Why Stick with the Church?

The Church has been a... peaceable place for my faith and my prayer.  And why not?... Assuredly, there is a lot of narrow mindedness and immaturity, many botched works in the Church.  We see too in many spheres how unprepared the Church is to offer answers to the true questions posed by men.  But all that, as heavy a burden as it may be for us to bear, is of no importance when it is balanced against what I can find and actually do find in the Church.  The Church has been, and is, the hearth of my soul; the mother of my spiritual being.  She offers me the possibility of living with the saints: and when did she prevent me from living a Christian life?"

- Yves Congar in "Blessed is the peace of my Church", trans. by Salvador Attanasio as quoted by Robert McClory in "Faithful dissenters: Stories of men and women who loved and changed the Church 

Niece's Birthday

Start:	Mar 3, '12
End:	Mar 3, '12

Three Days in Bacolod City - 2nd and 3rd Day

At the Mambukal Resort, Mambukal, Negros Occidental

I cannot remember now which day of our visit to Bacolod for the wedding of a former colleague in Xavier School did we rent a vehicle and travel up the mountains and into the interior of Negros Occidental. I do remember that we did not plan to travel this far.  We looked for something different, an adventure and, after several rejected places, the driver led us to this place.

Waiting for the Dusk

Obviously, a Hanging Bridge

Nope, it was called a Canopy Walk

Of course, I know what a Canopy Walk is.  I have heard about it, read about it, and imagined how it looked like.  In fact, I became very close in trying out one, in Davao, if I am not mixing up my dates, when my brother Jason invited us for a visit and even paid for it.  No matter, I have not tried traversing one.  This was the first time.  It was not sweat.  Apparently, I who is very afraid of heights, trust trees more than malls, wires and wooden planks more than concrete beams and floors.

Tip: Everyone should stop moving/walking when taking a picture.  If not followed: Blurred images

After the bats, the canopy walk, the swimming pools (I am enumerating without regard of how we chronologically saw these), there is the trek to the many falls.

Glimpses of Ilocos Norte, Philippines

St. William the Hermit Church - The Cathedral of the Diocese of Laoag - Laoag City

Interior of the Cathedral

It's Belltower - described as sinking

A Carroza for the Good Friday Procession - Christ falling under the weight of the Cross

The Bridge Approaching Laoag City 

The Ilocos Norte Provincial Capitol

The Sinking Belltower as seen from the Basi Revolt Plaza

Historical Marker commemorating the end of the Spanish Tobacco Monopoly

A restaurant specializing on Ilocano Food - It's found along Rizal Street

Basi Wine - local wine of the Ilocos

Adobong Sili - A Chili Pepper Dish

From a different restaurant - Bagnet

The facade of the St. Joseph Church in Dingras, months before it was torn down to protect the churchgoers

St. Peter the Apostle - Good Friday Procession at Dingras 

Possibly St. Mary Magdalene

Veronica - the veil bearer is actually an unnamed woman in the Gospels 

Agony in the Garden

Scourging at the Pillar

Christ taken down from the Cross

The Body of the Dead Christ

Mary as the grieving mother

Marker for the Dingras Church describing it as ruins

Details of the facade

St. Roch Church in Espiritu (Banna)

St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Bacarra - north of Laoag City

Interior of the Church

The Belltower of Bacarra - its top fell down decades ago

St. Andrew the Apostle Church at dusk

Bacarra River

The iconic Paoay Church