Lenten Pilgrimage: Pampanga
Today would be the Lenten Pilgrimage to Pampanga arranged by the Greenbelt Chapel. Our pilgrimage chaplain is Fr. Paul Marquez.Meeting time is 5:30am infront of Greenbelt 4. There would be three (3) buses. Each bus/group is assigned a name reflecting the virtues of St. Paul, that is, fearless, tireless, and selfless.
On the way to our first stop, we prayed the Pilgrim's Prayer:
"Heavenly Father, we thank You as we come together in Your Name to be with the community of pilgrims to sahre your reconciliation, peach and love with others in this Lenten pilgrimage
"Prepare our hearts and minds that we may be worthy to receive God's gifts and favors today. Remind us always that this pilgrimage is a spiritual journey with a purpose and not merely a sightseeing trip.
"Help us to practice the virtue of patience to whatever discomforts and difficulties that may arise. Grant us the spirit of obedience to be one with others and to participate fervently in all the activities.
"May our visit to various churches foster personal spiritual growth with a joyful hope to return in our respective parishes inspired, enlightened and transformed.
"May God protect us and keep us in His loving care.
May Jesus of Calvary and of Emmaus walk with us.
May the Spirit give us clarity of mind, strength of heart and a sure foot as we all travel today.
"All these we ask through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen."
We also prayed the rosary.
St. Paul Novitiate at San Fernando
Our first stop is the St. Paul Novitiate at San Fernando. Appropriate for our pilgrimage theme, which is "Journeying Together in the Year of St. Paul".
There, we prayed the Pauline Jubilee Prayer:
"God, our Father, thank You for giving us Saint Paul to be an apostlee of your Son, Jesus Christ.
"With his great love and passion for Jesus Christ and the Church, St. Paul used all means and became all things to all that the power of the Gospel can reach all.
"With zeal he faced the challenges of travel, cultures, imprisonments, and beatings; of shipwrecks and sleepless night; of magic and philosophies.
"Through all these he steadfastly witnessed the length, breath, and depth of the mystery of God's saving love and grace in Jesus Christ.
"We ask You, loving Father, that during this year dedicated to our beloved St. Paul, Your tireless worker for the Church, we may continue to know him more, especially his epistles which are now part of our Scriptures. May we come to understand the love for You and Jesus and the Church which consumed his life. May we serve You and the Church as he did--tirelessly, relentlessly, unstintingly, faithfully, and most of all, lovingly.
"At the end, St. Paul gave his life as a last and lasting witness to his deep and living faith in Jesus and in his Body, the Church. We pray that in our celebration of this year we may also deepen our faith and trust in Your loving mercy and kindness.
"We pray that his year be a year for knowing understanding, loving St. Paul, because through him, we can be sure that we will be led to You, our Father in heaven.
"We thank Jesus, who showed His mercy and revealed Himself to St. Paul, for giving the apostle to us as our example and intercessor.
"May St. Paul continue to intercede for us and for our country that we, too, may turn from sinful ways and be converted, so that we may attain peace in our hearts, in our families, our country and in the world.
"We ask this through our Lord Jesus Chris, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen."
Holy Rosary Parish at Angeles
Next stop is the Holy Rosary Parish at Angeles.
"Angeles formerly Culiat after the Culiat vines tha were abundant in the place), a former barrio of San Fernando became a separate town in 1829. Augustinians decided in a meeting to accept Angeles in 1830 under the advocation of Los Angeles de la Guardia, or Angeles Custodios, which became the Titular Patrons, and also in honor of its founder Don Angel Pantaleon de Miranda. The church authorities placed the new town under the patronage and protection of the Most Holy Virgin of the Rosary. Initially ministered by a secular priest, got its first Augustinian prior, Fr. Vicente Andres, in 1843. Fr. Guillermo Masnou built a wooden church in 1855 to replace the first nipa church, while Fr. Ramon Sarrionandia started the construction in 1860 of the present stone edifice. Fr. Rufino Santos (not the cardinal) did some restoration work in 1893 and was completed by Fr. Antonio Bravo in 1897. It took 37 years to complete the church. In the height of the Philippine revolution on 1899, the parish church and the adjoining convent served as the military hospitals and troop barracks fo the American Army.
