Holy Week in the Philippines as Roman Catholics means doing "Visita Iglesia" where we visit seven churches and say a prayer per church.
We have been doing "Visita Iglesia" for the past three years and for this year's "Visita Iglesia", we decided to head first at Simala Shrine in Sibonga, Cebu.
Simala Shrine is a castle-like shrine located in the southernmost town of Sibonga, Cebu, Philippines. No matter it's distance, it has been visited by a lot of local and tourists due to is miraculous Mother Mary which oftentimes, board-exam takers seek help and the sick comes here for healing also.
I remember back when I took the Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers, we also had a "Visita Iglesia" and we also went here to Simala.
From the town we are currently living now, Tuburan, we came here via car, and it took about three to four hours before we arrived here. We left at around 4:00 am and we arrived at around 8:30 am here at Simala Shrine.
We took some photos in the famous fountain. It is what you will see first once you enter Simala Shrine.
I have also seen a lot of people throw some coins, I guess this might be a wishing well also. But we did not throw any, we just took some photos and went inside to offer our prayers and wishes.
I ❤️ MAMA MARY signage at Simala Shrine
Another famous photo-taking spot here in Simala Shrine is this I❤️MAMA MARY signage which has the view of the shrine at the back.
One of the things we do here once we go to Simala to get some photos is that we wait for other shrine-goers and offer to take photos of them and then, they will do the same for us too, they will take photos of us also.
During this time, we was not able to buy a phone stand that is why we need other people's help, but gladly, some random person offered to take a photo of us.
My son took a lot of photos as we are heading inside the shrine. He also loves to pose as he is active on his social media.
We then went in to start our Visita Iglesia prayer. After the Visita Iglesia prayer, we also offered our personal prayers.
I took some photos with my son, my mother and my brother which like the same as the I❤️MAMA MARY signage, a random person also offered to take photos of us.
As for me, I really take a lot of photos especially during family trips like these because we seldomly travel as a family. I consider this a travel because this is an out of town "Visita Iglesia."
We then headed to the candle-lighting area to take some photos. We did not buy any candles because we still have the candles we bought during our last visit here.
Our first stop was a success. We were able to do our "Visita Iglesia" in Simala Shrine. To six more churches.
What a blessed Holy Week indeed! Ciao!❤️
