Our Lady of Manaoag

A religious shrine with countless miraculous tales and healing powers - and the church that Kuya Mel (my brother-in-law) wanted to visit since he was still single...by the way, he is now married to my sister for 6 years :)

This is the image you'll see upon entering the church premises

Kuya Mel is so happy and fulfilled as he is now at Manaoag Church

Our Lady of Manaoag (formally: Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario de Manaoag, literal translation: Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Manaoag) is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, associated with a statue in Manaoag, Pangasinan said to be from the 16th century. She is the patroness of the sick, the helpless and the needy.

The church is one of the Philippines' most widely visited Roman Catholic Pilgrimage sites. Many people from across the Philippine archipelago come and visit the town of Manaoag, where the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is enshrined in a church dedicated to this name. The church is administered by the Dominican Order in the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan, located in Manaoag, Pangasinan, about 200 kilometers north of Manila.


Garro Family with Ate Indang

Hero Miel - in full concentration while utterring a prayer

inside the main church

shrine of Our Lady of Manaoag inside the church

The whole Garro family - Ate Cielo,Kuya mel with kids Hero Miel & Precious Meciel, were there together with Ate Indang and me. I'm happy that Ate Indang was able to go with us. She's our kind of 'special sister' as she is suffering from epilepsy (traumatic in nature) and is childish (her intelligence level is that of 7-8yrs old only). She enjoys travelling when she feels her body can do it. And of course, as we are visiting a church with the miraculous Lady of Manaoag, we are also claiming that she will be healed and be guided and guarded always.

Garro Family

Ate Cielinda a.k.a. Ate Indang

It was Sunday and the place was crowded with devotees. But you will still find peace inside you when you look at the face of Our Lady of Manaoag and pray with your heart. We also lined up to the upper floor of the church to be able to touch the miraculous image and whisper a petition and prayer to her.

If your going to Pangasinan or just passing by (on th eway to Baguio or vice versa, like us), take time to visit and utter a prayer to Our Lady of Manaoag and BE BLESSED!

Caleruega Philippines

-22 Aug 2010-

Caleruega Philippines
Brgy. Kaylaway,Batulao
Nasugbu, Batangas

Silence, solitude,harmony,the enchantment of creation,the freedom of Light, and the passion to share God's Word - this is Caleruega- the seedbed of preachers, the cornerstone of spritual inspiration.

(http://www.dominicans.ph/caleruega/index/index.htm)

This is a spiritual roadtrip for us friends. Alex asked us (Amy, Joseph and me) if we'd like to attend mass at Caleruega in Batangas,and since we haven't been there, we said yes. But Amy wasn't able to come with us as she was not feeling well that day. So the three of us headed to Nasugbu .

Our meeting place was Taft MRT station. From there, we took a bus going to Batangas and asked the driver to drop us to Nasugbu as we're going to Caleruega. We get off at Evercrest (this is Nasugbu already) and took a tricycle going to Caleruega.

Caleruega is a house of prayer and renewal. It is open to activities like retreats, recollections, prayer, and renewal workshop, study, research, youth camps, marriage and family encounter celebrations, skills training, leadership seminars, art, music, and liturgy workshops, and environment and agriculture-related activities.

This is the first roadtrip that we did. So its a bonding moment for us three and I think Caleruega is a good venue. The atmosphere is calm and relaxes you. We paid around Php25 for the leaflet given at the entrance gate which provides information as well as map of Caleruega. I think the mass starts at 10:00am and since we we're there early, we took the time to explore the place.

The Transfiguration Chapel,where the mass is held, is not that big but a lot of people comes there to attend the mass. And you can feel the solemnity of the mass...maybe because of the chapel's size...people really observe silence.

Celebrating the mass at the chapel and roaming in the peaceful but quite beautiful scenery will uplift your spirit while clearing your mind.

It was a wonderful place to visit, and I would love to go back there some other time.