My friends arrived from New Jersey, U.S.A at 5am Thursday Morning Jan 18th. i woke up at 4am in preparation and anticipation for their arrival.. i can be a really good friend sometimes.
Actually their flight was delayed, they were supposed to arrive at 3am. Thank goodness for the delay, otherwise i don't think i would have made it to that airport at that time.
We made it back to the city real quick, had breakfast, received my "pasalubong", ( souvenir) and were headed to the South of Cebu. Visiting Holy Mama Mary of Simala is somewhat a ritual for my friend who is American with a Filipino descend.
Actually i was hesitant to embark on this 2 hr trip as i had a very tight schedule in preparation for the big Sinulog festival that was coming up that weekend here in Cebu. But iv always wanted to visit this place, especially for its well known structure and i knew its either now or never. they say you should grab a chance when an opportunity arises, right. so i knew this was it, and this was the perfect company. i am not catholic so i would not be motivated to visit this place on my own if i did not have a company of my devoted catholic friends. Aside from the fact that am not catholic, i am very open to learning about other religions and their practices. Most of all, i love short road trip adventures, and i needed inspiration and content for my blog. so what were the odds? i told my self, and off to Simala we went.
The Journey:
From Cebu city, we got a GT express from somewhere beside San Carlos Gym, one in Junquera street, cebu city. we paid 100 pesos per head , and off we went . the journey was a bit long as i had anticipated for an hour drive. but it was comfortable, with the GT express fully air conditioned, and some road trip snacks, the 2hr journey wasn't bad at all. soon as we arrived, i started to understand the hype attached to this place. first of all its structure.
see just how magnificent it looks!! i was wowed at "hallo", kind of gives you that European castle vibe, yeah?
Before the trip, i was wearing a short dress (above the knee), and my friends warned me that its not appropriated and will not be allowed to enter he holy shrine, so i clad on some leggings underneath . True to their words, there were security guards at the entrance for inspection and any body wearing revealing clothes was given big skirts, wraps and big tops to cover. i thanked them (in my heart), for the warning.
Now as you may all know that the Philippines is full of historic antique churches , and this one is one of them. very special i must say. for a Brief history about The simala shrine read here: https://www.thousandwonders.net/Simala-Lindogon+Church+Sibonga . ( i still dont know how to attach links properly, i am a semi noob).
i was wowed by its scenery, and at this point i was already glad that i did not miss out on this trip. while entering the shrine, we were instructed to remove our shoes, we carefully did and placed them at a corner, everybody else was barefoot. i was still excited about the pictures and content i was going to get, little did i know that this place was in fact a sanctuary. as we joined the lineup to visit the statue of the holy mama Mary of simala, i noticed it was actually a very long line filled with young and the old alike. people in different forms, those who could walk majestically on their 2 feet, those who could hardly lift a foot, and even those in wheel chairs, all lined up in pure harmony and reverence in pure silence and anticipation to touch the statue of the Holy one.
what drew my at most attention and made me realize the value this castle holy shrine has is the testimonies it holds. as we lined up to go see and touch the holy statue, there were thousands of testimonies of answered prayers. first i saw testimonies of students who had visited the shrine prior to their licensure board exams, and when they excelled, they did not forget to return to the shrine for thanks giving. There were numerous letters of thanks, and some included personal valuable items that were either used during the exams ( pencils, pens, etc) , or had a significant attachment to their professions as far as the issuing of their practicing licenses was concerned, such as name plates and caps, just anything special that held meaning to their success. was more touched when i saw a testimony from a classmate way back in Nursing school and other familiar faces.
another section of the testimonies was from those who were healed and cured from terminal illnesses. at this point i believed that theres truly a divine healing and miracle in this sanctuary. Alot of people that had tapped into this healing miracle , as a sign of gratitude brought back to the shrine personal items that were used during their illnesses as a donation to other people going through the same ordeal and praying for a miracle. items like hair wigs and hoodies, hats that were previously worn by cancer patients , clutches , medical reports , photos to prove their victories and many others. as i was looking at some of these testimonies, i had goose bumps.. literally. even though i am not catholic, with unquestionable doubt, i could tell how reverend this holy ground was. FAITH AND BELIEVE ARE STRONG ELEMENTS.
We were getting closer now to the statue and i was getting anxious as to what i was supposed to do seeing am not catholic. i was nagging my friends with alot of questions as religion is somewhat a sensitive issue and i did not want to do anything that could have been deemed wrong. they assured me not to worry, i dnt have to do anything out of my believe, i could just see the statue and pass by or touch the glass and say a prayer if i wished too and i said to my self why not, so i did exactly as they did.
my friends prior to touching the Mama Marys statue, had written down on bond papers what they said was a petition to mama Mary, more like special prayer requests that they dropped in a huge wooden like box. my friend promised that she will have to fly back to the Philippines for her testimony once her prayers are answered.
Before reaching the holy statue of mama Mary , there was this angel statue holding what i believe is holy water, as i saw my friends and other devotees dip their fingers inside the bowl and drawing a cross sign across their fore head.
we then approached the miraculous statue of mama Mary and it was truly a sight to reckon.
as depicted in the photos, devotees of the holy mama Mary touching/kissing the glass protecting the statue while saying a prayer. This was beautiful to watch.
as we finished with the statue, we walked towards what seemed like a holy ground museum. there was soo much preserved history in this place.
from statues of different saints all across the globe.
To garments that were worn by saints centuries ago.
To a massive display of different symbolic saints and angels that hold different significance.
Not to forget the eye catching roof decor display.
CANDLE LIGHTING
Candles in catholic faith are lit for prayer intentions. To "light a candle for someone" indicates one's intention to say a prayer for another person, and the candle symbolizes that prayer. Many times, "a board is placed nearby with names of those for whom prayer is requested."
we then got to the candle lighting area. there were different colors of candles with each color having a significant meaning. this idea intrigued me and i hopped on it. like i mentioned earlier, i am not catholic, neither do i believe in the religion but i am open minded to learning about different practices and respect people with their believes.
each candle candle had a meaning as follows.
I participated in the candle lighting and said a prayer in the usual way i do, in faith, hope and believe that it will come true. i picked out Gold, violet and green candles as my key prayer points, each candle costed 35 pesos.
As many of the candle flames were dying already due to the strong winds, i decided to stay a little longer watching the wick of the candle burn at least half way through as i continued to pray.
we were done and it was time to go back to the city, but wait..... not without more photos of the beautiful place coz i dont think or know when i can come back here again. lol
outside the "castle", there was alot of carenderias ( road side food sellers) and refreshments. i could not resist to drink fresh buko juice (coconut) for only 20 pesos.
we then got a bike to where the GT express vans were packed and embarked back on our journey to cebu.. if am not mistaken, we paid p120 on our way back a.
journey coming back was smoother as there was that sense of calmness , holiness and fulfillment, plus i slept all the way back.
This trip gave me a different perspective of the catholic religion that i did not know or see before.. i got to appreciate more their practices and understand meaning behind some of them.
Thank you for passing by,
you are awesome..
xoxo
Maggie
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