VISITA IGLESIA 2022: New and Familiar Churches Around Quezon City

 We just completed our Visita Iglesia this year.  We weren't able to do this in the past two years due to the quarantine restrictions imposed by the government to stop the spread of COVID-19.  Compared to the last time we observed this tradition, the mood in most churches was more subdued, and people were seriously praying their rosaries and Stations of the Cross.

We decided to go to churches in Quezon City at sunset when the Lord's Supper Mass was about to begin.  The Mass at the first church we visited had already started.  Along Cordillera St., the Our Lady of Fatima Parish is near our house.  

From this church, we went to Mayon Street.  We visited the Parish of Sta Teresita, which houses a Capuchin monastery.  The church has been on the land donated by the Araneta family since before the last World War.  I couldn't get a good angle of the exterior, but I managed to take a picture of the altar from where we were seated.  

We went a few blocks from the place and reached the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. I found out that the original shrine was in Intramuros until it got destroyed during the Second World War.  When missionaries found the image, they brought it to the Sta Teresita Church we earlier visited.  The icon stayed there until the Capuchins had the new shrine built and completed in 1977.

 Following the customs of the Catholic Church, the statues and images inside the church were draped in purple cloth.

 

The next church we visited was the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine along Broadway St. in New Manila.  The shrine is the center of devotion for the Brown Scapular.  As expected, the traffic was heavy in the church's vicinity, so we decided to walk the few meters to the church.  

We visited the St. Joseph Convent of Perpetual Adoration for our fifth church.  The place is in the middle of Hemady St, a road dotted with old and modern mansions. The convent is home to the Pink Sisters, an order of cloistered nuns who spend their day praying.  You can even ask them to pray for your special intentions.  The exterior was not well lit, so sorry for the poor quality of the photo.

Our first choice for our sixth stop was Christ the King Seminary, but the traffic going inside was heavy. We decided to go to Sto. Domingo Church instead.  While our goal was to visit churches we hadn't visited in our previous Visita Iglesia, we decided on the church since it was more accessible from where we were.

We were surprised that there were fewer people this year visiting the church.  Perhaps the devotees visited earlier in the afternoon and left after the Mass.  There were still groups praying at the Stations of the Cross when we arrived.

We ended this year's Visita Iglesia at our parish church, the Most Holy Trinity Parish Church in Manila, as part of the tradition.  This church is very memorable to me.  I went to hear Mass every Sunday in this church during my elementary school days.  It went through a lot of renovation over the years, but the basic structure is still there.  Beside the church is the school where I finished elementary school, and then I transferred to a different school.  

After saying our prayers, we headed home and planned to do this again next year with God's grace. Hopefully, we can visit churches we haven't gone to or even those farther from our location.

Pope Francis

photo from reuters

Habemus Papam!

The Catholic Church has a new pope in Pope Francis. The conclave of cardinals chose  Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who became the first South American Pope.  He takes the name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, a venerated 13th Century religious figure who live in poverty and wanted to reform the Church. 

Aside from being the first Pope Francis and the first Latin-American Pope, he is also  the first Jesuit Pope, an order considered within Vatican as one of the most liberal.

After his election, Pope Francis prayed for his predecessor Benedict XVI and then asked the people to pray for him before he gave his first Urbi et Orbi.  

"My hope is that this journey of the Church that we begin today, together with the help of my Cardinal Vicar, may be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city." Pope Francis told his flock.

A Small Reunion with the dead

We were at the cemetery yesterday to observe Todos los Santos or All Saints Day.  It is the tradition in our country to visit the final resting place of our dead relatives on this day.  Why we do it on November 1 and not on November 2 which is the All Souls Day is a mystery to me.  

Anyway, this annual tradition is one big party for many Filipino families.  It serves as a mini reunion for most families and a time to catch up with each other's activities.   It is also the time to reminisce about the dead and at the same time introduce the dead to members of the family who were too young to remember them or were not yet born then.  The living bring food and non-alcoholic drinks, which they will partake on the spot.  The whole scene takes on a fiesta atmosphere, all that's missing is a marching band.

This year was not different except that there were fewer people who came to the cemetery.  It was not as crowded as the years before.  Maybe because it was raining the whole early morning yesterday.  Luckily it stopped when the sun peered out of the dark clouds.

Another reason could be one that has changed Filipino families in a big way: immigration.  In our family for example, most of our relatives who used to come every year are now living overseas and thus could not come here anymore. 

There was a slight drizzle when we got to the cemetery yesterday.  Two of my cousins were already there and they've already lighted candles and placed flowers on the tombs of their parents.  My father, brother, sister-in-law and I  who remained also lighted some candles for our grandparents.  We all remembered that before, there were so many of us who would come there and it was a huge reunion.  This time there were only six of us.  

We spent about two hours there and had to leave because it was getting dark again and the rain could fall again.   My cousins opted to stay until the candles we lighted are spent.   

People continue to stream into the cemetery as we left.  Most of them carrying candles and flowers for their departed love ones.  Some even brought along small kids perhaps to ensure that this tradition will not be forgotten.