VIA CRUCIS TAKES THE ROUTE OF THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH. Historic Philippine Churches Pope Francis might have loved to see in His recent Papal Visit to the Philippines.

On March 14, 2015, our parish of San Andres Apostol of the Diocese of Antipolo went on a local pilgrimage to the northern province of Bataan in the Philippines.  It was part of the parish's Lenten celebration, dubbed VISITA IGLESIA, a Catholic practise which involves visits to as many churches as possible, usually done on the eve of Maundy Thursday.

Bus 5, Visita Iglesia 2015 of San Andres Apostol Parish

On such Visita Iglesias,  the faithful does the Via Crucis or the Stations of the Cross, praying at each of the 14 stations depicting Jesus Christ's suffering, and crucifixion. The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death

The province of choice for the Visita Iglesia 2015,  Bataan, is the site of the historic Bataan Death March.

In barely less than a month, the Philippines will commemorate this historic event which took place  some 63 years ago, on April 9, 1942 to be exact.

On this date, some 72,000 Filipino and American soldiers surrendered to the Japanese military, which brought to end the three-month Battle of Bataan that started on December 21, 1941. The Allied forces retreated to the Bataan Peninsula when the Japanese forces headed towards Manila after several deadly surprise air attacks that commenced in the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in December 8th.

Bataan Death March

The goal of the march was to get the 72,000 captured Filipino and American POWs from Mariveles in the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell in the north. To do this, the prisoners were to be marched 65 miles from Mariveles to San Fernando, then travel by train to Capas. From Capas, the prisoners were again to march for the last eight miles to Camp O'Donnell.

The POWs were soon forced to make the 65 mile trek – with no food or water – to the confinement camp in O'Donnell.   Thirsty and exhausted, those soldiers who attempted to steal a sip of water from roadside streams or collapsed along the way – were shot or bayoneted on the spot by their Japanese captors. In total, 10,000 men – 1,000 American and 9,000 Filipino – died during the Bataan Death March.

The Visita Iglesia 2015 became not just a religious exercise for me, but allowed me to dwell on the significance of the province of Bataan to the overall Philippine modern history.

THE ROUTE OF THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH

The Death March started in the town of Mariveles, passed through Limay, on to Orion, Balanga City, Orani, Hermosa, and Dinalupihan, Bataan, and on to Lubao, Guagua and San Fernando, in the province of Pampanga.

From the chronicles of www.batch2006.com/visit_bataan_death-march.htm:

"The Death March started from two points in Bataan: on April 10 from Mariveles, on April 11 from Bagac. The Filipino and American troops were marched day and nighrt, under blistering sun or cold night sky, staggering through Cabcaben, Limay, Oion, Pilar, and Balanga, where they were given a brief rest and some water, From Balanga the Prisoners of were organized into groups of 100 to 200 and under guard marched on through were segregated from the Filipino Prisoners of war and marched separately, The march continued northward through Hermosa to Layac Junctio, then Eastward into Pampanga through Lubao, Guagua, Where the Prisoners were rested and given a little food at the National Development Company Compound.

 

Already suffering from Battle fatigue, The Filipino and Americans troops were strained to utter exhaustation by this long march on foot, many were ill, most were feverish, but none high rest, for the enemy was brutal with those who lagged behind. Thousands fell along the way, Townspeople on the roadside risked their lives by slipping food and drink to the Death Marches as they stumbled by.

In San Fernanco, The Death March became a death ride by cargo train when the prisoners were pack so densely into boxcars that many of them perished from suffocation, Those who arrived alive in Capas had still to walk the last and most agonized miles of the Death March: The 6 Kilometers to Camp O'Donnel, Which was become one of the most hellish concentration camps of World War II."

Death March Marker, Km. 65, Hermosa, Bataan

 

Death March Marker, Km. 60, Orani, Bataan

 

Death March Marker, Km.  44 in Balanga City, Bataan

The San Andres Apostol Visita Iglesia 2015 took the reverse route and passed through San Fernando, Lubao and Guagua in Pampanga and proceeded to Hermosa, Bataan for its first pilgrim stop at the old Church of St. Peter of Verona.

           St. Peter of Verona in Hermosa, Bataan

The Parish of Saint Peter of Verona belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Balanga. Its Feast day is May 3. It is untheder Vicariate of Saint Peter Verona. 

Historically, the town was established in 1756 by Dominican priests. It became an independent missionary center in 1756 with St. Peter de Verona as its patron saint.

The church features a baroque-style façade with marvelous stained-glasses windows amid the splendor of the ornaments inside the church which illuminates the whole of Hermosa.
 

The major retablo of Hermosa is made more attractive by the variations of saints placed in it amid its majestic dome. The church brings remembrance of the colonial past.

Next, our Visita Iglesia proceeded to Orani, and visited the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church.

