Greetings to you my dear hivers! How are you this weekend? Did you make a plan with your family? Well, I did. We went out with the family to two different places today. We visited the Cebu Simala Shrine and the Archbishop Teofilo Camomot Shrine.
My mom really wanted to visit Simala Shrine, the Castle Church in Sibonga, Cebu. My dad wanted to visit the Archbishop Teofilo Camomot Shrine located in Carcar, Cebu. He wanted to see the changes there as he had heard that the church was built on the back of the shrine.
We went first to mom's choice, Simala. It was still early in the morning when we arrived, but we were shocked by how many people were already lining up to get inside.
As we got in, the place was crowded. There were many changes from the last time we went here.
We were confused as to why people were staying in only one place when the shrine was very wide and big. Then we went up only to see that the church was closed. As a result, we only stayed at the corner.
This is my dad and younger brother. We saw someone selling flowers, so we bought one to give to mom.
I took this photo at the side as the center is packed with the crowd.
This is the castle church. It's nice to see that it turned out well. We decided to just go out since there's nothing to do inside.
This is the rose we bought, and Mom was delighted to receive one. We then proceeded to our next stop.
We parked on the left side of the shrine when we arrived.
There is an open area where you can write your petitions. Before entering the shrine, we wrote petitions first.
On the right side is another open area where you can light your candles and say your prayers. We call it "panagkot".
This is where you can get as many candles as you need, and below that is where you can put your coins or small donations.
On the left side of this place, you can see the church at the back. I am so excited about going there. Last time we went here, it was just an empty area.
But first, we entered the Shrine, where taking photos is not permitted.
After that, we went to the church at the back of the Shrine.
It's not finished yet. There is still construction going on.
And this is what you'll see inside. It can accommodate many mass attendees as it's very spacious.
After we said our prayers, we decided to go home as the sky was turning grey already. Mom and dad looked cute together, so I decided to call them for a photo.
This is the view as you walk out of the church.
I asked my dad to take pictures of me, and we took ten shots before I got this "okay" shot.
My traveling companion, I used to not get motion sickness, but as I've gotten older, I do.
That's what happened on my weekend! What do you think of the places? Comment down below! Thank you for stopping by. See you in my next post.
Some photos were edited using Canva
About The Author
Melria is a book lover and a story teller. She loves to explore various things beyond her limits. If you like her content you may drop a comment, upvote and reblog her post.