Feeding my Imagination...: Visita Iglesia 2009

It's been quite a while since I added anything to this blog. I thought i'd start my 2009 blogs on a religious note. Holy week coincides with summer and is normally a time when people go and take vacations elsewhere to cool off. My wife and I decided to do something different this year (different for us, at least). Yep, you guessed it. We went on a "Visita Iglesia" which is a religious tradition here in the Philippines. In our case, we chose to take part in a guided bus tour of the 7 best-known churches in the province of Rizal. Despite the hot weather (searing heat was more like it), we thankfully had an airconditioned bus to fall back to and cold drinks in between church visits. Each church visit lasted about 30 minutes each.

This was our itenerary on that day (April 9, 2009):

Tour Title: "VISITA IGLESIA SA RIZAL..."

5:00 AM - Assembly Time (SM City North Annex)
7:00 AM - Antipolo Church (pray the 1st and 2nd station of the cross)
8:15 AM - Taytay Church (pray the 3rd & 4th station of the cross)
9:30 AM - Angono Church (pray the 5th & 6th station of the cross)
10:45 AM - Binangonan Church (7th and 8th station of the cross)
11:30 AM - LUNCH
1:30 PM - Morong Church (9th and 10th station) - HERITAGE SITE
3:00 PM - Baras Church (11th and 12th station) - HERITAGE SITE
4:15 PM - Tanay Church (13th and 14th station) - HERITAGE SITE

With that out of the way, let's begin the photo tour (just click the links below to open the images in another browser window)...

Antipolo Church (Shrine of the Lady of Peace and Good Voyage) - Unfortunately, this church was really packed with people by the time we arrived so there wasn't any room inside. Mass was ongoing so we just decided to stay near the entrance and pray along with a lot of other people who couldn't get in just like us.

Photo of the statue of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (popularly known as the Birhen ng Antipolo). This was what we were supposed to see if we got the chance to go inside. The origin of the Virgin of Antipolo dates back to the Spanish era in the Philippines, when galleon trade between the Philippines and Mexico was at its height.

Taytay Church (San Juan Bautista Parish) - Tidbit: Seems that most Spanish-era churches were built on the top of hills. Supposedly, the churches served as lookout posts in case of invasions. Being on high ground, the churches were easily defensible and townspeople can easily be alerted using the church bells.

On our way to the 2nd church!