I've been a loyal devotee of Mother Mary ever since I was still a child. My mother committed to praying and reading the Virgin Mary's Novena on the day of my birthday after I was diagnosed with a serious condition on my neck when I was still a child. They chose to see a faith healer instead of a doctor at that time, and it was customary for them to ask for help from all the saints in their prayers. Our great devotion to all saints, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary, was passed down to us from my mother. We continued this practice. Whenever I pray to our Heavenly Father, I also pray to all saints, believing that with their help, our prayers will be granted. Likewise, I also have strong faith that miracles can happen with the help of all saints. Therefore, I always visit them and light candles in churches not only during birthdays but also on Sundays.
Before my husband had his check-up and was hospitalized, we visited the Miraculous Virgin Mary in Lindogon, Simala, Cebu.
This is to fulfill our promise to visit the holy place this year. The Monastery is owned and built by Marrian Monks. It is one of the most visited religious places in the Philippines because this is the place where we can find hope, strong belief in God, love, relieved our stress and worries or healing, and miracles. Devotees can visit the place every day but it is most visited on Sunday and much more during the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary every 8th day of September.
How We Get There
From San Remigio, the Northern Part of Cebu, we rode a private car owned by my sister. We traverse Tuburan, Tabuelan, Asturias, Balamban, Toledo, Pinamungahan, and Carcar. This is the first time my brother-in-law traverses this way. But with the help of Google Maps, we were guided as to what road we will follow. We departed from San Remigio around 5 am. We had taken 2 stops over. One is in Tuburan to inhale fresh air and sea breeze and observe the beauty of low tide. Our second stopover is in Toledo to take our breakfast. Around 9:45 we arrived at Simala, Sibonga, Cebu. There were two routes to going there. One is by traversing the Cebu Northeast Road to the City and the other is on the Cebu Northwest Road to Carcar City. We took the Cebu Northwest road to escape or avoid too much traffic.
The Arrival
We arrived at exactly 9:45 am. There were a lot of Devotees who visited the Blessed Virgin Mary. We find it difficult to park our car but the folks or villagers near the Shrine utilized their ground as parking spaces for vehicles with a fee. For every park, we will pay 30.00 PHP. We just walked going to the main gate of the shrine. As we arrived inside, I can felt the holiness of the place. We fell in line in going inside. Despite the extreme heat of the sun devotees don't mind it. All they wanted is to say their prayers in front of the holy replica of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Amazing Views
As you can see the building resembles a temple or a palace. You will be astonished at how it was done. It is well-landscaped and strongly built and its design is peculiar to me. I can't imagine how it was planned perfectly. Very spacious where it can accommodate a thousand people. Even if it was not yet finished but you will surely be amazed by it. From a mountainous area and it turns into a magical palace. Every year there will be a new improvement happening to the temple since they continue to work on what is in the plan.
Inside the Church
Inside the Monastery, you will see the marvelous painting of God's Disciples, a replica of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a beautiful chandelier hung above. It was designed perfectly. The holy place gathered people or Devotees with the same purpose and that is to heal from anxiety and worries and to receive graces from the Blessed Virgin Mary.
That's all for this blog. Thank you for reading and God bless everyone.