
Filipino Catholics marched through the streets whipping themselves and lacerating their backs with razorblades in a bloody religious ritual to atone for their sins.

Gruesome footage from the sleepy town of Pakil, about 70km east of Manila, shows masked devotees performing the acts of self-inflicted pain to mark the Holy Week.

They struck their backs with wooden rods, one for each station of the cross as depicted in Catholic tradition of Jesus' walk to the hill of Golgotha where he was crucified.

The gory scenes are traditional in small towns of the primarily Catholic nation before Easter as a form of worship believed to cleanse sins, cure illness, and grant wishes.

Despite its condemnation from the Catholic Church, large crowds of spectators including children lined the sweltering streets to behold the extreme show of faith.

Other flagellants sometimes crucify themselves at the end of the march, either by tying themselves to crosses or in extreme cases actually nailing themselves to them.

Filipino Catholics marched through the streets whipping themselves in a bloody religious ritual to atone for their sins

Gruesome footage from the sleepy town of Pakil, about 70km east of Manila, shows masked devotees performing the acts of self-inflicted pain to mark the Holy Week

Hugas Dugo flagellants gathers in town plaza and start whipping themselves. The town plaza is the first station where their backs will get cut with a razor blade

The gory scenes are traditional in small towns of the primarily Catholic nation before Easter

A flagellants back is being cut dozens of times with a razor blade to cause pain like what Jesus suffered in his execution

Devotees cut each other's backs after tearing away a section of their shirts which will soon be covered in blood

The extreme form of worship is believed to cleanse sins, cure illness, and grant wishes

Flagellants meet at the bottom of Rizal bridge in the town of Pakil. They would dress themselves with dried banana leaves for aesthetic purpose and to catch dripping blood from their back

They struck their backs with wooden rods, one for each station of the cross as depicted in Catholic tradition of Jesus' walk to the hill of Golgotha where he was crucified

The practice is condemned by the Catholic Church as being too extreme but that doesn't stop hundreds form doing it

Large crowds of spectators including children lined the sweltering streets to behold the extreme show of faith

The march continued into the night even s participants lost plenty of blood from their wounds