Tags: Churches and Places of Worship
By Marjorie Gorsope
TANAY, RIZAL – Those who want to experience a total retreat this coming Holy Week, a two-hour drive to Our Lady of Mount Carmel should be worth it if only for the angelic voices you can hear while you pray.
Hidden in a mountain, the Carmelite Chapel conducts mass daily at 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. during Sundays. You can hear nuns singing praises while mass is ongoing; even when there’s no mass, you can hear their voices echoing throughout the chapel as they rehearse throughout the day.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is also known for its “Brown Scapular”, said to be clothing for protection when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Simon Stock on July 16, 1251 and made this promise: “Whosoever dies clothed in this (scapular) shall not suffer eternal fire.”
Historically, the Carmelites were founded in the 12th century by a group of hermits in Mount Carmel in Palestine. Carmelites are devotees known for their very animated way of praying.
You might also find it fascinating to have a short conversation with the nun. Just press the bell and wait for few seconds and a nun will greet you “Ave Maria Purissimma Sin pecado concebida” (which literally means “Hail Mary conceived without sin”) and you may state your intension of visit. Souvenir items are for sale and proceeds go to a scholarship program run by the Carmelites.
The Baguio-like weather is enough reason to stay the night in the retreat house, which has 19 rooms. Some of the rooms offer a majestic view of the Laguna de Bay. A Station of the Cross can be conducted leading to the chapel of Black Madonna, the most noticeable landmark when visiting Mount Carmel.
The Carmelites’ commitment:
“We nuns share with the whole Carmelite Family a single common charism: the commitment to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ in contemplative stance, which marks and sustains our life of prayer, community and service, lived in intimate familiarity with the most Holy Virgin and in the prophetic spirit of Elijah.”
To get to the Carmel of Mary, from Cainta, take the road leading to Laguna through Rizal (passing thru Antipolo, Teresa, Morong) going to Tanay. From Tanay, turn left at the Shell gasoline station when you see the road sign “To Sampaloc”. Look for the Black Madonna Chapel sign about 5-6 kilometers from the gas station and then turn right on Mt. Carmel Street.
By public transportation, take a jeep or FX going to Tikling/Cainta/Antipolo. From Tanay terminal, take another jeepney going to Sampaloc and ask the driver to drop you off at Black Madonna Chapel.
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