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary

The Church of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in Orani

The Roman Catholic church of Orani was  declared an independent parish on April 21, 1714, and also known as Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish Church ("Our Lady of the Rosary of Orani Church", "Nuestra Señora del Rosario Parish Church", "Simbahan ng Orani" or "Virgen Milagrosa Del Rosario del Pueblo de Orani Shrine"). It is a Neoclassical  (heritage) Diocesan Marian Shrine and Pilgrimage church located in the center of Orani, Bataan in the Philippines.

Museum within the church complex

 

Our pilgrimage visited St. Catherine of Sienna, located in Samal, Bataan for our 5th and 6th Stations of the Cross.

St. Catherine of Siena in Samal

The 1596 Parish Church of St. Catherine of Siena belongs to the Romn Catholic Diocese of Balanga. (Dioecesis Balangensis - Suffragan of San Fernando, Pampanga Created: March 17, 1975. Canonically Erected: November 7, 1975).

It has a Catholic population of 11,581 under the Titular of St. Catherine of Siena whose Feast day falls on April 30.

In 1596, the Dominicans directed the spirituality of Samal.  Attacked by Dutch invaders in April 1647, the local garrison of Pampanga under Alejo Aguas ousted the Dutch forces. 

Rev. Jeromino Belen, O.P. rebuilt the ruined church and the convent. In 1896 the Katipuneros burmed the church and the convent which were rebuilt by Rev. Justo Quesada in 1903.

For the 7th and 8th Via Crucis, we went to the Bahay Puso Home for the Aged and on to  the Cathedral of St. Joseph,  both of these located in the capital city of Balanga.

Below right, one of the structures in the Bahay Puso property where abandoned elderly are being taken cared of.

At the height of the afternoon sun, our  Visita Iglesia disembarked at the St. Joseph Cathedral, also known as Balanga Cathedral.  St. Joseph Cathedral stands massively amid the town center of Balanga, itself a showcase of early 18th century architecture.

Balanga City Hall

Town Plaza in Balanga

St. Joseph Cathedralin Balanga

 The Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Balanga which comprises the entire civil province of Bataan.

Staircase leading to choir loft

An angel as Holy Water and Confessional Box guardian

According to historical records,  St. Joseph Cathedral during the Japanese invasion was used as an artillery emplacement to bombard Mt. Samat, where the Filipino-American troops made their last stand. It was later renovated by the first bishop of the Diocese, Celso Guevarra DD and made Saint Joseph as its patron saint.

There were other parishes also doing their own pilgrimage on the same day as our Parish that's why the roads leading to the churches were extra ordinarily jammed. We walked quite a distance to the churches themselves.

For the 11the and 12th Stations, we went next to the Church of Our Lady of Pillar which has a quaint archway leading to the main ground. 

The 7th town and parish founded by the Dominican Fathers after Abucay (1588), Samal (1596), Orion (1667), Orani (1714), Balanga (1739) and Hermosa (1757), Pilar was made an independent vicariate on March 10, 1801. The Secular clergy replaced all regular Spanish religious missionaries including Bataan.

On April 10, 1801, Pilar was declared an independent municipality. Fr. Damaso Salvador Lintag, the first Filipino secular assigned in Pilar proclaimed Our Lady of the Pilar its Patroness, hence the town’s name Pilar.

The first chapel in the poblacion was made of wood and nipa roofing. In 1834, the Dominican priests built the stone church but local revolutionaries burned down the church, including the rectory on May 28, 1898 but the image of Nuestra Senora del Pilar survived.

A temporary church was built. Fr. Fermin de San Julian, the last Dominican priest in 1901 stayed as the parish priest until 1931, building a new stone church.

Our Lady of Pillar  Church in Pilar

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St. Michael the Archangel Church in Orion

As the summer sun continued its blaze un-abated, we climbed back to our air conditioned buses and proceeded to another beautiful Church, the St. Michael the Archangel in Orion for the remaining Stations of the Cross.

Our Visita Iglesia would have ended as planned at the Dambana ng Kagitingan in Mt. Samat, Bataan, where the Fil-Am soldiers made their last stand against the Japanese forces.  But due to delays caused by traffic and other circumstances, the trip to the Shrine was cancelled, and our Pilgrimage headed back to Manila. 

The main altar at St. Michael the Archangel 

In his final blessing at the St. Michael the Archangel Church, the priest, Fr. Vic Flores referred back to the Gospel reading of the day, Lk 18: 9 -14, and asked the pilgrims who they were like, " Are you like the Pharisee, who thanked God that he was not like the thieves, rogues, adulterers and tax collector," or "Are you like the tax collector or publican, who would not even look up to heaven, instead beat his breast and said, God be merciful to me, a sinner."

Dambana ng Kagitingan in Mt. Samat

The Missing Mother.

My summer months while growing up always included a sojourn to the mountaneous Antipolo.  Antipolo in the province of Rizal, now a vibrant city, is home to the Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage),  and also famous for the Hinulugang Taktak Falls, red clay-pottery, and for its Philippine delicacies such as suman sa ibos, kalamay and kasoy.

