noel alanguilan

it has been a trying day. it’s what we call “visita iglesia” where you would visit seven churches from maundy thursday (evening) to good friday (3pm). we decided to start our visita iglesia on the morning of good friday. around 930 and it was getting hot already.

we start with 1. quiapo church. it took a long time to get there. traffic. when we got to the church, people wearing maroon and barefoot was crowding around it — devotees of the black nazarene. you couldn’t even step into the church because it was totally filled with devotees who would wave their white towels at the image of the black nazarene. amazing sight. we had to say our prayers beside the door of one of the side entrances.

a jeepney ride and short walk led us to the walled city of manila — intramuros. 2. san agustin church and the 3. manila cathedral is about a hundred meters from each other. san agustin dates back to the spanish times and is brimming with old world character. that may be one of the reasons why its so popular as a wedding venue. the manila cathedral dates back to the american period. it was more festive here. there were a lot of people but not as much as that huge crowd in quiapo. there were plenty of stalls on the sidewalks that sell native snacks and drinks as well as the traditional ones. i especially like the grilled bananas and squid. yum. there’s this guy who regularly gives a walking tour of the walled city.

after a long walk through the old city, two jeepney hops through quiapo to san miguel, we arrive at 4. san miguel church — the church of the archangel with a sword. i stayed around this area for more than 10 years. the church used to be pretty active and well attended but something happened. there are much less people going there. still, they’re keeping it pretty well maintained.

after a short walk that takes us beside malacanang palace is 5. saint jude parish church. people come in droves to this church every thursday mostly to ask for favors from saint jude thaddeus. it seems to work because they keep coming back.

a 10-minute walk takes us to 6. san beda church. this is were i got married. beautiful, beautiful church and the monks have kept it well maintained. gothic.

the last stop is 7. santissimo rosario parish church located within the university of santo tomas (ust). this is also our parish church.

we finally finished at about 2:30 pm. sorry there isn’t much pictures i forgot my cellphone in the car. duh.

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