ALAY LAKAD 2013. Penitential Walk.

Ave Maria!

The Virgin of Antipolo, better known as Nuestra Senora De la Paz y Buen Viaje, (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage) is back in her home,  at the Cathedral of Antipolo.

She came back last Wednesday, May 1st, travelling from the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila to the Cathedral in Antipolo in the Rizal Province.

Thousands of faithful and devotees walked the 16-kilometer stretch that started at 8 pm on April 30th and ended at around 3 am on May 1st.

Why did the Virgin of Antipolo end up at Quiapo in the first place?

Recent history relates that the Virgin of Antipolo was brought to the Quiapo Church during World War II as the Japanese forces were wrecking havoc in the town of Antipolo, bombing and burning houses and churches. To escape destruction, the Nuestra Senora was taken secretly to Quiapo.

So every year to commemorate the Virgin Mother's temporary camping and adoption at the Quiapo Church and her subsequent return to Antipolo, the Alay Lakad "fetches" the Nuestra Senora and brings her home to Antipolo.

The Nuestra Senora De la Paz y Buen Viaje and the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno of Quiapo share an affinity. Both were brought to Manila from Mexico and both are made of oak wood and turned black as both the images suffered burning and destruction during trips from Manila to Acapulco in the days of the galleon trade.

Concelebrated mass at the Quiapo church

After a 6 pm concelebrated mass and quick dinner at the church courtyard in Quiapo, the Alay Lakad participants started the walk at 8 pm. They criss crossed the busy traffic along Recto Avenue, on to Legarda, Ramon Magsaysay Blvd (Sta. Mesa), to Greenhills area, crossed EDSA, on to Ortigas Ave, to Rosario Bridge in Pasig, and on to Tikling where other walkers from the Cainta and Taytay areas were waiting with various images of the Senor Nazareno and the Virgin Mother.

Fr. Vic Flores, one of the celebrators of the mass in Quiapo

Along the long route were people giving bottles of water, and there were even some providing snacks like the Beta Sigma Fraternity which handed out hot lugaw, a Philippine favorite chicken and rice porridge .

Some walked ahead of the big group. The main group laid in wait at Tikling because it wanted to reach the Antipolo Church at exactly 4 am, in time for the first mass of the Pilgrim month of May.

Alay Lakad participants taking a rest before the 4 a.m. mass

The church courtyard in Antipolo became one big sleeping camp as walkers and penitents laid mats and slept and rested upon reaching ground and before the 4 am mass.

The scene reminded me of a 2007 trip to the Basilica of Santiago Mayor in Compostela in Spain, where "walkers" from different parts of Spain and Western Europe took the route called "Way Of St. James," and converged at the Church Plaza and slept on the pavement after days of walking with wooden canes.

Participants from our parish of San Andres Apostol included the Knights of Columbus and Daughters of Mary Immaculate, and others from the pastoral council, BEC. MBG, and CWL.

NOTE: Photos lifted from the San Andres Apostol Parish facebook account. Many thanks.

Holy Experience.

On a trip to Orlando, Florida , U.S.A., years ago, we went to a place to experience Holy Land, where they simulate the area of Jerusalem during the days and times of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Holy Land Experience consisted mostly of several life-size Biblical scenes packed into its 15-acres. A Jerusalem street market, the Dead Sea Scroll caves, Herod's Temple, the tomb of Jesus -- were all there, impressively rendered. The park crew and employees wore period costume and we, the visitors quickly grew accustomed seeing Roman soldiers and coarse-robed civilians scurrying about in Birkenstock sandals, on their way to their next musical performance.

And towards noon, there was a re-enactment of the Passion and Death of Jesus.

The re-enactment started with the Way of the Cross when Jesus had been condemned to die by crucifixion, up to the carrying of the Cross from Pilate's palace to the narrow streets of olden Israel, and up to the Mount of Golgotah and ended with the crucifixion.

It was a very touching play; it was almost like being there, at the "moment" when Christ was suffering and dying.

But it was all a dramatization.

In our parish of San Andres Apostol, we have a "real" Station of the Cross which started on the first Friday of Lent and will end on Friday before the start of the Holy Week.

The San Andres Apostol Station of the Cross starts from the Church and goes to 14 houses within the village via a procession bearing the image of the Black Nazarene and a replica of the wooden cross of Christ.

It is a "live" Station of the Cross wherein a station of the cross is assigned to a particular house and parishioners move in a procession, from station to station or house to house, bearing a replica of the wooden Cross of Christ, and the image of the Senor Nazareno (Black Nazarene).

Church workers and parishioners join parish priest Fr. Vic on Lenten Friday Station of the Cross.

At each Station of the Cross, prayers are recited and a "personal sharing" is done by a parishioner or a church worker.

Author shares his story of conversion. 

* Pictures/images of Station of the Cross, courtesy of San Andres Apostol facebook account.

