A friend invited me to join their Lenten devotion of walking from Monumento to Baclaran. This devotion is the F4L (Filipinos for Life) pilgrimage started last year and is meant as an act of penance for the sake of the unborn and the repeal of the Reproductive Health Law (RH Law).
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| Yep. We are doing thus for the little ones threatened by abortion. |
I was hesitant in joining the pilgrimage. My excuse was that I'm still tired of my travel from Thailand. Our pilgrimage was scheduled on Palm Sunday, which is the day after I returned to my home. Walking for a long time under the sun will surely beat my exhausted body.
The long walk will be hard but I didn't back down. Walking from Monumento to Baclaran is one of a kind experience and my blogger self is demanding me to join.
Another reason that convinced me to join the pilgrimage is the benefit of self-mortification. I believe that denying the self is the way to grow in the Faith and Saints of the Church are my proof of that. These holy people defeated the Devil by battling the desires of the flesh. They trained their spirit to defy the Devil by drilling their body to deny earthly pleasures and conveniences.
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| Jesus Christ, our model of self-denial. |
So, the early morning of Palm Sunday, I found myself marveling at the masterpiece of Guillermo Tolentino.
This is the Andres Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City. People simply call it Monumento. Andres Bonifacio is the leader of the rebellion against the Spanish colonial government.
It was my first time to stand close to this popular landmark in Metro Manila. Regular visitors of this blog may compare it with the Victory Monument, which I talked about in an earlier blog post.
We started our pilgrimage at the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace, which is near Monumento.
This church is very spacious but it was crowded during that day because it's Palm Sunday. I met the other pilgrims after the Holy Mass.
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| F4L Pilgrims (from left to right): PM, Mok, AJ and JJ. |
We began our pilgrimage with a prayer and the beginning of the Holy Rosary. We intended to pray one decade of the Rosay for every church that we visited during the journey.
Off we go!
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Read the second part (Monumento to Blumentritt), third part (Blumentritt to Binondo) and the last part (Binondo to Baclaran Church) of this blog series.
i failed to join our Church's pilgrimage sa Tarlac... but during the Visita Iglesia Baclaran is my first church to visit then all the way back to Cavite na.. I had to commute from Baclaran to Kawit to Cavite City .. then sa Cavite City.. we traditionally do the walking na ^_^ pagod yes but very rewarding ^_^
ReplyDeleteAh! Akala ko mula Baclaran Church naglakad kayo hanggang Cavite City. Next time subukan ko namang sumama sa inyo para mabisita ko naman ang mga simbahan sa Cavite. Sigurado maraming interesting at lumang simbahan sa probinsya ninyo.
Deleteinggit naman ako. i mean, i'm sure mahihilo ako dito or worse
ReplyDeleteNakakahilo nga talaga ang init ng araw. Kaya nga hindi recommended sa mga taong hindi maganda ang kalusugan.
DeleteHope you all had a Blessed Lent Season and Easter too...
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. I hope that you had a blessed Lent and Easter too. :-)
Deletewow naalala ko ung bisita iglesiah namen ni blue haha at yun nga ung sinabi nya
ReplyDeletenakakapagod pero sa huli fulfilling ung pakiramdam
Fulfilling talaga ito kapag natapos mo ang mahabang lakaran. Ibig sabihin nun ay napatunayan mo sa sarili mo na kaya mo.
DeleteVery good for you to observe the lenten season....God bless you!
ReplyDeletexx!
Thank you Xoxo_Grah.
DeleteAy parang Alay Lakad version nyo ba yan parekoy?
ReplyDeleteYup. Parang Alay Lakad nga ito Fiel-kun.
DeleteThat was a long walk, alright. I wonder how long it took for you guys to reach Baclaran.
ReplyDeleteWe started walking at 8 AM and we reached Baclaran Church around 4:30 PM. We were slow.
Deletehanep, mga gwapings. di ka nagpakita sa pic, ish? hehehe.
ReplyDeleteHehe...bawal ako ma-expose Rogie.
DeleteGreat walk!
ReplyDeleteI've been to similar walks when I was a kid. Every year during Lent, there's this Panaad walk in Camiguin. It's a 64K journey around the island with stations along the road. I've attended 9 walks since grade 4.
You should try it.
64K? That's a very long walk. I want to try that. :-) Sama ako sa inyo next time.
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