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| image by Giovanni Roan |
The weekend prior to the Holy Week, my nanay and Tita Epong joined me and the rest of the pilgrims (love the word - pilgrims :p) to a visit to fourteen churches (all in one day!) organized by Barefoot Travels. My plan was to pray for one intention per church but given my ADHD and how enchanted I was with how beautiful and grand and absolutely breathtaking these places of worship were, I realized I prayed for at least five intentions only:
one: for our family to unite in strength
two: for guidance in the decisions that I make in my life
three: for my sister, Isabel - she's graduating already, that she may find God's great plan for her
four: gratitude for all the blessings (and opportunities to travel)
five: for the victims of torture and injustice, that they may find solace and peace in the Lord and that the Almighty Father protect all of His children from any harm
-and they are good enough for me. Hello, Jesus has other billions of children, He deserves his own moment of silence once in a while. :)
snap shots .
Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage
(Antipolo Cathedral)
I didn't know birds still exist, I thought they were extinct already - haha! And they soar at the heavens to welcome the new day, greeting the guardians of the Cathedral a good and blessed morning.
San Geronimo Parish
(Morong, Rizal)
San Ildefonso de Toledo
(Tanay, Rizal)
San Alfredo de Alcala Parish
(Pakil, Laguna)
The most opulent of all the churches that I have been to - rich in details and even with its age, the Church has retained every evidence of fortune and power.
Nuestra Sra. De Guadalupe Parish Church
(Pagsanjan, Laguna)
Sta. Maria Magdalena Parish Church
(Magdalena, Laguna)
Magdalena Parish has a spacious open ground which Metro Manila will kill for (with all the condominium developments sprouting from the ground like mushroom - they're eating up ground space and even the skyline!). These kids were enjoying their Azkal moment, barefoot and all in the park by the church.
It reminds me of our little chapel back home in Cagayan Valley, where I used to serve in (yes, I was a choir member and then a reader and then I grew up and didn't know what happened - haha), it was adjacent to a basketball court where all the good times happen, probinsya style: the court is a venue for, of course, basketball tournaments, dancing competition, beauty contests, meeting de avance and every Tuesday and Friday, it gets transformed into a market. :) I miss home.
San Gregorio Magno Parish Church
(Majayjay, Laguna)
According to our primer, this is a National Cultural Landmark and was used as a headquarters of the American during the war. It is the most beautiful, most enchanting, most heart-tugging "I live here my Child" -says-the-Lord Church - ever. I dream of getting married in a small chapel only, but this Church makes me want to reconsider. :) Once you step in the church, it is as if an entire choir of angels are singing and will lift your spirits to high heavens. The stone-facade wraps the faitfhul in soothing cold. Magiging mabait ka ng wala sa oras. :)
San Juan Bautista Church
(Liliw, Laguna)
In my senior anthropology class in college, my group mates and I chose Liliw, Laguna to be the subject of a particular research about God-knows-what. I recommended the place complete with detailing its richness in history and its being oh-so-unique estate/village-planning but my real agenda was, mag-shopping ng maraming TSINELAS!!!
In this Visita Iglesia, San Juan Bautista Church was our 13th stop, the second to the last and by this time, we have already established our intimacy with our Creator, shed some tears and uttered our prayers of requests and thanksgiving. After lighting some candles in the adoration chapel, I hurried my tita and nanay to...sorry Lord...go TSINELAS shopping!!!:) Actually, I joined this trip FOR THIS! Haha! Of course, I am just joking - this is just one of the perks of the trip, promise, Lord. :)
But first, the Church - San Juan Bautista has the most picturesque landscape.:)
San Bartolome Church
(Nagcarlan, Laguna)
You are magnificent, my God.
Have a blessed holy week!!
Complete List of Churches:
Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Antipolo)| San Geronimo Parish (Morong, Rizal)| San Jose Parish (Baras, Rizal)| San Ildefonso de Toledo (Tanay, Rizal)| Nuestra Sra de Candelaria (Mabitac, Laguna)| San Pedro de Alcantara (Pakil, Laguna)| Santiago Apostol Parish (Paete, Laguna)| San Juan Bautista Parish (Kalayaan, Laguna)| San Sebastian Parish (Lumban, Laguna)| Nuestra Sra. de Guadalupe Parish (Pagsanjan, Laguna)| Sta. Maria Magdalena Parish (Magdalena, Laguna)| San Gregorio Magno Parish (Majayjay, Laguna)| San Juan Bautista Parish (Liliw, Laguna)| San Bartolome Parish (Nagcarlan,Laguna)
Visita Iglesia 2013 organizer: Barefoot Travels
