Visita Iglesia on a Good Friday: Sta. Clara De Montefalco Parish

Wazzup Pilipinas !

Visita Iglesia is an annual tradition that many Filipino Catholics observe come Holy Week. Usually we will read about many travel bloggers who would go on some "church hopping" at different places in the country. Admirable, yet so old ages. Been there, done that, what's new?

We suddenly decided one day that we won't be going back to those far off but popular churches in the Philippines. They are all too over-rated already. Almost everyone has been there and seen it for so many times already.

So since we were actually a tad busy too, we decided to do our Visita Iglesia within our neighborhood only. Yes! We will be visiting just the churches of our beloved city of Pasig.

We were so eager to start the day early for the Visita Iglesia that we woke up as early as we could so that we could prepare and eat a hearty breakfast before leaving home. It was still dark outside and there was a full moon. The street lights are all yellowish but the moon was all white and glowing.

All the way from the fifth floor, I could see down below that there were already a few people awake and doing their own respective business.

The Visita Iglesia is also known as the Seven Churches Visitation. It is a pious Roman Catholic Lenten tradition by attempting to visit seven churches or religious sites. Traditionally observed on Maundy Thursday, it is commonly practiced during any day of the Holy Week. We are doing our Visita Iglesia on a Good Friday.

Our first stop of our Visita Iglesia was actually not really the nearest from our home but we made it first on our list since we consider it as the most beautiful among the churches of Pasig. It's that church that you see on top of this blog.

Sta. Clara de Montefalco, located at Barangay Caniogan along C. Raymundo Avenue, is also considered as the tallest church edifice in the Philippines. We therefore would like to see if this church can boast of other things aside from being tall.

 

St. Clare of Montefalco, also called St. Clare of the Cross (c. 1268 – August 18, 1308), was an Augustinian nun and abbess. Before becoming a nun, St. Clare was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis (Secular). She was canonized by Pope Leo XIII on December 8, 1881.

Barangays Caniogan and Sagad were officially designated and erected as a new parish On January 10, 1994. It bear the illustrious name of Sta. Clara de Montefalco with Msgr. Salvador F. Mora as the first parish priest. This was after a  careful evaluation made by the Manila’s Archdiocesan Office for Research and Development(AORD). From what I have read, it was in 1993 when the dismembership of Barangays Caniogan and Sagad from the Immaculate Conception Parish was carefully studied and submitted to the AORD as recommended by Msgr. Emmanuel V. Sunga, pastor then of Immaculate Conception Parish.

Rev. Fr. Renier N. Llorca, appointed as the second parish priest on December 01, 1994, conceptualized and initiated the construction of the new Sta. Clara de Montefalco Church edifice in its current site.

The chapel was eventually transformed into a shrine when the proposal of the building of the new church edifice was approved by the Archbishop of Manila, the late Jaime Cardinal L. Cardinal Sin in 1995.

Since it was a Good Friday, the altar is all covered up with white drapes (am I right about this?) or let's just say those long white cloths. The statues or images of the saints could not be seen anymore. This is to respect the hardship of our Lord that is observed as happening this Good Friday.

Good Friday is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday. Based on the details of the Canonical gospels, the Crucifixion of Jesus was most likely to have been on a Friday.

We also see a few people inside. Everyone was on their knees and praying quietly.

 

The church has stations of the cross printed on tarpaulins and hangs on the upper windows. It's actually cheaper to have it that way, but I don't think it will last longer as compared to have it on a more permanent basis.

The church also have stations of the cross at its lower level, or more like a basement level. This is where you would see some people praying at every station. Again, they were all printed in tarpaulins. Red cloths were added to every stations of the cross to make it more dramatic.

 

 
I think a mass was going to be held here but we did not wait for it anymore. Our Visita Iglesia requires us to go to at least seven churches within the day. Well, at least we will try to find out if it will be possible. We had no initial planning, and we still do not know where to go. We will just let fate decide where he is going to take us.

The sun was at its brightest today. We could feel the heat touching our skin. I am actually blinded by the rays of the sun that even the shades I was wearing was not successful enough to enable me to see clearly. The photographer also had the same problems as she tries her best to align the picture to a steady, but alas we ended up with the picture below. Quite good enough but looking at it feels like I'm going to tip over to the right.

This is only the first stop of our Visita Iglesia. Be back for more as we try our best to discover the other churches of Pasig.

Sta. Clara de Montefalco Parish Church is famous for being "The tallest church in the Philippines".


For more information about the Church, visit their Official Website, Santa Clara de Montefalco Parish


Address: C. Raymundo Ave. Caniogan, Pasig City
Vicariate: Vicariate of the Immaculate Conception
Titular: St. Claire of Montefalco
Feast: August 17