Another Week in the Philippines!

Hello Everybody,

Still alive and well here in the Tropics! Last week I kept busy helping Cecil, her chapel, and the Society of St. Pius X prepare for their annual national pilgrimage which they host every year in Bohol. Each year hundred of pilgrims gather from all over the country to walk from Tagbilaran City to Carmen, which takes three days. Each day they have the traditional Mass, a conference from a priest, a very simple community breakfast, followed by a 20 km (12 mile) walk that lasts until the evening. At midday, pilgrims stop in a town to pray in the main church, chanting the Credo (Creed), and then have lunch and a siesta in the shade of the town plaza. In the evening after supper, the youth compete by singing folk songs, hymns, and competing in sports.

Monday, May 4th - Wednesday, May 6th

After enjoying lunch and conversation with Cecil each day, I spent the afternoon helping get ready for the pilgrimage. Earlier I had suggested to the group to build portable toilets instead of having the pilgrims use the woods for their latrine, or spending an exorbant amount of money renting porta-poddies from Cebu (another island). After emailing a website describing how to make what is called a Loveable Loo (google it!), the idea caught on with the leaders to make this very cheap, nice, and hygenic portable toilet which uses fresh, nice smelling pine saw dust instead of water. For under $5 each, we constructed 4 homemade compost toilets (see pics). I assisted one man who is a parishioner and a carpenter at his house. Also, I volunteered to track down the tents that would be used by campers during the pilgrimage, and to set them up to air out.

During the evening, Cecil and I met to go to Momma Rose's house again for a two hour choir practice, getting ready for the High Masses to be sung during the pilgrimages, and to prepare for the group choir competitions. Six choirs from different regions compete that Friday and Saturday evening for a trophy.

Thursday, May 7th -- Friday May 8th

Cecil had to work Thursday and Friday so we were not able to join the pilgrimage until Saturday. But, we were able to attend Thursday morning High Mass at 6:30 am in Tagbilaran City Plaza, assisting the choir. A missionary priest from South Africa offered the Mass which was attended by 300-400 pilgrims, including many priests, brothers, and sisters. Father preached about how the theme of the pilgrimage "To Restore All Things to Christ." He said our pilgrimage would be a demonstration of our Faith and a prayer to restore Sacred Tradition to the Church and moral order to society.

Friday evening Cecil and I enjoyed a date to Pizza Hut (for $2 you can get a personal pan pizza, soup or salad, and a drink! :) ) and some shopping

Saturday, May 9th

Today we joined the annual Filipino SSPX pilgrimage, which I have heard a lot about. I was excited to share in the event with so many like-minded Catholics, whose faith and devotions were really inspiring.

Cecil and I met at the bus terminal at 5:30 am, sharing breakfast snacks while waiting to board the bus. An hour later we arrived to meet up with the pilgrimage group which had been sleeping the night at an elementary school. We were just in time to catch the tail end of the breakfast line. Cecil made sure I got my fill of rice, fish (fish heads, not bad!), and energy drinks before our 12 mile trek which began around 9am.

At 10:30 am the group stopped for a rest and Cecil and I bought some water. All around us we passed exotic scenery of mountains and valleys with layered levels of rice fields (see pics). Locals watched us from their farms and food stands, while some of the volunteers of the Apostles of Mary national youth group passed out rosaries. At Noon, we stopped at a beautiful basilica, filling the church. The priests led us in chanting the Credo (Creed) which was awesome to hear so many traditional Catholics chant this Gregorian hymn with such harmony and unison. Afterwards, we had a long siesta in the shade of this humongous tree after anothe simple lunch. Cecil and I hung out with her friend Sahara and her fiance June, with whom we have a lot in common. I took off my shoes and took a nice nap.

During the afternoon I had to ride in the van a couple of times to rest and Cecil joined me. But we finished with the group as we entered the town of Carmen, to ascend an extremely steep and high staircase to the top of a mountain, to a shrine devoted to Our Lady of Fatima (title honoring when she appeared to three children in Portugal, in 1917). We were lucky enough to find shelter from a sudden thunder storm and heavy downfall. While viewing a tall statue of the Blessed Mother, and looking out over mountains in all directions, we prayed the concluding rosary. It was inspiring to be with all those people praying while the rain poured down. Father Ghela, SSPX preached about what the end of a pilgrimage represents--ie our final reward at the end of time on the day of Resurrection. Just then the rain stopped and the clouds began to part! WOW what a day!!!

That evening we had to wait a few hours for a van ride back to the elementary school. When I returned, I was so exausted, dehydrated, and suffering from allergies I just found a corner to make a bed in and go right to sleep.

Sunday, May 10

Got up at 8am to shower and get ready for Mass in the school gymnasium. I was still too sick with allergies (sore throat) to sing. We packed our things and left after breakfast, returning to the city. It turns out our Bohol choir group had won both competitions the evening before, which I could not attend! We even beat the seminarian group!

Getting back to town, I took Cecil to an American restaurant as we both were starving, and I was beginning to crave Western food. I ordered Mexican food which Cecil had never tried! Later Cecil went home to sleep as she had a very bad allergy cold. I too went home to my room-for-rent to nap a few hours.

Getting up later, I decided to spend the evening on my own at the mall, eating and going to the movies. I saw an excellent movie called "Seventeen again." There was not much to choose from, and this just looked like a teen flick. But it was really one of the best movies I have ever seen! A middle -aged man who is unhappy with his marriage/family life encounters a spirit guide who enables him to literally become 17 again and make different choices. Its kind of a twist on the old movie "Big" with Tom Hanks. The theme is how people often, when they become adults, loose an innocent and pure view of sex, love, marriage, and family life, making wrong choices that often end in heart break, disappointment and divorce. But this man, who is 17 again learns life's lessons all over again, and is once again challenged to make the right choices. A must see!!!