The spiritual journey starts here: Along Commonwealth Ave in Quezon City
Our CFC-GK household had been planning for an appropriate group activity this season of Lent for quite sometime. Quite possibly, there might be no better collective action in this regard than to hold a Visita Iglesia, a spiritual pilgrimage across the provinces to pray the Way of the Cross and reflect on the life, passion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we did embark on such a spiritual journey last April 8 with many of our family members which included my mother in law and a niece from Davao City here in Manila on vacation.
Our group converged near the St. Peter’s Church along Commonwealth Ave. that Friday morning.
From Quezon City, we had a brief stopover at Marikina where our household leader, Bro. Steve Krueger led the group in prayer, after which he gave an orientation regarding our intended travel program. Choosing the Rizal (via Antipolo) to Laguna, our travel route promised to be a long, winding but scenic one.
Bro. Steve Krueger leads the group in prayer
Everyone is briefed about the itinerary and tasking by couple
We encountered significant delay early on as our hired driver wasn’t familiar with the streets of Marikina. Our run around the roads of Marikina trying to catch up with the rest of the convoy cost the group significant travel time. Time constrained, it compelled the group to forego the intended trip to St. Joseph Parish in Baras, Rizal to avoid traffic opting to proceed to the town of Tanay.
First stop: San Ildefenso de Toledo Parish in Tanay, Rizal
The history of Tanay could be traced to a small town on Monte Tan-ay, also called Inalsan. The ecclesiastical administration of the area was under Pililla from 1573 until 1606 when the first church was built and the parish of San Ildefonso was established. Later the town was moved to San Antonio in 1620 but was eventually transferred to its current site in 1783.
While the first stone church in Tanay was finished in 1680, the present church was finished within a ten year period from 1773 to 1783.
Politically, with the establishment of civil government under the Americans in 1901, Tanay became a part of the province of Rizal.
Presently under the diocese of Antipolo, the parish celebrated its 400th foundation anniversary last November 12, 2006.
Otherwise known as the Church of Tanay, the parish was founded way back in 1606
The baptism of the Lord Jesus accentuates the important function of the church baptistery
The church interior
Bro. Terence and Sis. Thelma Grana leads the group in praying the Way of the Cross
Old church altars are often filled with statues of the saints
Family picture (Sonny Boy wasn’t with us) with Mama Charing (my mother in law and Julia (niece in law)
“Tanay is an open book”
Bestowed by unknown planters, two acacia trees (Samanea saman) on the church’s patio for more than a century have been silent observers to the religious piousness of Tanayans
Pilgrims pose for a group picture
Grand women of CFC-GK
From Tanay, Rizal our group traveled through the Municipality of Pililia and crossing over to the Province of Laguna into the Municipality of Sta. Maria.
Nuestra Seňora de los Angeles Parish in Sta. Maria, Laguna The parish church of Sta. Maria has visibly gone through a lot of physical changes through the centuries.
According to the National Historical Committee, the town of Santa Maria de Caboan was founded in 1602 but was called San Miguel until 1613. The first parish minister was Reverend Antonio de La Llave. A church built in 1613 was destroyed by the Chinese during an uprising in 1639. Another church built by 1669 later succumbed to earthquakes in 1880. The Reverend Leopoldo Arellano reconstructed the church in 1891 but was again destroyed by another earthquake on August 20, 1937.
Church’s imposing bell tower
The Way of the Cross is continued
At some point there was some confusion regarding the Stations of the Cross which stemmed from the substantial changes to the biblical events depicted in the stations of the new version of the Way of the Cross.
Both the Traditional and the New Way of the Cross have fourteen (14) Stations. However, the newer version presumably in an attempt to include other significant events in the life of Christ opted to merge the three stations regarding the Lord’s fall under the weight of the cross into one station, replacing the station where Mother Mary meets with Jesus on the way to Calvary with a much more heart piercing encounter at the foot of the Cross, and removing the other scenes such as Veronica wiping the face of Jesus and Christ being taken down from the cross. These changes now provided for the inclusion of stations that highlighted the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the Lord’s agony in the garden, His scourging and being crowned with thorns, Jesus’ promise of heaven to the repentant thief, and the most important event in all of history, Christ’s glorious Resurrection.
Modern church architecture is somewhat minimalist in design
Three mothers converge
Antique church bells are displayed
Outside by the side yard were three antique church bells. Locals believe that these bells were around 400 years old. I’m not so sure all the three were that old as there were no clear visible markings to indicate their dates of origin. But since the parish has been around for nearly 400 years, there might be enough truth to substantiate these claims.
A visit to the Kusina ni Ka Rany
Home to the blood relatives of Sis. Baby Krueger, our itinerary included a visit to their ancestral home by the town plaza. The first floor of the historic house has been transformed into an eatery. Our arrival was met with the warm hospitality of Sis. Baby’s brother, Ka Rany who served us with delicious merienda. We were all simply much obliged!
A sumptuous native food merienda
If you are into comfort food, you know how enjoyable it is to eat tasty lugaw (congee) along with all the condiments, hard boiled eggs and lumpiang ubod (spring rolls). There was ice cold Coke (regular and zero for diabetics like me!) to wash all these delicious food down!
A blast from the past: Sis. Baby Krueger as a young contestant in a beauty pageant
The spiritual journey also provided for fellowship and gastronomic nourishment 
This poster on the forthcoming fiesta of Our Lady of (Sorrows) Turumba gives a hint to our next destination
With our physical bodies nourished and refreshed, we continued on to the next leg of our Lenten spiritual voyage…
No comments:
Post a Comment