Hi, Hive Fam! Your cup-bearer will share a new travel journey that gave us some time to release the negative thoughts in our minds. I hope you can find the time to read and support this blog.
Every time I feel like I am in a valley of despair, I come to visit this very peaceful place. Where I can feel comfort and the loving embrace of a mother. This is the Virgen de los Remedios (Our Lady of Good Remedy) Parish Church of Odlot, Bogo City.
My wife and I decided to pay a visit to the abovementioned parish. We were used to visiting the place because it has a solemn aura where we can pray and meditate for an ample amount of time. In the Catholic faith, we believe that the Blessed Mother intercedes for us. Our Lady of Good Remedy is one of the titles of Mary. It doesn't mean that we have a lot of Mama Mary. This title means she can help us receive the remedy directly from Jesus. The remedy for whatever affliction and misery we may encounter, including the financial problem.
I sometimes observed that many of us Catholics were asking the Blessed Mother to give them blessings and many more. Thanking her for all the graces they received, but we must know that we can only ask for her help, and we can thank her for interceding for us. We must only consider God as the source of everything. We plead with the Virgin Mary to ask her son Jesus to grant our desires in life. We believe that Jesus cannot refuse the favors of her mother, like what happened during the wedding at Cana.
So then we went to the place, riding our motorcycle. It's just near our residence since Bogo City is just next to Tabogon Town. An estimated 40 minutes travel from our location, depending on how fast the vehicle is. You can pass a lot of beautiful houses and forest trees on your way to Brgy. Odlot.
Let me share a brief history of the church that was mentioned by a priest before. An image of our Lady was found by a fisherman. They then built a small chapel and started the veneration in the 1930s. Many miracles were attributed to her by the devotees. Like healing from a severe disease, passing licensure examinations, growing a business, and many more. They believed that they received these miracles through the intercession of the Blessed Mother.
My wife and I are devotees of the Virgin Mary. At home, we have the image of Our Lady of Fatima. Today, May 13, will be the commemoration of her apparition at Cova da Iria in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. It was reported by the three shepherd children, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta. A dancing sun was seen on the 13th day of October on the same year, as she promised, and was witnessed by an estimated 70, 000 people. We also have an image of Our Lady of Lourdes, which we bought in January this year. We were planning to have a grotto in front of our humble abode.
Let's Continue Our Travel
We arrived at the parish at 10:00 a.m. I took some photos of the facade as we approached the entrance, going to the image of the patroness. As we reach in front of the image, we offer a short prayer. I ask Mama Mary to pray for our strength to continue our journey on earth. That she may also pray and touch the hearts of those who have something to return to us. We pray for good health, as I am suffering breakdowns and short breaths lately. The protection of our family, especially the kids, and the peace and unity of the entire world.
My wife bought all the colors of the votive candles that we will light at the candle stand or the votive stand. We then went inside the church to meditate and continue to pray. We need some time to silently talk with God inside this sacred place. Minutes passed, and Dawn and Cardo arrived at the church too. They have this panata, or their weekly visit, since they also want peace of mind. They offered a rosary and left their intentions in the designated box at the back of the church.
After staying there for a few minutes, I recalled the time when I had a conversation with people of other religions. They asked me about some practices of the Catholic Church that were not taught by the church or priests. Just like asking for blessings from the patron saint. We should only ask God for blessings, mercy, and protection. The saints were just there to remind us that we were all called to be like them. If we want to enter heaven, we must live like the saints did when they were still living on earth.
Another is that they asked about the superstitious beliefs. It was not also part of the teachings of the church. Many of us Catholics are still connected to those beliefs, as we think that there is nothing to lose if we abide by them. I always tell you, if you believe it, you have someone to lose; it's God. If you believe that He created us, then you should also believe and know that there is nothing we should fear about.
I was blessed that I met those Christian friends who respected and supported me when it came to my faith. They were all ears when we had serious talk about religion. Well, we are like-minded in that it's a matter of faith and not religion. It's only God who knows about our final destination. There were more topics we talked about especially when it comes to images or statues. We never had an argument about it. We just had a healthy conversation. One thing that made me love them.
My wife and I left the parish, and we went back to our town. As we traveled back home, we had a conversation about the things that had happened to us lately. There were realizations that gave us pain but inspired us to continue what we had started. Passing by lots of fascinating views along the way made us feel relaxed, and we thought of new plans on how to overcome our present struggles. We then decided to buy our food since our kids were waiting for us for lunch. When we arrived at the crispy king food stall, we bought four pieces of crispy battered chicken. Our kids loved this, as it became their favorite.
When we reached home, our kids were very happy. We left them to take a look at our small farm. They filled up the tanks with water for the chickens and turned on the electric fans to make the area well ventilated. It was just a quick trip, but it gave us the time to reflect and meditate. May we keep our faith in the Lord, as He has remained faithful to us. May you also receive the blessings from heaven and continue the passion that gives glory and honor to Him.
Let us commemorate the message of God to Mary. Ave Maria!
I thank you for the time spent reading this blog. Lovelots!
Lead image was edited using Canva. All others
were taken using Realme 12 5G phone.