It’s Black Saturday

One of the highlights of our Black Saturday was visiting Santa Clara de Montefalco Church in Pasig City.  Santa Clara de Montefalco is the patroness of those with heart illnesses.  She was also called St. Claire of the Cross.

It is one of the loveliest churches I ever visited.  This was renovated about a decade ago, I  used to pass by the place when I  went to La Consolacion College where my kids spent their high school years.  It was only today that I had the chance to visit it with Mom, Josef and Jovy.  I didn’t bring my cellphone and tab  to take photos but I liked the big dome and the wide entrance and angle of the altar. According to their page, it is the Philippines’ tallest church. Josef took some photos of the altar and the facade of the church.

The  wide entrance to the church.

You can see the big dome  in the second photo. This is the altar.

The facade of the Church.

It also houses the Santuario del Amor  Divino ossuary that serves as a resting place of our departed loved ones.” This contains 3,912 crypts (2,848 crypts ready for interment) built within a 2,028 square meter-floor area and is situated beneath the church proper. Its lower plan is partitioned into sections dedicated to a saint each.”

We had dinner at Savory Restaurant  then dropped by Breadtalk   again to buy  their fire floss.  When it comes to bread and pastries, Breadtalk is the best.  They are just more pricey than those you find in other bake shops.

Tomorrow is the first of  April which happens to be our much-awaited Easter  Sunday.  the day of Resurrection.  Let us celebrate Resurrection with joy in our hearts.  It’s Christianity’s most important holiday.

While we were on the road (facing East of course), Josef got excited when he saw the   full moon partly hidden by clouds. Jovy told him to take a picture but when you are in a running car, taking photos is not good. I told them, “did you know that Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday following the full moon?” 

Happy Easter to all!

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Blogging Woes

It’s  Black Saturday, the last day of the Holy Week. I know, I know I am not supposed to rant but allow me to just say a few words.

Sometimes I encounter blogs who re-blog posts from my site but some are polite enough to say hi and ask permission to re-blog. When you meet a blogger who just re-blog your post  with nary a  word, what would you think of it? I visited the site of this guy,  the few posts I’ve seen are various re-blogs from other bloggers.  I get annoyed encountering something like this. I am not saying that I am that good for some people to re-blog my posts but what is annoying is knowing that the content of one’s blog is based on the efforts of others. Crazy.  isn’t it? Except for updating the Discussion settings here blocking such people, I don’t know of other ways to prevent this.

I have a few spam mails on my spam folder and when I took a look, it is from the same person who just wrote her blog address on some of my friends’ comments. She only has two followers, definitely a new blogger  but if she thinks that she could  attract more followers this way, it is a big NO.  And it is annoying too.

I know  WordPress is a public platform unless you make your blog private, for your eyes only so to speak.  One can’t really avoid having your contents stolen in cyberspace.  It happened to me before.  For one thing, if one does not have enough material to support a post,  why blog at all at the expense of other people? One has to make an effort to write, right?

Sorry guys, I just have to get this off my chest 😦

 

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Good Friday Greetings

Josef and I had our Visita Iglesia early this morning at our parish, St. Francis of Assisi.  He left the house around 10 am because they have work today although the time was adjusted from 8am to 11am. Watched the Seven Last Words  (Siete Palabras) reflections held at Sto. Domingo Church with seven Dominican priests as speakers and sharers.

Listening to some Catholic songs of praise which we usually sing in Church.  Those touching verses from the Bible and inspirational lyrics always makes me think about life, my Catholic life. I am always in awe every time I hear and listen to these inspiring words. I copied one. from YouTube. (Thank you).

Mercy, peace and love to you all.

