Catholic devotees in this village covered themselves in the grass and lashed themselves to mark Good Friday. <br /><br />Male residents in Vinzons in Camarines Norte province, the Philippines, took part in the synchronized self-flagellation as part of their penance on April 19, 2019. <br /><br />The bizarre ritual, repeated in several cities across the Philippines, sees religious followers whip themselves until they draw blood. <br /><br />The bizarre rituals are extreme affirmations of faith performed every Easter in the Philippines. Nearly 80 percent of the country’s population of more than 104 million are Roman Catholics, a legacy of 300 years of Spanish colonial rule that ended at the turn of the 20th century.
