This Holy Week we spend it in the metro. We didn't plan of going somewhere else because our trips are already planned for the year. But when Maynilad, a water company, announced a water interruptions we crammed to look for where we could spend the four days. We couldn't find the best place for us so we opted to save water instead. The good thing the water restored less than 24 hours. Maynilad suspended the water interruptions in some areas.
Usually on Maundy Thursday we do the visitation of churches or Visita Iglesia. It's our way of saying thank you for all the things that came our way in the past years. This year we did it on Good Friday because we thought that after the Visita Iglesia we would attend the mass at 3:00pm. Some visited 14 churches, which stands for 14 stations of the cross but for us we opted for 7 churches only because every church we did two stations of the cross. We arrived in the first stop around 10:00pm
Our first stop was the Manila Cathedral located in Intramuros, the walled city. It was loaded with pilgrims. I noticed there are white people in there taking pictures and scrutinizing the details of the church.
Along the way there were bazaar, selling memorabilia, souvenir items, food etc., we bought green mango and suman sa ibos, a glutinous rice delicacy.
Second stop was the Saint Augustine church, it is inside the Intramuros too. One of baroque churches in the Philippines it’s also part of the UNESCO heritage.
Before we proceed to our third stop we dropped by at the Luneta Park to rest. We ate the food we bought from the bazaar. At this time there were a lot people having their picnics.
Third stop was supposedly the one in the skirt of Luneta Park, but we didn't notice it was a Protestant church and it was closed. Sorry we didn't notice the sign. lol
The third church was the one still near, the malate shrine also known as Nuestra Senora de Guia. It is a small church but too many pilgrims too. When we arrived there the 7 last words was already starting. Although even there was an activity inside the church, pilgrims were still allowed to the station of the cross because they set up the 14 station of the cross outside the church.
Malate church was our fourth stop. We walked from Manila cathedral till this church. It is under renovations. The 14th station of the cross was set on the right side of the church too.
We were hungry already, all the restaurants around this area were full, some were waiting. We opted to have our lunch in a fast food instead.
From bay walk area we rode a van going to Baclaran church, our fifth stop. It is a pilgrim church that's why more people were there. When we arrived the 7 last words is being held. The church was full packed. And it was almost 2:00pm.
From Baclaran church we walked few meters and we reached our sixth stop, the St. Rita De Cascia Church. It's a small church and at that time the pilgrims were just few. Some were waiting for the 3:00pm mass.
After our sixth stop we rode a jeep going to St. Andrews Cathedral in Paranaque City. And this was our last stop and where we attended the 3:00pm mass.
It was a loaded day, refreshing and it was like we had a tour too. Different churches and it has its own history. Exploring Philippines includes visiting the historical churches too to understand better the culture and its people.
