Since we were all young people and still quite strong physically, we would visit all 14 churches on foot. For the uninitiated, the 14 churches correspond to the 14 stations of the cross. Chatting made walking easier to endure. The rare 7-11 stopovers were opportunities to look at other faithful making the same Visita Iglesia practice, basically to get a glimpse of handsome hunks or gorgeous babes. But when we're on the road again, the focus was back to walking, and once we're inside the churches, we'd be serious.
The altars of repose in every church - the centerpiece of the Visita Iglesia and Easter celebration - were a sight to behold. I realized, from helping out with conceptualizing or assembling our altar of repose in the parish back then, that looking forward to seeing altars of repose could be an added motivation in joining Visita Iglesia trips. Over the years, I noticed that the more commercialized and popular churches like the Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church had simpler and more traditional altars of repose compared with the smaller churches. They were beautiful but predictable.
Parishes that I knew had active youth groups always had the most artistic displays. The Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Sta. Mesa (Stop and Shop) and the Parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned in Sta. Ana, for example, never failed to stun visiting worshipers with their themes. At times, the elderly crowd would frown on their more modern concepts (like focusing on the the technology trends in relation to God), but you can hand it to the youth: they can come up with the most interesting altars of repose you can ever imagine. So, the next time you go on a Visita Iglesia, don't forget to observe the intricate details of the altar where you pray, and pray for the hands who created them.
When I finally had my own family, my Visita Iglesia trips mellowed down as there were children to consider. We no longer walked most of the distance but took the car to the nearest spot we could park. We'd also bring sandwiches, snacks and drinks, and have dinners at the back of the car in between churches. On rare instances when we allowed the children to persuade us to stop over in some fast food joint, we'd mostly make it after the 7th or 8th church before going home.
Yes, that's one major change in my VI routine. With the children around, we no longer finished 14 churches during Maundy Thursday. We would do half or more, and half on Good Friday - or even stay in just one church on that day and do all 7. Good Friday VIs were almost always done out of town or a bit farther than usual. We'd done the Grotto in Valenzuela, Rizal towns (Antipolo, Binangonan, Angono, Taytay and Morong), and the Taal Cathedral in Batangas. This year, if the weather is fine, we plan to visit some towns in Laguna.
Here's our usual Maundy Thursday route, give and take one or two, depending on the traffic situation:
- University of Sto. Tomas Field (mass)
- San Beda Church, Mendiola (1st station)
- San Sebastian Church, Quiapo (2nd)
- San Agustin Church, Intramuros (3rd)
- Manila Cathedral, Intramuros (4th)
- St Vincent de Paul Church, Adamson University (5th)
- Pope Pius Church, UN Avenue (6th)
- Our Lady of the Abandoned Church, Sta. Ana (7th)
- Sto. Nino Church, Pandacan (8th and last)
We also included the twin churches of Loreto and San Antonio in Legarda a couple of years back but there were always plenty of people that it had become such a grueling task.
So, good luck on your Visita Iglesia journey. See you around!
Update 2024: Pictures not mine. ctto. But I don't know where I got them now. All sourced online.
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