Visita Iglesia

Visita Iglesia! It's a phrase with two words in completely distinct definitions. However, when melded together these words will definitely give you a significant meaning. Visita is a Spanish term. In English, it is an act of going to see a person or a place socially. Meanwhile as stated in Wiktionary, Iglesia comes from a Latin word ecclesia which means assembly. In Christianity, this is not just a mere assembly. This means church. For Roman Catholics, church in small letter refers to the place of worship while Church with a capital C means a whole group of people in communion with Christ. Thus, Visita Iglesia refers to an act of visiting churches. For Catholics, visita iglesia is done every Holy Week, also known as Mahal na Araw for Filipinos. Such week is considered as one of the significant weeks in Christian Liturgical Year. It begins the week with a Palm Sunday and ends it with an Easter Sunday, the day where Christians are commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of Almighty God. Thus, this is the perfect time to do the Visita Iglesia. For some, they consider this as their holy obligation or Panata. Others would think of this as an opportune moment to be with their family and to renew their relationship with God. As for me and my family, we have been doing this Visita Iglesia since I was young. Unknowingly, it becomes a Panata already. For this Holy Week, we visited 7 Churches. A week before, I was asking my friends about the number of churches they visit in Visita Iglesia. Some said 9 while others said 7. Now, I am confused. To end my confusion, I asked one of the prayer warriors about it and  she said 7. I asked why. She said the Christians considered 7 to be a Holy Number. It's biblical basis is the Genesis. So, we visited 7 Churches. We had it done last Good Friday. We woke up early in the morning and prepared everything we need for the visit. I had with me my daughter and my in-laws. On the road, I instructed my 10-year old daughter to kneel down and pray with me while we are inside the church. When we got there, she did everything I told her to do. However, I was not certain if she did it wholeheartedly or she just do it because I told her to do so. Anyway, at least for this day, I made her realize the significance of Holy Week for us Christians.

Here is the list of the 7 churches we visited:
1. Our Lay of Lourdes – Apo Road, Central Park Phase 2, Bangkal, Davao City, Davao del Sur 
2. Pink Sisters, Holy Adoration Convent – Catalunan Grande, Davao City, Philippines
3. St. Paul Church – Juna Subd, Matina, Davao City, Philippines 
4. St. Jude Thaddeus Church – Malvar St., Davao City, P hilippines
5. San Pedro Cathedral – San Pedro St., Davao City, Philippines
6. Sta. Ana Shrine Church – Sta. Ana Ave., Davao City, Philippines
7. Carmelite Church – Lanang, Davao City, Philippines