QUEZON + TANAY RIZAL | Kamay ni Hesus - Regina Rica

Jesus and Mary. This is our theme for our 2011 ritual for this lenten season. Year on year, we do Station of the Cross wherein we visit 7 churches and say two prayers on each - its like a Visita Iglesia with Station of the Cross on the side. This year we made it different.


My family decided to do the Istasyon on the the two renowned places for worship - Kamay ni Hesus Shrine in Quezon and Regina Rica in Rizal. It was a long ride going to Quezon Province and Tanay Rizal.

Going to Quezon, we traveled via the highway that connects Rizal and Quezon Province. This route was very handy for us - no traffic, no toll fees and cemented roads. You would also pass Pagsanjan Laguna and other towns in Rizal where you can take a side-trip upon going home.

Here in the Philippines, Stations of the Cross is a common practice to Catholic Filipinos during Maundy Thursday. It is a devotion in commemorating the passion of Jesus Christ. This is religiously done on Visita Iglesia where a devotee has to say his prayers in every station. It is a form of penitence and sacrifice during the Lenten Season.

Kamay ni Hesus Shrine is located at Mt. Banahaw, Brgy. Tinamnan, Lucban Quezon. The shrine is known for celebrating healing masses. It features life size statues symbolizing the 14 Stations of the Cross where visitors do their traditional istasyon. These stations are situated in a hill where one has to accomplish 292 steps to finish all stations. At the top, a very big statue of Jesus Christ is standing and claimed to be the third biggest in the world. 

There's a lot of stalls inside the vicinity that offers different variety of goodies for pasalubong - broas, pancit habhab, cassava pudding, and many more, not to mention the famous of all and my favorite - Lucban longanisa.

We were then greeted by a 71-foot-tall statue of the Queen of the Holy Rosary in Sampaloc, Tanay Rizal. The experience was very solemn - Dominican Sisters of Regina Rosarii will assist you once you climbed the statue and guide you towards the praying room.

God's presence is being felt as we walk, climb, lit our candles and pray towards Regina Rica. It was a short climb but a bit uncomfortable because of the heat of the sun - the air is cold though since the place is high.

Regina Rica is also a place where one can reflect while roaming around locality - visitors can cross the hanging bridge and enjoy feeding the rabbits and playing with the monkey as they head to the organic garden. We enjoyed the view of nipa huts (where sisters reside) and the swings beside as we head and wander around the 'Foot path in the Woods'

Regina Rica sells the tree as a fundraising project - one can adopt a tree around Php700/month. They also offer freshly baked bread with natural ingredients (tastes like pesto) for Php50 each - variety of snacks for merienda can be bought in Regina's Kanlungan.

Until the next destination,

Teng

my email: tengd7k@gmail.com