Being a part of a religious family with my uncle as a priest and my cousin taking up Theology @ Portland,Oregon; Visita Iglesia has been our traditional practice visiting several different churches (usually seven churches) every Maundy Thursday or shall I say Holy Thursday to us "Pinoys" also called semana santa and cuaresma. This practice introduced by Spanish colonizer where Christians visit seven great basilicas for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter. It includes the religious holidays of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) and Good Friday, and lasts from Palm Sunday (or in the Eastern, Lazarus Saturday) until, but not including, Easter Sunday, as Easter Sunday is the first day of the new season of The Great Fifty Days. It commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels.
 |
| Christ the King |
This time, we choose to visit only one church due to lack of time since my relatives just arrived here in Manila from US and straight to ABRA because of my Lolas burial. We prefer Christ the King @ E Rodriquez ave. Visita iglesia also is the time where different churches decorate the church tabernacle to preserved the Eucharist. By the way, I saw Cherry Pie Picache there. Christ the King has improved a lot since the last time I got there.
After attending the mass, we ate @ Luck Garden Seafood & Tea House @ Welcome Rotonda situated near Burger King & Jollibee. Great tasting food.So Chinese. Nanligaw ng waitress si yuri ahaha. .
Then friday, we went to Manila Cathedral @ Intramuros to witness the Veneration of the Cross.(which we call "Agep" in Ilocano). We Filipinos have different ways on how we celebrate Holy week. this is the time we contemplate on our sin and solemnly ask forgiveness to God. What matters most is that the spirit of God always resides in our heart, the sacrifice he made for the salvation of mankind.
