The Obando Fertility Rites are a dance ritual, initially an Anitist ritual, and later also became a Catholic festival celebrated every May in Obando, Bulacan, Philippines. Locals and pilgrims, sometimes dressed in traditional costume, dance and sing in the town's streets to honour and beseech Obando's three patron saints: San Pascual (Paschal Baylon), Santa Clara (Clare of Assisi) and Nuestra Señora de Salambáo (Our Lady of Salambao). Origin The fertility rites were initially done in honour of the anito Diyan Masalanta, the Tagalog goddess of love, Lakapati, the Tagalog fertility deity, and Bathala, the supreme deity of the Tagalog people. The rites were performed within the vicinity of a dambana. When the Spanish arrived, they forcibly converted the natives to Roman Catholicism and changed their religious beliefs regarding the fertility rites. Festivities The rites are observed in a triduum: 17 May for St. Paschal Baylon, 18 May for St. Clare of Assisi, and 19 May for Our Lady of Salambáo. Each of the three days usually begins with a morning Mass said by the parish priest. A procession, held immediately thereafter, consists of the three saints' images followed by bands playing instruments made of bamboo or brass, and devotees who dance the fandango while singing the hymn, Santa Clara Pinung-Pino (Saint Clare, Most Refined). The image of each saint leads the procession on his or her designated feast day. The rites, especially the fertility dance, are popular with pilgrims from all over the Philippines, most of whom supplicate the triad of saints for a child, a spouse, or general good fortune. Throughout the three days, devotees joyously dance in the streets as a form of prayer, asking for the spirit of life to enter into the wombs of women. The patron saints Saint Clare St. Clare of Assisi is the oldest saint declared patroness of Catanghalan (the town's former name), her image first enshrined the chapel built by missionaries of the Order of Friars Minor in the town. St. Clare was a 13th-century Italian nun, who founded the Poor Clares according to the rule and teachings of her contemporary, St. Francis. St. Clare became the patroness of good weather because her Spanish name, Clara, also referred to clearer skies after a storm. This formed the basis for the Filipino custom of offering chicken eggs to St. Clare to ensure good weather, as the Spanish word for egg white or albumen,