Visita Iglesia! day 1 . . . .

MABUHAY!

Let's get to the point. In the Philippines, typically most Filipinos take the time this week because of Holy Week, to do a Visita Iglesia. A Visita Iglesia, which means visiting churches can be done anytime before Good Friday starting on Palm Sunday. In the Philippines, my grandmother has informed me that they will have their Visita Iglesia on Holy Tuesday. You might be asking what exactly do you do. Well to answer that question, you go to 14 different churches and at each church is one station (14 Stations of the Cross = 14 churches). You start with the introductory prayer at your original church and you end the concluding prayer at the church that you started with. The point of it is that you get to see the different churches and pray at them. At this point on in the Philippines people are busy flocking the streets and the roads are filled with buses going these Visita Iglesia's.

As a tradition of the Philippines, we decided that this year we would do that since it's a custom to our culture. So we started today in Fort Wayne with all of the churches that we passed by- which weren't a lot, and some of them were closed, but these are the churches that we went to and that we started at.

The First Station: Jesus is Condemned to Death
Church: Saint Mary's of the Assumption
Location: Decatur, Indiana







The Second Station: Jesus Accepts the Cross
Church: Saint Joseph's
Location: Hessen Cassel, Fort Wayne, Indiana







The Third Station: Jesus Falls the First Time
Church: Cathedral of Immaculate Conception
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana







The Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Mother
Church: Saint Mary's
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana







The Fifth Station: Simon of Cyrene Helps Carry the Cross
Church: Saint Vincent de Paul
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana







Visita Iglesia Day 1 ... was a success! Even though we only did 5 today, we'll finish the 9 Stations remaining tomorrow in Ohio. There is going to be no problem looking for a church tomorrow!

Have A Great Day!