffic will be stopped along the streets near the National Teacher's College. Upon reaching Mendiola, the procession will return to San Beda, where preparations await for the mass led by the highest-ranking Benedictine monk in San Beda.

After the mass, there will be a display of fireworks to end the celebration.

Frolics is like an annual Fiesta that unites the whole San Beda community. It brings together Bedans from the past and the present. It passes the tradition on to the present students and entices future students to join the Bedan community.

It gives the alumni the chance to relive the time they spent in their beloved alma mater, to return to their second home, and rekindle friendships with long-lost friends.

It also gives the present students an idea of what it really means to be a Bedan, that “Once a Bedan always a Bedan.” That’s not just a line on a T-shirt, but a reality.