Along the way, Jay mentioned that he wanted to hear a
mass. Since we were in Divisoria proper,
I right away thought of Binondo church.
We had our lunch at a fastfood in Divisoria. Due to the fact that I was observing a strict
diet of less oil and less salt, I opted for pasta meal. Jay ordered a chicken meal and afterwards
felt guilty because it was Friday and it was Lenten season. I tried to appease his guilt feelings that it
was a lapse in judgment and an honest mistake on his part. Hehe.
Just like what people used to say, during the Lenten season,
Manila is free of traffic. Even in
Divisoria where every corner is literally occupied by vendors and shoppers, the
season of Lent gives this place a breathing space. It was my first time in
Divisoria at this time of the year and you can literally sit in the middle of
the street (just like what I did, hehe) because the once busy street was
suddenly deserted. Wow! It was like an unbelievable scene for the
forever busiest place in Manila.
We went inside the
Binondo church, hearing the mass and saying our prayers. I just noticed one thing. Even if the mass was ongoing, some people
were busy with their station of the cross thing. I found the practice odd because it was like
ignoring a blessed mass celebration just for some to do their thing. I am not holier than thou but I guess the
Catholic church should do some measures in order to guide its flock.
Likewise, along the busy street of Binondo in ordinary days,
the Ongpin street was almost empty. I
had my fill of sitting on the street, of course I had to be mindful of the
approaching vehicle from time to time, and it was just like doing a fun and crazy
thing time and again.
We retraced our steps in Binondo streets when we were here
last year joining the observance of the Chinese New Year. And after making several turns on the almost
empty streets of Binondo, the Sta. Cruz church came into full view.
Jay had his confession inside the Sta. Cruz church but he
commented afterwards that he was not happy about it because it was not observed
according to his previous experiences.
Most probably there was no personal touch because the connection was not
there because the priest he talked to is a foreign one. And he likewise confessed about eating
chicken an hour ago. Hehe.
After spending some time inside the Sta. Cruz church, we
agreed to proceed to Quiapo church. We’d
been seeing devotees walking barefooted as early as our visit to Balut, Tondo
that morning. Most of them were already
on their way home. We met several groups
who were resting on the sidewalks of Palanca street, exhausted and tired yet
with the aim of the camera, they readily posed for a possible facebook tagging
of their pictures. Hehe.
We went straight to the Basilica of the Black Nazarene in
Quiapo but we were greeted with a huge crowd flocking in front of the
church. It was 3 o’clock in the
afternoon and the image of the black Nazarene just entered the church, hence, a
huge crowd of devotees waiving and singing.
I mingled with the crowd and took pictures in the process. After the Plaza Miranda was cleared, we
stayed for awhile and took more pictures of whoever fancied and caught our
attention. Actually, with the ongoing
activity, one may have so many candid shots in his full 360-view of the place
because of the huge turn-out of crowds doing their own thing.
a deserted street in Divisoria
the Binondo church
Ongpin street in Binondo
Sta. Cruz church
Quiapo church
No comments:
Post a Comment