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Celebrating Holy Thursday

Just finished watching the Chrism Mass held at the Manila Cathedral – Basilica of the Immaculate Conception officiated by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila. There are only two masses which are held today, the Chrism mass and the mass of the Lord’s Supper or Washing of the Feet. Chrism mass is always celebrated in the morning of Holy  Thursday where the priests renew their vows and  “the Mass takes its name from the blessing of the holy oils used in the sacraments throughout the year, which are then given to priests to take back to their parishes. The Rite of Reception of the Oils by representatives of the diocesan parishes is a sign of each parish’s unity with the Bishop and the diocesan Church.” 

The Last Supper mass is usually celebrated around four o’clock in the afternoon, the last mass until the Easter Vigil  celebration.

What a beautiful and inspiring homily. He touched on Evangelization, his many experiences with the laity as a Cardinal and fake news being proliferated by those  who do nothing but confuse the people and believe in their lies.  After the mass, they gave plaques of recognition to those priests of the Archdiocese who reached their 25th 50th and 60th  years in service of the Church and the Filipino people.

I found this lovely prayer for priests, a prayer by St. Therese of the Child Jesus.

O Jesus, I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;
for your unfaithful and tepid priests;
for your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields;
for your tempted priests;
for your lonely and desolate priests;
for your young priests;
for your dying priests;
for the souls of your priests in purgatory.

But above all, I recommend to you the priests dearest to me:
the priest who baptized me;
the priests who absolved me from my sins;
the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me your Body and Blood in Holy Communion;
the priests who taught and instructed me;
all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way (especially …).

O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,
and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.

Amen.

 

 

(photo from Google)

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It’s Holy Wednesday

We are in the middle of celebrating Holy Week. Holy Thursday and Good Friday are official holidays here in our country to give  way for our “kababayans” to celebrate the season.

I made this meme a couple of years ago but wasn’t able to post it here.  Remembering the sacrifices God me to redeem us.

That was one of the last Gardenia blooms I had in the garden.  Why is it that you truly and really miss something when it’s gone?

I did a bit of grocery very early this morning.  Most establishments are closed until Saturday.  Even  regular TV programs are not aired until  Sunday. This is also the perfect time to catch up on  watching religious films and programs aside of course from visiting the Church for the Lenten activities this Holy Week. Last night, I  watched Via Crucis  (the Way of the Cross). I loved the reflections, prayers and Gospel readings shared by several priests of the Society of St. Paul.

A blessed Holy Wednesday to all.

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A Place Remembered

The mountains of Nasugbu.

How could I not love you? You evoke a quiet and peace in my soul.  My heart becomes alive just seeing you at a distance. Will I ever get to explore you in my lifetime?  Will I be able to visit you again in the future?

Sometimes,  I dream of mountains  and remember how I saw  you the very first time.  Truly majestic, truly beautiful.  My eyes couldn’t believe what I saw. You were there just waiting.

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Touched And Moved

I know some of you will say, “oops, it’s Monday again”.  Rise and shine people.

Been focused lately reading my TBR. Oh yes, so excited to tell you this. I found another wonderful author. You can find Charles Martin here. His genre is literature  and fiction.  He is a  Christian author by the way and he writes with deeply memorable and unforgettable characters in his books. I’ve read two so far and I want to read more. Hope I could find more of his books. Wrapped in Rain and  Long Way Gone are so very well-written. They’re the  kind of stories  that you won’t forget, you’ll laugh, cry and rejoice with his characters. I have another one entitled  Unwritten.   And he blogs too, wow! Just wow 🙂

Visit his site and you’ll be amazed how he respond to his readers even those who  are critical of his being a Christian writer.  I like that kind of writing though,  when you enjoy a story and  at the same time, you are reminded that you are a sinner and everyone has flaws. This is not a perfect life  but warts and all, you are still loved. And I’m inspired.

I jotted down some quotes as usual. I hope you like them.

“A song is a light we shine on others, not a light we shine on us.”

“Where does a man find healing amid so many broken places? How does he find love in the ruins and vine-wrapped shattered pieces of his own soul?”

“We’re all fallen people in a fallen world.

“There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.”

