VISITA IGLESIA : A LENTEN TRADITION

By Jetset Alejandro

Philippine summer is never complete without the Holy week celebration. Seven years ago prior to accepting a foreign post, I was a part of throngs and throngs of Catholic laities who visited different churches during the Lenten season. In other countries, they only visit 7 churches to signify the 7 Last words of Jesus. But for me in the Philippines, we usually visit 14 churches in reference to the 14 Stations of the Cross. Each church corresponds to one station of the Cross.


My Philippine residence is in the second district of La Union and I live in a town called Aringay, La Union. It is around 45 minutes to Baguio City traversing the Marcos Highway by use of a personal car. It will take around an hour and a half if you commute from Baguio City. Being from Aringay, we usually take a southern route for our Visita Iglesia. Although we have already done a northern route, we find the southern route much more efficient since it is a circuitous route and thus the last station ends up with our town.

Our Lady of Charity Church in Agoo, La Union

We usually hit the road at 6:00 AM in the morning. Our first stop is the Basilica of Nuestra Senora de Caridad in Agoo, La Union. Nuestra Senora de Caridad means Our Lady of Charity. The church is a Minor Basilica and it had a gothic architecture. The church interior is so grand most especially the altar. Agoo is famous for the site where a supposedly miracle of our Lady happened. After church-led investigation was made, the miracle was deemed inauthentic and thus no religious activities on the supposed site was made from thereon. But nevertheless, the Basilica is favorite site for pilgrimages not only because of the grandeur of the church but because of the perceived holiness of the church and after all, one does not need a resounding miracle in the nearby mountains of Agoo because the Nuestra Senora de Caridad is already a miraculous one and attracts a lot of devotees from surrounding provinces and municipalities. It is in this church that we made our introductory prayers for the Station of the Cross and did the first station.

Our Lady Protector of those Lost in the Sea Church
in Sto. Tomas, La Union

Our second station is at the Holy Guardian Angels Parish also known as Nuestra Señora Birjen del Mar Cuativa Parish in Sto. Tomas, La Union. From Agoo, La Union, after a 10-15 minutes road trip, we see the sign that tells us to turn to the right following the western side and finally approaching the main community of Sto. Tomas. The church’s name is translated as Our Lady Protector of those Lost in the Sea. It also underscores the municipality as a fishing community. There is an interesting tale about the Virgin of the Church and because of its chronicle, it became a site for pilgrimage in the province.

Enroute to the third station, we followed the route back to the national highway. In some cases, we go directly traversing the coastal road and we pass by the Don Mariano Marcos State University School of Fisheries until we got out of the road towards the national highway leading to Damortis, Sto. Tomas, La Union. The third stop is at the Our Lady of Lourdes Church. It is at the side of the forked road that forms a triangle. One side of the triangle is the national highway that leads to Rosario, La Union. The other side is the road that leads to San Fabian,Pangasinan. The base of the triangle is the front side of the church. The church was constructed to serve the needs of the burgeoning population of Damortis, a barangay of Sto. Tomas, La Union which had become very progressive because it is the melting pot of a lot people in the area.

San Fabian Church in San Fabian, Pangasinan

Our next station is the church of St. Fabian, Pope and the Martyr in San Fabian, Pangasinan. It is one of the oldest churches in Pangasinan and one could see the old catacombs that Spanish Friars used to bury their dead. It is one good place to feel the ambiance of yesteryears and the how it blended with the present times.

St. Thomas Parish Church in Mangaldan, Pangasinan

The fifth station is a travel towards the south and the next town is Mangaldan, Pangasinan. The church we are visiting is the St. Thomas Parish Church. It is quite ironic because 2 towns away from Mangaldan is Sto. Tomas, La Union that has the Virgin of the Shipwrecked or Lost in the Sea as its Patroness and yet it does not carry the namesake Saint for the town. But it is Mangaldan that had St. Thomas as the patronal saint The town church is very simple. On the pilgrimage to the church one cannot miss the factory for Romana’s Peanut brittle because it is just located beside the highway at the side of the church. After the pilgrims homage to the church, they go to the factory outlet and buy their peanut brittle for distribution to friends.

St. Hyacinth Church in San Jacinto, Pangasinan

Our next stop which is our 6th Station of the Cross is the church of St. Hyacinth in the town of San Jacinto, Pangasinan. The church ground is a combination of the ambiance of history as the rectory is basically Spanish in character. On the other hand, the main church building is contemporary in architecture.

Our Lady of Manaoag Church in Manaoag, Pangasinan

The 7th station of the Cross is at the Our Lady of Manaoag Church in Manaoag, Pangasinan. The “Our Lady of Manaoag “ Shrine is a pilgrimage area where almost every day, thousands pay homage to the miraculous virgin. It is administered by the Dominican Order under the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan. The Our Lady of Manaoag is one of the most venerated Marian images in the Philippines and is the patroness of the sick, the needy and the helpless. Currently, only the Shrine of Our Lady of Manaoag holds this title of papal affiliation in the Philippines. This is in recognition of the innumerable miracles and supernatural events that have occurred within the over 400 years timeline of the shrine inspiring greater devotion to Our Lady of Manaoag. One cannot control the urge to buy the Calasiao rice cakes being sold in the stalls surrounding the church. So many native delicacies are being peddled at stalls and although this is the time for abstinence, the sudden impulse to buy something from Manaoag is a reality.


Our next stop is the Laoac Church. The church is not as grand as the other churches in Pangasinan owing probably to the fact the Laoac is the youngest municipality of Pangasinan and it is very near Manaoag which attracts all pilgrims through the Philippines. This is our 8th stop reflecting the 8th station of the Cross.

St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Pozorrubio, Pangasinan

On the 9th station, we visited the Pozorrubio Church wherein the patron is St. Jude Thaddeus. Pozorrubio is a municipality where the Poblacion is located central and away from the main highway. We followed a connecting road from Laoac to Pozorrubio and we see a church that showed grandeur of the past.

Parish Church in Sison, Pangasinan

The 10th station is the church in Sison, Pangasinan . The town of Sison is another interior town wherein you have to get into the access road so that you can enter the main town. The church is located in a hilly terrain and it showed the grandeur of its past just like the Pozorrubio church. By the time we reach Sison for our 10th station it is almost midday and the silence of the Holy Week can be felt in this eerie church.

Immaculate Conception Church in Rosario, La Union

Our 11th station is the Immaculate Conception church of Rosario, La Union. The church is located at the eastern side fronting the National Highway and the Municipal Building. It has an access road to the Rosario-Pugo-Baguio Road. We followed this road to lead us to our 12th station where the Holy Family Church is located in Pugo, La Union. The Church has just celebrated its Centennial in 2009 and thus it is 102 years old as of 2011. After our intentions, we travelled the Marcos Highway down to Tubao, La Union and had our 13th station stop at the St. Isidore Parish Church. It is a church that has the trappings of the Notre Dame Cathedral of Baguio City but it is smaller in its scale.

St. Isidore Parish Church in Tubao, La Union

St. Lucy Parish Church in Aringay, La Union

Finally after 6 hours on the road we are back to our hometown, Aringay, La Union. From Tubao, we followed the Tubao-Aringay road which would come out at the national highway near the Aringay Bridge. The St. Lucy Parish Church is now a new church as the more than 500 years old church went down because of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the town and its vicinity last 1990. The grandeur of history concerning the old church cannot be preserved as a force majeure caused it to say goodbye in the midst of the new generation. We prayed the last station and did our closing prayers. It is time to go home and rest and be ready for the 6-o-clock procession for the Holy Week. The procession is another story in itself by the way.