Batangas Churches : Visita Iglesia

 

I have slipped in and out of my faith. When I was younger, I was a devout Catholic by default. My dad would command us to pray the Rosary every six in the evening for as long as I can remember. When I was in secondary school,  I joined almost all religious organizations -- I was part of the choir, and I was a lector and commentator. I read the liturgies; I memorized the Holy Mass.

For some reason, during my senior year, I began to question my faith. This was brought about by a debate session in my English class and the topic assigned to me was Catholicism. To stand my ground (my position on this debate was to question the Catholic faith), I researched. In fact, I researched too much that I lost faith in all the very things I used to believe in -- the Pope's infallibility, celibacy, Mama Mary.

This made me agnostic for a very long time. I believed in God; I did not believe in any religion. I was spiritual; I was not religious. I had a very close "talking" relationship with Jesus in my prayers and for me, that was enough.

And it was, for a time.

And then came the real life problems. Problems that rock you to your very core. And suddenly, I was longing for a Ministry. I need an external source of God's word; a congregation, something to tell me that faith is still alive, not only within me but among His flock. And so I found Him again when I attended The Feast by Brother Bo Sanchez.

The Feast kickstarted my religion again -- my longing for a deeper connection. And I am so glad that I was introduced to this ministry because it had saved me from many storms and tumultuous occasions in my life.

Because of this renewed relationship with God (fortunately, this renewal of faith was supported and joined in by my husband), this Holy Week has been different. There were no more parties, no more Bora escapades. For the first time, husband and I did Visita Iglesia.

Visita Iglesia, or Seven Churches Visitation, is a Lenten tradition by Catholics to visit seven religious sites. For our first Visita Iglesia,  I requested for an advanced birthday wish from my husband, a roadtrip to the different churches in Batangas. So here goes our pilgrimage for our special intentions ( read: for our little one, hehe)

1. St. Thomas the Aquinas
Address: General Luna Street, Sto. Tomas, Batangas

 

 

2.  St. John the Evangelist Church
Address: F. Laurena Street, Sto. Tomas,  Batangas

 

 

3. Padre Pio Shrine - Archdiocese
Address: Sto. Tomas-Lipa Road, Batangas

Because husband and I have a special devotion to Padre Pio, a visit to this Shrine was mandatory. In fact, this was the reason why I was encouraged to do the visitation. Initially, I just wanted to visit this church but I found out that there were many beautiful churches in Batangas -- coincidence!

The place was swamped! This was the most meaningful of my trip though. Was able to do the sacrament of confession. It felt good to talk to a really sincere priest.

 

4. St. Peter's Chapel
Address: Brgy. Butong, Batangas

 

 

5. Our Lady of Caysasay
Address: Taal Town, Batangas

 

6. Basilica de San Martin de Tours
Address: Taal Town, Batangas

This is such a beautiful church. I have been here for the third time and the basilica never ceases to amaze me.

 

 

7. Mary Immaculate Parish
Address: Levitown Estate, Paranaque

Since we ran out of time, husband and I decided to end our Visita Iglesia in our parish instead.

 

 

This experience has been awesome. It was nourishment for my soul, to say at the very least. I could have not wanted to spend my Holy Week differently.

How about you, loves? How did your Lenten season go?

xx,
Corporate Junkie