As a child, my mama would take me to different churches during Holy Week, praying at the different Stations of the Cross and in the process being more intimate with His passion and sorrow, and from which we are expected to appreciate Christ's loving sacrifice for mankind. I haven't been doing this
Visita Iglesia for several years now since I stopped singing at the old church choir. Since Noy and I were both free that Maundy Thursday, April Fools Day, I convinced him to go church-hopping with me this year because he hasn't done it yet, and we have a wish which we've been praying for for so long now. I believe that going on this mini-pilgrimage will refresh us spiritually and will help us build on our relationship more. So, at 3:30 pm on Maundy Thursday, we packed our bags (mostly food and water) and hit the road, rosaries in tow.
Our first stop was the Greenbelt Chapel. It was a little out of the way, but it's the only place whose confession schedule I know of. I didn't want to risk missing confession on Holy Week and besides, I wanted to start
Visita Iglesia with an atoned heart =) seriously.
The lines were very long, though, and I almost got impatient. We didn't have the booklet to guide us through the Stations of the Cross, and I was hoping they'd sell it here. They didn't, and it added to my anxiety.
After an hour, we were "clean" and refreshed. And hungry, too. So we stopped by our favorite spot at McDonald's Paseo.
I am so having a breakfast bar in my future green home.
By the time we got to the next church, San Isidro Parish, the Kissing of the Feet mass was almost over. So we just took a picture of the church. It was our first time inside, so I made a wish =)
There wasn't, however, the guide booklets on sale. I got really disappointed over the two stations we could have prayed already.
I nevertheless looked forward to the next church - our favorite - Malate Church, no less! Where Stations of the Cross guide booklets were being sold! Hurrah! So from here on, the visit consisted of praying in front of the Altar of the Repose one station of the Cross, then taking a picture of it, as well as of ourselves in front of the church. Here's Malate Church's altar, which was surrounded by votives. I didn't like it very much because it almost looked like a seance was being held. But then of course I prayed and thanked God that Noy and I are able to this together.
Next church was in Ermita, the Shrine of Nuestra Senora de Guia. Its altar was one of the best I've seen throughout the journey.
After this, we headed for Intramuros. I suggested we go by foot from this point on, but Noy insisted we take the jeep. So we did, but there was still a lot of walking involved. In the process we bumped into Jona and Bart, Noy's med school classmates, and their kids. It was good to see them again after a long time. Noy and Jona were even groupmates during internship, so they knew each other pretty well.
We went into San Agustin first, where the Altar was too colorful, but felt really old and historic.
There was a lot to look at in this part of the Metro Manila, but the facade of the Manila Cathedral still proves breathtaking, especially at night.
Inside was a slightly different interpretation of Christ's crucifixion. The image had a broken right arm. It definitely pierces through.
I don't know what gives about the Altar though. It looked like somebody's wake.
A big problem we had to face was the lack of clean toilets at the churches. We decided to stop by a Greenwich (just because there were sooo many people at Chowking) to pee and have dinner nevertheless. Unfortunately, the only toilet Greenwich had was out of order. so I ended up in a very looong line to the Chowking toilet. What a bummer =( And of course, as always, the pizza never satisfied me. I know I know it's a local brand, so sue me. I never liked Greenwich pizzas since it was bought by Jollibee. And because they failed to deliver the one peso change due us. One peso!
Moving on, and with difficulty, because of the huge traffic buildup at around 10 pm, we took a jeepney to Sta Cruz, Manila. Noy was fascinated by the lights that lined up McArthur Bridge.
My family went to Sta Cruz church every Sunday when my brother and I were both very young, and being there naturally brings back fond memories. The people doing the vigil at the Altar of the Repose chose to sing in between prayers. I thought it helped set the mood; most people who do Visita Iglesia do so only for fun, especially the younger set.
I used to light a candle after mass, so I did the same. It was a childhood ritual that relaxes me up to this day.
