Bisita Iglesia in Marinduque – April 1, 2010

“Bisita Iglesia” (“Visita Iglesia” in Spanish) or literally Church Visits  is a Holy Week tradition in the Philippines where one visits 7 churches. Another non-related tradition was that of saying a prayer and making a wish when you enter a church for the first time. This year I got to do both as I got to visit 7 churches for the first time for Holy Week 2010 while in Marinduque for the Moriones Festival.

I know many people do Bisita Iglesia on other days, but for me, it has always been on Maundy Thursday. Each to their own beliefs. Some folks want to go for the stretch and do more… 10 – 14 churches. Not sure why because it has always been just 7.

Jasper Jugan and myself wondered if we would encounter 7 churches on the island. After attending a few of the Moriones activities in the morning we set of at around 9:30am starting with the Boac Catherdral, then we drove clock-wise around the entire island of Marinduque. With a few stops here and there to take pictures, we got back to Boac aroud 3:30pm.

The churches in clockwise-order from Boac are as follows:

1) Boac Cathedral, Boac

2) Monastery of Saint Clare, Boac

3) San Isidro Lobrador, Mogpog

4) Holy Cross Parish, Sta. Cruz

5) St. Ignatius of Loyola, Torrijos

6) Church of the Holy Child, Buenavista

7) St. Joseph Parish, Gasan

It was definitely a fun experience as we took a Holy Week Tradition and brought a Lakwatsero spin to it.

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