Center for Kapampangan Studies
We then crossed the street to go to the Center for Kapampangan Studies for a film showing about Pampanga and to visit their museum.
San Guillermo Parish at Bacolor
We then proceeded to the San Guillermo Parish at Bacolor.
Bacolor was greatly affected by the lahar. I was wondering why the church is small. Also, the "door" we used to enter the church is small. Actually, the "door" is a window to the church's second floor. What we could see is the second floor of the church!
I also learned that ABS-CBN shot one of their telenovela's in this church. The telenovela starred Albert Martinez as the "mayor". The house across the church served as the "mayor's" house.
"Bacolor came from bukulud, meaning plateau or elevated area. It was one of the hardest hit by lahar which indicates it is not a plateau and in contrast to its meaning. Bacolor was accepted by the Augustinian Council as a convent, and called San Guillermo during founding of its church by P. Fray Diego Ochoa on December 31, 1576. The choice of Bacolor's patron saint, San Guillermo Ermitano was a thinly veiled way of honouring the town's founder, Guillermo Manabat. It was a common practice to coincide the name of a person being honoured with that of a saint. The church is said to be the most beaautiful in the province, featuring a grand transept, a project of P. Fray Manuel Diaz E. Alvarez, and Antonio Bravo, and boasts of having the biggest convent in the whole province. It also has a spacious cemetery equipped with a fine chapel. Rich Kapampangan families contributed huge sums to finance the construction of bigger, sturdier and more elaborate churches displaying their exuberance and fine taste like the gigantic San Guillermo church. It measures 56 meters long, 15 meters wide and 12 meters high and its one of the oldest and largest churches in the country. On September 3, 1995, lahar flow from the slopes of Mount Pinatubo which erupted on June 15, 1991 buried the church at half its 12 meter height."
Apag Marangle
Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes
Instead of the planned Immaculate Conception Parish at Guagua, our next stop was the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows.
There were actually two shrines. The newer and bigger shrine was affected by the lahar (which somehow "blocked" the old shrine from its impact). Thus, there were "talks" from devotees that the Lady of Lourdes do not want to be housed in the new shrine.
St. James the Apostle Parish (or Santiago de Galicia) at Betis
Our next stop is at the St. James the Apostle Parish at Betis. Considered to be the "Sistine Chapel of Philippines".
"Founded in 1572 by Fray Fernando Pinto, although the Libro lists P. Fray Mateo Peralta as its parroco. P. Fray Jose de la Cruz built the stone church. Early friars describe the faithful of Betis as the most pious and industrious people in the whole province, not to mention that Betis is said to have produced the most number of priests not only in Pampanga but in the entire country. The Betis tree was a favourite materials for sculpture and furniture-making. Now wonder the people of Betis are known for their art and craft of wood working. Never forced to build their churches, Kapampangans exceeded their Spanish priest's expectations by producing such masterpieces as the stunning retablo of Santiago de Galicia church. Fray Manuel Camanes, OSA served for 30 years (1868-1898) repaired church and convent, built a school, a cemetery, and public artesian well in the plaza, the first of its kind in the country. St. James the Apostle church is the second oldest church in Pampanga and called the "Sistine Chapel of the Philippines". The National Commission for Culture of the Arts (NCAA) declared the church a National Treasure, one of the few churches in the country bestowed that honor. Fr. Fernando Pinto started construction in 1660 and completed 1770 by Fr. Jose dela Cruz. It stands as one of few landmarks that celebrates the Pampangenos' artistic skill with ornate ceiling murals done by Simon Flores (1839-1904). The interior feature walls depict significant biblical events and figures by local artists. Martin and Severino Gozum Pangilinan. Three local painters worked in the church's interior panels in the late 70's up to the early 80's where majority of the brush strokes were from Victor Ramos, a native of San Agustin."
