A virtual Visita Iglesia (church pilgrimage during the Holy Week)

The season of Lent is here again, and this means a week of reflection and meditation which starts from Holy Monday to Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday and finally Easter Sunday. Whew.

There’s been a lot of traveling going on in the Philippines this Holy Week since most offices are closed on Thursday and Friday, a chance for the employed to travel to their hometowns and celebrate the Lenten Season with families, while some consider the free days as an opportunity to spend some quite and relaxing holiday in their favorite beaches or resorts. Thus, you can just imagine airports to be busy this week with fully-booked flights and jam-packed bus trips to provinces including inter island vessels and barges loaded with vehicles and passengers.

In relation to Maundy Thursday, most Filipinos observe the Visita Iglesia or church pilgrimage as part of the Holy Week celebration, where the Catholic faithful visit at least seven churches usually in the evening. In this entry, I will be sharing to you dear readers a virtual tour of some of the local and foreign churches and cathedrals I’ve been to from places in Europe and the Philippines. There are still lots of church photos in my archives, especially the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle, but I lack extra time to search for them.

Let’s start the virtual tour…

San Diego Pro-cathedral, Silay

Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Cebu (photo from flickr by coolmars)

Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, Cebu (photo from Wikipedia)

The shrine of the Infant Jesus at a side altar inside the Church of Our Lady Victorious, Prague

St. Nicholas Church at Old Town Square, Prague

Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul at Vysehrad Castle, Prague

Interior of the Cemetery Church of All Saints with an Ossuary also known as Church of Bones, Kutna Hora

Tyn Cathedral at the Old Town Square, Prague

St. Albert the Great Church (St. Albertus Magnus Kirche), our first stop during our Berlin day tour

St. Mary’s Church (Marienkirche), Berlin

St. Hedwig’s Cathedral, Berlin

Visita Iglesia is actually based on the ancient practice, possibly of Roman origins, of visiting seven pilgrim churches. In the Philippines, this tradition is not limited to only seven churches. I remember we used to practice Visita Iglesia in Cebu on foot since the churches are just within walking distance.

Here’s our usual route which I highly recommend if you’re planning to do Visita Iglesia in Cebu:
1. Start at San Nicolas Parish along Tupas St.
2. Santo Niño Parish in Pasil district
3. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish (USJ-R), Magallanes St. (Carbon market district)
4. Basilica del Sto. Niño, Osmena Blvd.
5. Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, P. Burgos St.
6. University of San Carlos chapel, P. del Rosario St.
7. and finally at Sto. Rosario Parish, P. del Rosario St.

The sidewalks of downtown Cebu are usually busy with people on the evening of Maundy Thursday. You would see parish-organized prayer communities, small groups, families or individuals walking along while singing religious songs, praying the Holy Rosary or the Stations of the Cross as they hike from one church to another. Here in Negros Occidental, the parishes are not so near each other, thus one has to commute or drive from one church to the next. Our usual Visita Iglesia route starts from the San Nicolas Parish in Talisay, then to Bata Subdivision, and other parishes in Bacolod.