Church hopping
ONE TRADITION OBSERVED by the pious Catholic faithful during the Holy Week in the Philippines is called Visita Iglesia or Church Visit. It is usually performed on Maundy Thursday, and sometimes on Good Friday, and it involves dropping by seven churches to pray. Believers have the choice to visit up to 14 churches to pray the Stations of the Cross (there are 14 in all).
Here are the some of the magnificent houses of prayer scattered across Manila, the capital, that you may include in your itinerary this Lent.
Manila Cathedral, or more formally known as Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, is the see of the Archbishop of Manila, Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the patroness of the Philippines. The church is famous for its grand Romanesque architecture and for having survived multiple natural disasters and fires throughout its more than four centuries of history.
San Agustin Church is a survivor of natural and man-made calamities and a must-visit tourist destination in Intramuros, the walled city. This Baroque- styled house of worship took its design cue from the churches built by the Augustinians in Mexico. In 1993, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization or UNESCO designated San Agustin Church, together with three other Philippine churches — collectively known as the “Baroque Churches of the Philippines” — as a World Heritage Site.
The Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, or more popularly known as Quiapo Church, is a well-known for housing the large, black, wooden cross-bearing statue of Jesus Christ, which is believed by many to be miraculous. The Feast of the Black Nazarene, observed on Jan. 9, draws hundreds of thousands, even more than a million, of unshod devotees hoping
to touch the statue of Christ, which is paraded around Manila the entire day.
In the district of Binondo, one will find Binondo Church, also known as Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the first- ever Filipino to be canonized for whom the Church is named, was born to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother. He had his training in Binondo Church before flying to Japan as a missionary, where he was executed for not renouncing his religion. Binondo Church holds masses in four different languages — Filipino, Mandarin, Hokkien and English.
Another Baroque church on this list is Santa Cruz Church. The Jesuits were the ones behind its construction in the early 17th century. The patroness of this basilica is Nuestra Señora del Pilar, or Our Lady of the Pillar, whose feast day is every third Sunday of October. During the Battle of Manila, in 1945, it was completely demolished; it was reconstructed years later.
Rounding out this short list is Our Lady of Remedies Parish Church or Malate Church. This Baroque church was founded by the Augustinians in the late 16th century. Like the other churches preceding it on this list, it was destroyed and rebuilt a couple of times. Its patroness is revered among mothers who are recovering from childbirth or who have sick children.