Sta. Lucia Parish at Sasmuan
The next church is the Sta. Lucia Parish at Sasmuan. There is an ongoing wedding that we proceeded to the church's second floor.
We were able to venerate the relic of Sta. Lucia.
"Sexmaon (Sasmuan) was a visita of Guagua in 1590 and of Lubao in 1611. In 1613 its residents complained of the inconvenience of having to go to Lubao for mass, confession and catechism. Fr. Pedro de Zuniga was appointed vicar of Sexmoan in 1615. Fr. Jose Duque built the first church between 1659 and 1677 The 18th century chronicler Fray Gaspar de San Agustin wrote: 'The curch is very beatiful, and it is placed under the advocation of Santa Lucai; the convent is of first class too.' Both buildings were swept away by the overflowing river beside them. In 1884, Fr. Toribio Fanjul restored the church. It houses the first class relic of Sta. Lucia, a virgin-martyr who had her eyes plucked out to make herself unattractive to a persistent suitor. Devotees to this day dance the kuraldal around the image on January 6. Invoked against blindness, and ailments of the eye."
San Agustin Parish at Lubao
The next church is the San Agustin Parish at Lubao. When we arrived there, GMA is shooting a telenovela still to be shown in TV--Zorro. Asking one of the GMA staff, learned that they don't dub for telenovelas; thus, when they shoot, it has to be quiet. Which means, we have to wait until they stop shooting before we pray the Station of the Cross....
"The town was also founded in 1572 in Barrio Santa Catalina the earliest in the province, from an ancient settlement called Baba Lubao; name derived from "tubao" (or gatao) meaning to float, as the area is prone to flooding. The church moved to the present site 30 years later due to yearly floods. Arch. Fr. Antonio Herrera, an Augustinian, constructed this church from 1614 to 1630, out of locally made brick and sand mixed in egg albumen contributed by the people of Lubao. The church considered the largest in Pampanga is dedicated to St. Augustine, founder of the Augustinian order. It was occupied by the revolutionists in 1898 and used as hospital by American forces in 1899. It was destroyed by the Japanese shellin in 1942 and repair was done from 1949 to 1952 under the direction of Fr. Melencio Garcia and other priests. San Agustin church measures 82.45 meters long, 21.12 meters wide and 10.50 meters high. The walls are 2.46 meters thick. It has one nave originally painted by Italian artists Dibella and Alberoni. The five-storey belfry (15.31 meters high) is still in its original structure."
Sta. Rita de Cascia at Sta. Rita
Our last stop is the Santa Rita de Cascia Parish at Sta. Rita. What we noticed is that the images of saints are already covered. According to them, before, it was a practice to cover the images of the saints starting Ash Wednesday. This is to remind us during the season the core of our faith.
"Santa Rita founded in 1726, was previously integrated with Porac. It was also this year the town had its own priest and therefore became an independent parish.
"Fr. Francisco Royo built the present church in 1839 with Fr. Juan Merino completing the work in 1868. These two priests also opened the road linking Sta. Rita with Porac and Guagua. During the Revolution, the townspeople hid thier last Augustinian parish priest, Fr. Celestino Garcia in their houses until the forces of Gen. Maximino Hizon captured him in Bacolor and took him all the way to Lepanto in the Cordilleras. This church is privileged to have a fist class relic of its patron, Santa Rita. She spent 18 years of her life living with a defiant husband who was later on killed in a vendetta. Within that year, her two sons died. Rita became a nun and received the wound of Christ on her forehead in 1441, as though she had been wearing a crown of thorns. Patroness of impossible causes, battered wife, difficult marriages, sickness, widows, wounds."
On our way home, we heard a bad news. Another group who is having a pilgrimage to Quezon has encountered an accident. The driver died and the rest of the passengers were brought in the hospital, some of whom are in ICU. Let's pray for the repose of their soul and recovery from their injuries....
posted by ~GFA~ @ 3/14/2009 08:10:00 AM
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