Enzo's Travel Journals

Continuing my Holy Week 2025 travel series is the culmination of the most sacred week in Christianity: Easter Sunday , or Easter in short. This is the day when we Christians rejoice: celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ , the central feast of Christianity. For this year, I traveled a hundred kilometers south of the capital Metro Manila to  Ibaan , a small town in the province of  Batangas , for our annual Holy Week.  The  Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of St. James the Greater , a Spanish colonial-era church founded in 1832, is the main focus of this blog. Note:  This is a continuation of my  2025 Lenten and Holy Week Pilgrimage  from April 13 to 20, 2025 . This is the last of four parts; see these links for  Part 1 ,  Part 2 , and  Part 3 .

Perhaps Good Friday  is the most solemn and somber day of the year for Christians. On this day, we commemorate the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus Christ . In the Philippines, we have our own tradition of  Senákulo , dramatizing the events of the Passion using traditional scripts. Siete Palabras  is a three-hour service reflecting on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. Finally, the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion  starts at 3:00 p.m. In the evening some parishes conduct a procession, which culminates in the Rite of Burial. The Burial Procession on the evening of Good Friday For this year, I traveled a hundred kilometers south of the capital Metro Manila to  Ibaan , a small town in the province of  Batangas , for our annual Holy Week.  The  Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of St. James the Greater , a Spanish colonial-era church founded in 1832, is the main focus of this blog. Note: This is a continuation of my 2025 Lenten and Holy Week Pilgrimage  fro...

Visita Iglesia  has been part of my family's tradition since 2012. Every year, during Lent and Holy Week, several pilgrims visit seven churches and recite the fourteen Stations of the Cross (two per church visited). Traditionally done following the Mass of the Lord's Supper on the evening of Maundy Thursday, it can be done on any day during Holy Week. In this blog, I'll take you to 3 churches in the province of Laguna , as well as 4 churches in Batangas . We did this Lenten pilgrimage on Holy Wednesday, April 16, 2025. This features some churches that may be familiar to you, but some might be relatively new or unknown to many. Note:  This is a continuation of my  2025 Lenten and Holy Week Pilgrimage  from April 13 to 20, 2025 . This is the last of four parts; see these links for  Part 1 ,  Part 3 , and  Part 4 .

At the beginning of Holy Week is  Palm Sunday , in which the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem is commemorated. Holy Week is one of the most important and significant events of the Church, along with Easter, which is being commemorated at the end of this sacred and solemn week. During this day, churchgoers buy palm fronds from vendors, which are blessed by priests at various parishes. The Philippines is home to a large population professing the Catholic faith. Holy Week forms part of our centuries-long devotion to the Catholic Church, with many traditions near and far. Around 78 percent of the 100-million populace are Catholics. This 2025, I visited the Manila Cathedral  in Intramuros to attend the first of four Masses that would be celebrated at the "Mother Church of the Philippines". Note:  This is part of my  2025 Lenten and Holy Week Pilgrimage  from April 13 to 20, 2025 . This is the first of four parts; see these links for   Part 2 , Part...