Incredible pictures show bizarre and brutal religious traditions of Christians celebrating Easter around the world
These incredible images show bizzare Easter traditions throughout the world - including Filipino Christians who whip themselves bloody and the sinister gowns worn by the faithful in Spain.
While many of us are looking forward to a weekend of lamb roasts and too many chocolate eggs, worshippers throughout the world are indulging in eye-watering displays of religious faith during Holy Week.
The bleeding flagellants of the Phillipines
With their faces hidden by hoods, they make a very public display of their bid to atone for their dins.
During Lent many Catholics in the Philippines subject themselves to several very gory forms of self-inflicted pain.
They can be seen walking barefoot in the streets, whipping themselves or with wooden sticks stuck in their arms.
Every year thousands of foreign and local visitors line the streets to watch the rituals in San Fernando, north of Manila, and the suburban Mandaluyong, to the east of the city.
All of this is despite calls from the Catholic Church to refrain from doing these harrowing forms of penance.
Many worshippers are left covered in blood as their backs are stripped raw by repeated lashings.
The procession of ribbons in Costa Rica
This bizarre ritual takes place on Holy Wednesday Catholics in San Jose, Costa Rica, and resembles the British pagan tradition of maypole dancing.
Brightly-coloured ribbons are attached to an icon representing Jesus Christ.
Each strip is a request for a favour from God and each colour represents a specific wish.
The statue and ribbons are then paraded around the city before the ribbons are sold as a charm.
Some people wear the cloth from the statue on their wrist for a year of blessings.
The sinister penitents of Spain
At first glance their costumes resemble those worn by a certain American white supremacist organisation.
But the rather spooky, hooded figures who've been walking the streets of Spain's towns and villages during the last week of Lent are nothing of the sort.
During the emotional festival, penitents from several religious brotherhoods take part in processions, carrying life-size effigies of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary through cobblestone city streets, accompanied by dramatic drum beats and mournful music.
Also known as Semana Santa, during the week-long celebrations, participants wear gowns and conical hoods - a tradition that was meant to maintain their anonymity - during their hauntingly beautiful penance processions.
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Towns and cities throughout Spain have solemn processions of up to 2,000 members of religious brotherhoods.
Some members clutch candles, carry rods or unfurl banners all depending on their seniority in the group.
But while the most-visited city during the Catholic celebration is Seville, Zamora in the north-west of the country, is also well known for its 16 religious brotherhoods and fraternities.
In 1986, Holy Week in this place was declared a tourist interest of Spain and visitors continue to descend on the city in the lead-up to Easter, particularly to line the streets to view the scheduled processions.
The fraternities weave their way through the city streets from early morning until late into the night.
Several 'inciensarios' - incense holders - can also be seen in a parade to mark the Holy Thursday in the village of Loja, Granada, southern Spain.
The costaleros are responsible for carrying the floats with religious statues and figures while the nazarenos wearing tunics, hoods and masks walk alongside them.
The long hours of the procession are punctuated with the slow rhythmic beating of drums, until the procession reaches the local church or cathedral.
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