Ruben Enaje is a Filipino carpenter, sign painter, and former

construction worker A construction worker is a worker employed in the physical construction of the built environment and its infrastructure. Definition By some definitions, workers may be engaged in manual labour as unskilled or semi-skilled workers; they may be s ...

. He is noted for being

crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

33 times as of 2019. He has been crucified every year from 1986 through 2019 on

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Holy ...

; the COVID-19 pandemic required that he skip crucifixion in the years 2020–2022.

Background

Enaje, who was once a construction worker in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, fell down from an unfinished building, and unexpectedly survived. After the incident, saying that it was to thank the Lord for saving him, Enaje started participating in crucifixions, of his own free will, in a ritual done on Good Friday every year. His crucifixions have led to media coverage.

Timeline

1985

Enaje was crucified for his first time in 1985, during a reenactment of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

of Nazareth's suffering.

2008

On March 21, 2008, Enaje, was nailed to a wooden

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a s ...

on Good Friday for the 22nd time, in Pampanga, Philippines. 25 other penitents, including two women, were nailed on wooden crosses on Good Friday in San Pedro Cutud.

2010

Enaje was crucified again in his hometown, Pampanga, Philippines, this time for the 24th time, breaking his own record.

2011

Like the years before, Enaje had four-inch nails hammered into his palms and was hung on a cross for several minutes by local villagers dressed as

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 le ...

2012

2012's crucifixion was the 26th one for Enaje.

2013

2013 was his possible final year in which he plans to be crucified, since he promised God that he would be crucified 27 times as a form of gratitude.

2016

Still without any permanent replacement, Enaje once again was crucified, along with 14 others in different places in

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarla ...

. He spent 11 minutes on the cross. Enaje offered his 30th straight crucifixion to the people of Belgium, who had recently suffered from a terrorist attack, and praying for a more peaceful outcome of the

2016 Philippine general election A general election in the Philippines took place on May 9, 2016, for executive and legislative branches for all levels of government – national, provincial, and local, except for the barangay officials. At the top of the ballot was the elect ...

2018

For his 32nd straight year playing the role of Jesus Christ, Enaje was crucified again, together with three devotees who took part in this year's re-enactment of the death of Jesus Christ. He was not experiencing pain during the time when he was nailed to the cross.

2019

After being crucified once again in 2019, Enaje re-iterated his hopes to finally find a replacement, having now been crucified once a year for 33 years (the same number of years that Jesus was alive).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enaje, Ruben People from San Fernando, Pampanga Carpenters Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Crucifixion Filipino Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Catholic penitential practices