Next on our list was Binondo Church, but we didn't go for it because there weren't many churches around it, and it might be quite dangerous already to walk the streets at around 10 pm. We headed instead to Quiapo Church. The crowd was not unlike that on a Friday, so we were able to go near the Altar of the Repose. I just didn't understand why taking pictures was prohibited. Noy was able to steal a shot just before an usher placed a hand over the lens. Feisty huh?! It's ridiculous, I'm sorry.
I felt bad I didn't get to pray enough because my emotions were disrupted by the camera-blocking hand.
Not to be disheartened, we crossed Quezon Boulevard and followed the crowd to San Sebastian. It looked like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
We're problematic at this point because there weren't enough churches on our list to complete the stations. Just as I was about to propose a more tiring idea, along came a teeny weeny church to our left, a few meters before reaching San Sebastian.
It's called the Church of the Holy Face of Jesus. There was a huge replica of the Shroud of Turin at the main altar of this church, which is the size of a big house. Noy and I were relieved, but we had difficulty going in and out of the small church. It was really small, and there were so.many.people.
My husband, not wanting to break out of our little routine of taking a picture of ourselves outside every church, took a rather harsh shot, which captured the loser to my left. It was the perfect "Who the hell are you?" photo. Obviously he wasn't doing the Visita Iglesia to pray.
San Sebastian's Altar of the Repose was quite unfitting for the grandiose facade the church had. But the overall feel inside the church was still different. The sounds were a little hushed and a lot of people were lining up at the confessionals. Which is good because it didn't add to the stresses of hunger and tiredness.
We munched on our cookies while we walked a considerable distance to St Jude. It normally would have felt nothing but my legs felt heavier with each step. I realized it was past 11 pm, which is my sleeping time.
We briefly prayed at our favorite Shrine of St Jude before this simple Altar of the Repose,then went straight to our suki fishball vendor. I have been looking forward to savoring these true fishballs all night long.
Moving along some more, I was delighted to see that San Beda Church opened its doors to the pilgrims. It was Noy's first time to be there. Noy actually went to 5 churches for the first time that night. That's a lot of wishes!
Amongst all Altars of Repose we've seen, I liked San Beda's best. It was simple and elegant and solemn. No fancy stuff was placed in here.
We continued on with an impromptu decision to go to two nearby churches, St Anthony and Our Lady of Loreto, or what is referred to as
Kambal na Simbahan (Twin Churches). They literally face each other, both being almost the same size and built on the same block just off Legarda. It's become a favorite among Visita Iglesia goers because it's like hitting two birds with one stone. Two churches in almost an instant. These two, while linked together, have very different personalities, at least from their appearance.We first went into St Anthony, a simple church which, judging by the architecture,was built around the 70s. It had a simple but solemn enough Altar of the Repose.
The other church was more lavishly built, what with marble finishing and all. What really attracted my attention, and I believe most of the others', was the fact that the Altar of the Repose had a special effect. It literally blows off steam every minute of so, the purpose of which is honestly baffling to me. It kind of distracted the vigil-goers rather than helping them concentrate on their prayers.
After Noy was done visiting 5 churches for the first time, we were ready to wrap it up. We excitedly took a jeepney to the last two churches we had to visit, the ones closer to home. It was around 12 midnight, the early minutes of Good Friday. As vigils on the Altar of the Repose conclude at 12 midnight, the churches were almost deserted when we got in. The lights had been turned off, save for some flickering candles and the security guard's.
The Sacred Heart Church in Sta Mesa was already dark as it is because of its location and structure. We didn't see much of its Altar of the Repose.
We didn't see the last church's at all. The Divine Mercy Shrine was altogether closed. We had to make do of the Adoration Chapel up front and under the driveway. It's no sense getting disappointed, because there was nothing I can do about. Instead, I was full of thanks, being able to complete this journey with the love of my life.
It was fun, it was tiring. It almost made Noy's knees buckle on a whim. But over McDonald's chicken fillets at 2 am, he told me he did it for love. Of me, of the Lord, and for our wish to finally be granted.