While on a parish pilgrimage (Visita Iglesia) last March 16th, our group visited the Church of Nuestra Senora De La Anunciata in the town of Tanay, just a few kilometers away from Antipolo.

Framed photograph of the Nuestra Senora De La Anunciata

The Nuestra Senora De La Anunciata was the first church built in the province of Rizal, older than the Church of Antipolo. 

It was built by the Jesuit fathers in 1700, damaged by an earthquake in July 18, 1880 and razed by a fire during the Second World War.  For a time, in the 1930's, it was abandoned to give way to a dam.  It was finally restored in 1995.

 The Church of Our Lady of Anunciata 
in Boso Boso, San Jose in Tanay, Rizal 

 
Today, the Church, practically just a remnant of a centuries-old church, stands as a vision of old stone with wild vines clinging on top of it.  A small chapel, built inside the church offers Sunday services to its parishioners. 

During our pilgrimage, a sorry tale was told to us.  That the original image of the Nuestra Senora De La Anunciata is missing.  It had been lost many years ago when it was borrowed by someone from Bulacan.

So, today only a photograph of a replica can be seen in the Church.  No one, it seems, knows the details about how the image had been lost.

Anunciation scene.

Like the missing Mother, the Church probably had missed many opportunities in the past.  It had only been restored recently, and canonically erected in 2004.

Wooden roof-dome

But with the help and aid of the Camilian priests and brothers and the laity, the Church is now actively pursuing the rehabilitation of its wooden roof and the reforestation of its environ.

Gate to a garden.

Restored stone wall.

We, the pilgrims, did the Tenth Station of the Cross at the Church

Fr. Vic Flores, Parish Priest of the San Andres Apostol who led the pilgrims, lamented about the loss of the image and wished that the Nuestra Senora De La Anunciata could be found soon and returned to Her home. 

Where could the Missing Mother be? 

Somewhere in Baliuag, famous for its Lenten procession where more than 55 religious images and icons navigate the busy Bulacan highway? Or anywhere in the capital city of Malolos where the historical Barasoain Church stands proudly? 

Could it simply be residing in a private house, consigned to a dark corner or in the attic gathered in dust, with the owner oblivious to the Nuestra Senora De La Anunciata's history?

Like the good priest Fr. Vic, I wish the Missing Mother could be located and like the Virgin of Antipolo, be adored in her own turf -  this Mother in her home in Tanay.

Visita Iglesia

Left, St. James' Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela
Below, Nuestra Senora del Pilar, Zaragoza

If one is doing the Visita Iglesia, he is expected to visit at least seven churches and up to a maximum of fourteen. What is Visita Iglesia?

Visita Iglesia is another old Lenten tradition in the Philippines. It takes place on the Maundy Thursday of the Semana Santa (Holy Week). As tradition has it, Visita Iglesia commences at sunset and ends in the early hours of Good Friday.

In the area in Mandaluyong where I grew up, there are two churches: the Roman Catholic Church of San Felipe Neri, and the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan). These two churches shared somewhat similar religious practises and rituals, and so during the Semana Santa, such similarities gave rise to minor discomfort among the many residents who lived within the two parishes. Here, I am talking about the scheduling of the procession, and no other.

So as not to create a traffic disaster and an issue, which we kids, called "harangan" (cutting of, as in bad driving) the two churches decided to hold Holy Week processions on two different days. One, I think the Catholics, had theirs on a Wednesday and the Aglipays, on a Thursday. But , of course, on Good Friday, both churches held their respective procession on the same evening.

We kids considered these two processions as a competition. It was normal for us to hear murmurs among the crowd - those bystanders - giving their two-cent worth opinion as to which among the two churches had the better "carosas" or statues.

A Lola (grand aunt) of ours had a Santa Veronica in these processions and a maternal grand uncle owned the Magdalena. So a few hours before dusk, the people living in our street would be enthralled by the passing of these two saints, clad in their best colorful outfit and with hair as silky as the moon and as yellow as the sun - riding high on their ornate "carosas" and leaving behind the scent of sampaguita, ylang ylang and champaca.

Once the procession left the church, we scrambled and picked which saint to follow. Me and my siblings always followed Veronica; but sometimes, we trailed also Magdalena, especially if the scent of the "karburo," the chemical which powered the lights of Veronica, started to bother our nostrils.

For us, the Visita Iglesia started after the procession had ended. Next to our church, we would visit the Santa Ana Church, and sometimes, we went as far as the San Miguel Church which is located near the Malacanang Palace.

Sadly, the practise of Visita Iglesia is not observed in North America. Here in Canada, the Maundy Thursday church service is celebrated in the evening, unlike in the Philippines where it takes place in the morning. Thus, our Maundy Thursday service is held at seven and as it is celebrated throughout the whole Christendom, consists of the commemoration of the Lord's Last Supper.

And unlike also in the Philippines, we start our long Easter weekend, not on Holy Wednesday, but on Good Friday. Offices are closed on Good Friday and for most, returning to work is on the following Tuesday.

This post was originally posted in my other blog: www.luckycanary.blogspot.com