Tags: Churches and Places of Worship
By Marjorie Gorospe
TIAONG, QUEZON—Every Lenten season, Christians in the Philippines reflect the sacrifice of Jesus Christ by embarking on a “Visita Iglesia”, hopping from one church to another.
Each year, our parish invites people to a Visita Iglesia. This year, we visited churches throughout Quezon province. From the very beginning of the trip, our priest reminded us that we were not tourists, but instead followers of Christ’s trail to the cross.
For a first timer of Visita Iglesia, l learned that we were supposed to pray the rosary every time our bus travels from one place to another. The whole essence of the journey was taking the Stations of the Cross and so in every church, we take two stations to complete the fourteen stations.
Our first stop was in San Pablo Laguna since our route would pass the area but we didn’t take long after our first station, since there was mass scheduled that time. The first two stations were about Jesus condemned to death and Jesus given the cross.
Our journey continued to Tiaong, Quezon’s Saint John the Baptist Parish to reflect on the first fall of Jesus and ‘Jesus meets his mother’ station. Then we quickly dropped by into Candelaria Church but there was a wedding so we had to continue the station of the cross at the patio. But the church was one of the best I’ve ever seen; its modern design belies how old it really is.
Another fascinating church we visited was the Saint Francis of Assisi in Sariaya, Quezon. In this old historical church, we reflected on the seventh and eighth stations then took quick glimpse of the church’s unique structure.
Tayabas’ Saint Michael Basilica amazed us all and one of the largest temples we’ve seen. I couldn’t even frame it in my camera, but then again, we were there to pray. Its ceilings are too old but the fading renaissance paintings on its ceiling and walls can still be seen. It was declared as the most beautiful church in the Philippines as written in its scripture after being rebuilt in 1894.
Our journey to the cross continued in Lucban Church where we also saw other pilgrims in the church which was built in 1738.Our last two stations were held in “Kamay ni Hesus (Hand of Jesus)”. This was perhaps the most tedious yet memorable part of the entire trip because we had to climb some 300 steps to reach the top. Despite this, I was amazed that my mom and the other elderly in our group made it.
When our Stations of the Cross was finally completed, our priest held a mass to conclude our journey. In his homily he said that we become one with Jesus who suffered to the cross as we patiently and passionately reflect on the Stations of the Cross. Most importantly, we realized how much Christ was willing to give His life to save us from our sins.
See also personal accounts of Visita Iglesia in Pampanga and Cebu.
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