Bisita Iglesia...

So... hiya folks... sorry for not posting over the weekend but I think you can forgive me since it was the lenten season and all... and Jesus would want you to forgive me.. really... *wink*

Anyway, this lenten holiday, we decided not to go anywhere and just have a vacation at home.  No traffic, no crowds, just stay in at home and bum around and reflect.  My wife coined it as a STAYCATION... nice word... I actually like it!

So anyhow, on Good Friday, we did our annual Bisita Iglesia.  It's been 8 years since we started doing this and we will continue to do so in the future.  I guess you can say that this is our panata.  Our promise to God.

Our Bisita Iglesia consisted of visiting 14 churches.  One for each station of the cross.  And we had to finish it before 3pm, which they say is the time Christ died on the cross.  That is our Bisita Iglesia.

My wife's sisters (Dimpol and Ahmere) accompanied us during our Bisita Iglesia this year.  We did a list of the churches we were going to visit and put the list in order as to how we thought it would be more efficient (time saving and gas saving!).  This is how our list ended up:

1.   San Felipe Neri Church,  Mandaluyong

While at San Felipe Neri Church, we saw some people who are doing their own panata:

 I think the end of their route is at the church itself...

2.   The Divine Mercy Shrine,  Mandaluyong

3.   San Roque Church, Mandaluyong

4.   Nuestra Senora De Gracia, Makati

5.   Sto. Nino De Paz Chapel, Makati

6.   San Antonio Parish, Makati

7.   Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral, Pasig

I couldn't get a picture of the front of the church since they were doing repairs so you get a picture of the inside of the church...

8.   Sta. Clara Church, Pasig

9.   St. Pio Chapel, Quezon City 

We were surprised when we went to St. Pio for our 9th station.. they give out crosses that you would bear during you own way of the cross... there were different sizes of the crosses and you get to choose which you are comfortable in carrying...  you also had to be careful not to hit anyone with the cross and avoid getting hit by others... it was a careful balance of patience, strength, stamina and agility... but patience above all..

 Really, I wanted to get one of the bigger ones, but they ran out when it was my turn...

 Personally, I really liked the stations of the cross here at St. Pio...

10. Monasterio de Sta. Clara, Quezon City

11. Mt. Carmel Church, Quezon City

 This was where the wife and I were married, and we almost forgot to include it in our list...

12. Sto. Nino Chapel, Quezon City instead of Sto. Domingo Church -- When we got to Sto. Domingo Church, it was already jam packed and there was a mass already in session... we couldn't get to the stations... good thing we had a back up church...

 Our back up church..

13. Our Lady of Hope Church, Quezon City

14. Christ The King Chapel, Quezon City

 Our last station!

We started at 9:30 in the morning and finished at 2:48pm.  We cut it a bit close but the delay was caused by the televised mass at Sto. Domingo.  We still finished it on time so it's ok.  We were tired at this point as well as hungry.  Our last meal was morning breakfast before starting our way... I guess this is also part of our panata... our promise to God.  It always feels good whenever we finish our Bisita Iglesia.  Like some weight has somehow been lifted from our shoulders... like we were walking on air... or maybe we were just a tad bit hungry... hehehe..

We intend to do this again next year and I hope you guys like this post for the lenten season.

Mumbling my prayers... till next time!