I like this one best;

“If your knuckles are bloodier than your knees,then you’re fighting the wrong battle.” 

It speaks about prayers. Praying on one’s knees, asking God for forgiveness, thanking Him for all the blessings.

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Celebrating Palm Sunday

Palm  Sunday.

We just attended an anticipated mass for Palm  Sunday. We normally don’t hear mass on Saturday nights but Palm Sunday  has become  an exception. Churches are usually full during Palm  Sunday. Having a good seat  while listening and participating through a Sunday mass is always a must for me.

 

We bought two bundles of palm fronds for blessing. There was a short procession from the entrance of the church up to the altar while the priest blessed the palms.  Palm  Sunday  is the beginning of Holy  Week  where we celebrate Our Lord’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. It ends before Easter Sunday.

I miss Visita Iglesia. We usually visit at least seven churches for the fourteen Stations of the Cross but since Josef  started working at an American bank  where Holy Thursday and Good Friday are not Holy Days of Obligation, we just confine ourselves to our Parish.

I want to share this lovely  Palm Sunday prayer  with you all, (from ibelieve.com).

Dear God,

Thank You for sending Your Son and paving the way for our lives to be set free through Jesus’ death on the cross. Thank You for what this day stands for – the beginning of Holy Week, the start of the journey towards the power of the cross, the victory of the Resurrection, and the rich truth that Jesus truly is our King of Kings.

“Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord…”

We give You praise and honor for Your ways are righteous and true. We give You worship for You are holy and just. We will declare that Your love stands firm forever. For Your loving kindness endures forever.

Thank You that Your ways are far greater than our ways, Your thoughts far deeper than our thoughts. Thank You that You had a plan to redeem. Thank You that You make all things new. Thank You that Your face is towards the righteous, and You hear our prayers, and know our hearts. Help us to stay strong and true to you. Help us not to follow after the voice of the crowds, but to press in close to You, to hear Your whispers, and seek after You alone.

We praise You, we bless You Lord! Thank You that You reign supreme and we are more than conquerors through the gift of Christ!

In the Mighty Name of Jesus,

Amen.

 

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Online Transactions

A friend and a fellow blogger wrote about learning to wait. I am afraid I am one of those seemingly impatient persons when it comes to waiting.  Be it in a traffic (I guess this is inevitable),  drugstores, mall payment counters, doctors’ offices and the like.

It is a good thing, there are  now “senior citizens” lane  when paying for one’s purchases. It rather cuts the time waiting  for a few minutes.  I usually buy my maintenance medicines at Mercury Drug Store. There is this branch close to our place  that serves their clients oh so slow.  There are more senior citizen buyers than  regular customers.  Now, I remember, the  municipal hospital is also close by so the customers are always in line.

When I left the bank where I used to work back in the year 2000, I enrolled all our utilities for online payments.  Paying online is easier than waiting for your number to be serviced by a bank teller. As long as you have a wi-fi and your app is updated, you’re good to go.  Online transactions too  are now  in place for those merchants selling clothes, gadgets, even grocery items. Most of them deliver the items free (I guess the delivery charge is  already included in the cost). Some are paid in cash as soon as you get the items. Food  merchants  have delivery charges when you order online but you’d be assured that the items you ordered would be delivered in  less than 30 minutes. If you are quite lazy to go out because of the traffic and  and the not so friendly smog  in your area, it is still the best option. You just have to wait for a while.

The internet has surely gone a long way to help us in our daily lives.  You don’t have to buy a newspaper every day to get updated with  news.  Just read online and that’s it.  For those trolls online, it is also the easiest access to publish fake news. So beware.

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The Subtle Difference Between Growing Old And Aging

 

One of my first attempts at street photography.  Look at his gnarled hands. Life hasn’t been kind.  I asked him if I could take of photo and he nodded with a shy smile.

 

Aging is when you add years to your life –

But growing old makes you wiser through the years!

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