Visita Iglesia

Our family has a tradition of spending Good Friday by visiting seven churches and praying two Stations of the Cross per church. Except for last year when we celebrated the Holy Week in Singapore, it has only been house and the church for us ever since. Since we are transferring to Cebu this Easter Sunday, it is kind of bittersweet for the family to be doing the Visita Iglesia at Bacolod churches for the last time. It is like going down the memory lane for us.

Station 1 & 2: Redemptorist Church

Redemptorist is one of the churches we usually go to every Sunday. I like attending masses here because it really feels solemn inside. 

First Station: The Institution of the Eucharist

Second Station: The Agony in Gethsemane

Stations 3 & 4: Immaculate Concepcion Parish, Bgy. Villamonte. This was also where my Third was baptized fifteen years ago.

Third Station: Jesus is sentenced to Death

Fourth Station: Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns

5th & 6th Stations: The Triumph of the Holy Cross Parish, Camingawan, Bgy. Estefania. we used to attend mass here when we we were living at Bethany Court.

The line to kiss the image of Jesus extended up to the back of the Church 

5th Station: Jesus Receives the Cross

6th Station: Jesus Falls Under the Weight of the Cross

7th and 8th Station: St. Joseph the Worker Parish, Dona Juliana Subdivision, Taculing. Lately, this was our choice of Sunday mass because it is just a mere five-minute drive from Suntal Villas. The whole family had our confession here last Holy Tuesday.

7th Station: Simon of Cyrene Carries the Cross of Jesus

8th Station: Jesus Meets the Pious Women of Jerusalem. Somehow, my picture of this station got deleted.

We started at around 6:00 p.m. And after 4 churches, we could already see the full moon.

9th and 10th Stations: Sacred Heart Shrine, Lupit Church. We just come here every Visita Iglesia. Honestly, we feel stuffy whenever we step inside this church. I don't know why.

Maybe because we can always imagine this church straight from the Dan Brown novel, Da Vinci Code. It feels like a European church what with the intricate ceiling and floor designs.

9th Station: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

10th Station: Jesus Promises Heaven to the Repentant Thief. Picture was deleted too.

11th and 12th Stations: San Antonio Abad Parish, Taculing. There is an image of a saint with a pig in front of the church. But it was already dark so I couldn't take a photo of it.

11th Station: Mary and John at the Foot of the Cross

12th Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross

13th and 14th Station: Queen of Peace Church, St. John's Academy

We call this church Bacolod's rich man's church because the interior is fully airconditioned. 

13th Station: Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

14th Station: Jesus is Placed in the Sepulchre

We finished at around 8:00 p.m. We were famished so we went straight to Cafe Joint at Art District, Mandalagan, which is owned by the hubby's cousin, Manny Montelibano. (It was the only restobar opened! Except your usual McDO, Jollibee, and KFC) Surprisingly, inspite of being a Good Friday, a lot of people went there to drink. 

To each his own.