Sunday, April 28, 2013

Sunday Quote and Photograph: The Sunshine Follows The Rain

The world goes up

and the world goes down,

The sunshine follows the rain;

and yesterday’s sneer

and yesterday’s frown

can never come over again.

~ Charles Kingsley ~

Sunshine WM

The photograph is taken from my mobile phone after having coffee at a 24 hour donut house one April dawn.  This view caught my reverie and I actually had a second check if it was really dawn at the time that I saw this view from the horizon. 

Oh yes it is dawn not dusk!  It is really the sun that is about to break  from the horizon.  It was raining so hard the day before this dawn.  The kind of rain accompanied with frightening lightning and thunderstorm – the kind that makes both adults and kids to scamper to bed for cover.  The kind of rain that somehow makes you feel that there will be no tomorrow… no more sunshine…

But look!  There is the sunshine!  Fighting against all odds to come out and spread its power!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Vicita Iglesia 2013: Seven Churches this Time

I hope that I am not too late for my annual and traditional post about Vicita Iglesia.

Every year I wish to visit fourteen new churches. It’s sort of hitting two birds in one stone. First is to fulfill my Roman Catholic faith. Second is to satisfy the blogger in me.  However this year I visited seven churches only.  I had a flu (running nose)  at that time and I don’t want to aggravate my condition. 

Also this year,two among these churches are not first time visits for me.  Read and tag along to find what are these churches and join me as I meditate for Good Friday while being a blogger.

First church is…

THE REDEMPTORIST CHURCH in Baclaran Pasay City.  The home or Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

I have countless visits to this church because I am a devotee of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help. If it wasn’t in conflict with my work I am attending the novena mass at this church almost every Wednesday.

Our (un)plan is to visit churches in the Cavite area this time.  However, I can not find my Vicita Iglesia guide/prayer book so I opt to start from the Baclaran church that has vendors selling religious  items all over the place. Funny though because after buying it I realized I have a prayer book that is a regular content of my purse and it has in it the prayer guide.

1st and 2nd Station
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THE CATHEDRAL PARISH OF ST. ANDREW
or The Church of Parañaque  - Quirino Avenue, La Huerta, Parañaque City.

I am seeing this church when I passed by in this area but I never had a chance to visit it or attend a mass from this church so we decided to have our third and fourth station here.
3rd and 4th Station
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ST. JOSEPH PARISH CHURCH
also known as the house of the famous Las Piñas Bamboo Organ

This is my second time to visit this church.  The first time is during one of my birthday getaway which I spent through a road trip to Tagaytay and Laguna.  I haven’t observe Vicita Iglesia here so I decided to meditate here the 5th and 6th station.

We were informed by the residents that there will be real crucifixion here later at around 3Pm thus explains the beautifully designed stage at the side of the church.

5th and 6th Station

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Standing true to its image why this place became popular, the station of the cross is signified by crosses made from bamboo – genuine eh?

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Off we go and head to Cavite area.   First stop is in Bacoor Cavite.

SAN MIGUEL DE ARKANGHEL PARISH
(ST. MICHAEL DE ARCHANGEL) – Bacoor Cavite

7th and 8th Station
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After Bacoor we headed to Kawit town and look what I found - The Aguinaldo Shrine!  I featured the Home of Aguinaldo in one of my posts but this is the first time I viewed this magnificent shrine coming from the back road - beautiful isn’t it?

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ST. MARY MAGDALENE PARISH, Kawit Cavite

9th and 10th Station
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Off we go again and continue the road trip without any particular church in mind to visit next.  We always do our Vicita Iglesia this way.  We will choose a certain area but we don’t have an exact plan or list of churches to visit.   The church searching is sort of an added sacrifice and the exploration is another adventure for the blogger.

MOST HOLY ROSARY PARISH
-  Rosario Cavite

11th and 12th Station
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We learned that the next town is Noveleta (correct me if I’m wrong) but we can’t find the church in the town of Noveleta so off we go to another town which is Tanza where we found the home of the saint who is popularly known as the miraculous “T ata Uste” or San Agustin (St. Augustine).   More about this church and the miraculous saint when I make a separate post for this.

HOLY CROSS PARISH
(PAROQUIA DE SANTA CRUZ) Tanza Cavite

13th and 14th Station
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There’s a lot more town and churches in the area of Cavite City but again I can’t expose myself to much heat so as not aggravate my body condition.

As usual during Good Friday there was no traffic in Metro Manila.  We left home at past 7Am and were back home before lunch time.  It was safe for my body condition during that day to be back home and rest early.  But my body and spirit is sort of looking for the feeling of being inside the church at least until the late afternoon of Good Friday.

Again, I am planning to make a separate post for each church in the coming days.  Oh boy they are becoming too many in my files!

If you wish to take a peek on my post about Vicita Iglesia and churches here are some links for you!

The 14 Churches I Like Most From My Vicita Iglesia Chronicle

Vicita Iglesia 2012 Part 1 and Part 2.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Sunday Thoughts and Photograph: Seagulls and One Fine Lady

The distance made it impossible to give a birthday hug and cheers…

The online ordering process maybe an epic fail…

The postal service may be late and whatever …

But my thoughts will not fail in remembering a good friend on her special day…

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one wonderful lady I am blessed to know about in the blogosphere… GRACIE!

Gracie

The photograph is taken during one of my wanderings.  I don’t know why seagulls and the calmness of the bay reminds me of Gracie.  Probably it’s because of what I am seeing on her Twitter profile – “FOLLOW” her and you’ll know.  Or the amazing photos that you can check out on her Facebook Page – “LIKE” her and you’ll enjoy.  Or the amusing stories she shares on her Blog Site – drop by and don’t forget to leave a “COMMENT”.  

And here's a secret - a picture greeting will cause an extra smile in Gracie's face and a tear of joy in her eyes.

Love you dear Gracie! Now you owe me a piece of your cake (wink*)!

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