My group of retired tourism industry professionals have made it a point to go out of town, every so often, to destinations that satisfy our craving for discovery of new places, and our appetite for good food.
I hate to admit it, but we label these trips as “pilgrimages,” so the itinerary calls for us to visit a religious site first, to give us a chance to spend valuable time with our Divine patrons and, later, binge on local culinary specialties like there’s no tomorrow. Of course, the visit ends after we troop to the destination’s most popular “pasalubong” outlet which, I’m sure, results in its unprecedented sales that could boost the local community’s economy!
We did our first trip several months ago to Quezon province, as already chronicled here in my column. This time, the group decided to visit another religious site that most of us haven’t been to.
Our comfortable vans headed for Central Luzon, specifically, to the Monasterio de Tarlac. Good thing we earlier stopped by the Microtel at Hacienda Luisita to freshen up because it was such a long drive all the way to our destination. After reaching Tarlac, it’s still a good hour’s drive from Tarlac’s MacArthur Highway on, thankfully, well paved roads.
The Monasterio sits on top of Mount Resurrection, part of the Zambales Mountain Range, and is also part of the 278-hectare Mt. Resurrection Eco-Park, with lush, verdant vegetation that is home to many species of birds and insects.
The Monasterio de Tarlac came about in 2003 initially as the hermitage house for monks of the Priory of the Servants of the Risen Christ (SRC), a congregation led by Frater Ronald Thomas Cortez, more popularly known as Fr. Archie. The most significant part of its history was in 2005 when Fr. Archie attended the World Youth Day in Essen, Germany, where he befriended Msgr. Volker Bauer who was in possession of a fragment of the True Cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified. Fr. Archie was stunned beyond belief when the Monsignor offered to “donate” the relic to his church.
Naturally, Fr. Archie was thrilled and started to make the necessary arrangements for the shipment of the sacred artifact. However, it was only on January 29, 2007 when the Silver Reliquary containing the portion of the Cross was flown in by Msgr. Bauer to the Church of the Risen Christ. Its dedication was performed by His Excellency Most Rev. Fernando Filoni, D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines at that time, together with Tarlac Bishop Florentino Cinense.
How did Msgr. Bauer get hold of this very sacred fragment of Jesus’ Cross? Many of these pieces of the Holy Cross were kept in secret by many Christians in Germany during the time when Communism in that country outlawed the practice of the Christian faith. Many Catholic churches were converted to museums and warehouses. The Christians who held on to those sacred pieces later gave them out to Catholic churches around the world. The relic at the Monasterio de Tarlac is the only one in Asia.
The Silver Reliquary containing the fragment of Jesus’ Holy Cross, widely talked about to be miraculous, is found underneath the altar of the baroque chapel on the monastery premises. To venerate the sacred relic, one lines up at the back of the altar, then kneels down to touch the Reliquary and pray. I did just that, which reminded me of my visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem many decades ago, where everyone had to kneel down and practically crawl under the altar to touch the exact spot where Jesus Christ was born.
It was a very gratifying experience for all of us in the group. Personally, I always feel refreshed and invigorated every time I visit a religious destination and spend precious time in fervent prayer. I’m sure everybody else felt the same because our surging adrenalin made us hanker for, you guessed it, a good lunch!
So, off we drove to La Puerta del Sol, a Bed-and-Breakfast facility owned by Chito David, brother-in-law of Bessie Escalona, one of our group members. He prepared a special lunch for us at the facility’s restaurant, and had a whole lechon served only for us, plus a buffet of other local culinary specialties which we immediately devoured to our hearts’ delight.
After the hearty repast, naturally, shopping for “pasalubong” came next in the schedule and, as expected, we later had a hard time looking for space in our vans to accommodate everything we bought. As I said before, these colleagues of mine are all “blackbelters” in shopping and they live by their mantra, “Shop ‘til you drop!”
This trip to Tarlac was another memorable visit for us to treasure. It is always a beautiful feeling to be able to collect fond memories of our travels to new places, especially because we enjoy these destinations in the company of good friends.
Oooops! Am I seeing things? Did I just see a compass pointing South? Is that where our group is going next?
YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE
Have you heard the rumor going around about BUTTER? Never mind, I shouldn’t SPREAD it.
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