Knocked out. For Good.

The Knights of Columbus Council 15419  and the Daughters of Mary Immaculate International, staged an Anti-RH Bill mini motorcade last Dec. 8th.

The Season of Christmas brings on Christmas parties, Christmas shopping and hectic activities at homes, offices and especially in Christian churches.

Being new in our parish, we've had countless preparations and actual events we found exhilaratingly tiring, like getting a TKO. The veteran volunteers are shining examples for us to look up to.

Most people still in the workforce feel that Christmas is ironically short ; that's because offices and organizations usually have their themed parties (inter-deparmental, general and unit-wise), and there's the countless exchange gifts, and then individual workers host their own parties at home.

Those who are retired or stay at home couldn't be any less busier, because retirement brings on more volunteer work, and being stay at home mom or dad means doing the day-to-day shopping plus the extra added Christmas shopping for the other spouse and the kids; gifts for spouses' co-workers and gifts for the children's friends and teachers.

Even those who say they are poor in countless surveys could not escape the lure of the Christmas spirit; they still prepare, although simply.

After all, the Yuletide Season is all about the Redeemer's birth, and a newborn is always an occasion for all to rejoice.

A dawn procession was held at the San Andres Apostol Parish last Dec. 8, Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Photo from the San Andres Apostol Parish website.

This weekend we went to two church-adjunct Christmas parties, one anti-RH motorcade, one dawn procession in honour of the Immaculate Conception, and one live Rosary recitation and a dance practise.

Live Rosary held at San Andres Apostol Parish courtyard on Dec. 8th. Photo from gallery of San Andres Apostol Parish website.

We also sang at a choir for a Sunday mass, participated in a Christmas dance presentation, and ingested more calories than we had to.

On Dec. 16th, the dawn "misa de gallo" mass will start.  In our parish, it commences at 5 am.

But our parish priest has a more daunting schedule. This Advent Season on a Sunday, he'd have to celebrate at least six masses.

A dance presentation at the recent IHMMEC Christmas Party held at the BNS court in Fort Bonifacio

Bible as a Book.

Although I attended a Catholic high school and had been a practising Christian ever since I could  remember, I couldn't say that I understand the Bible, then and now.

Yes, there had been episodes in my life that I had taken to reading the Bible - those were the days when there were troubles and woes. But going to mass had been a constant.

In Jersey City, I attended Sunday mass at the St. Aedan Church near Journal Square and also at St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church on Westside.

In Steubenville, Ohio, me, my sisters and their families went to the Holy Rosary Parish Church, a stone's throw away from our house.

In Toronto, I first attended masses at the St. Patrick's Church in Mississauga, then at St. Anne's in Gerrard, at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help near St. Clair and Mt. Pleasant, and finally at the Blessed John XXIII Church.

When I was working in Manhattan, I would walk to the Our Lady of Victory Church on William St. for its 12:15 pm mass, and then grabbed a bite before heading back to my office which was near New York's Federal Reserve Bank, where at one time,  I witnessed a man jumped to his death from one of the building's upper windows. Whew!

When our office moved midtown, I discovered a church called St. Malachy "the Actor's Chapel" at 57th Street.  Then on Wednesdays, I'd take a fast-paced walk to St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue and on to Macy's for its Wednesday special sale. Those were the days.

Back in Toronto, I attended some Sunday masses at the St. Michael's Cathedral located at Dundas and Church streets.

In my extended stay in Manila, I re-discovered the local church in our Village, the San Andres Apostol Paris Church. Ably shepherded by Fr. Vic Flores, San Andres Apostol is a young parish, going on its third year  this coming November  although it had been a chapel for some 19 years already.

Facade of the newly completed San Andres Apostol Parish Church at Greenwoods.

The San Andres Apostol Parish Church boasts of an active Catholic community with a vibrant Marriage Encounter group called IHHMEC  (Immaculate Heart of Mary Marriage Encounter) and several other organizations with adult and youth memberships.

Previous to my regular attendance at the San Andres Apostol, I had been hearing masses and novenas at the Eucharistic Chapel of the Risen Lord at the Megamall.

Lately, I longed to have a deeper understanding of the Word of God, and alas, barely a few days after, our Parish Priest announced that a Basic Bible Seminar I would be held at our parish. So for two consecutive Saturdays, I listened and heard.

•      That the Bible is a Book, and as a Book, it should be read, studied, prayed, lived, and shared with a larger community.

So now, a Bible is prominently displayed in the house's altar, and a candle perpetually lighted near it.

Graduation Photo, Basic Bible Seminar I participants. From the facebook account of San Andres Apostol Parish.  Author at top most row, second from the right.

It will be read, studied, prayed, lived and shared.  These were the promises we, the Basic Bible Seminar I graduates, made on Graduation Day last Sept. 29th, 2012.

Praise God.