Konted's Make My Day 2: 7 Ancient Churches In 7 Lake Shore Towns

7 Ancient Churches In 7 Lake Shore Towns

It was high noon. About 6 fishermen were in a huddle at a small port of Laguna de Bay. With one acting as the leader, they were discussing their task of setting up a fish cage. I was a plain kibitzer, looking at the fish nets. I was there at the port with two ladies, past their prime, tagging along and looking pleased with their lunch of fresh water fish at a nearby eatery.

I usually travel alone but, this time, the ladies were insistent in joining as I took the Manila East Road en route to Laguna de Bay. That early, we had visited the old churches of Morong, Baras and Tanay.

From the looks of it, St Jerome Church in Morong remains to be the most visited. It is the oldest in the province of Rizal, having been built by the Franciscan Fathers in 1615.

At the St.Joseph Church in Baras and at San Ildefonso de Toledo Parish in Tanay, we took the trouble of taking the narrow, steep stairs at the back of the retablo leading to the belfry.

With good roads, we easily traversed the mountain that connects Rizal province to Laguna. Atop a hill in Mabitac is the Our Lady of Candelaria Church. It overlooks the town proper and the wide green fields.

Two towns away is The Our Lady of Nativity Church in Pangil. As a religious practice, it being Holy Tuesday, most statues were then covered by purple cloth and my two female companions could not get a glimpse of The Pregnant Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I looked for the church helper and told him of our predicament. In no time, he acceded to our request to have a clear view of the much talked about icon.

Over at Pakil, also in Laguna, noteworthy was the retablo of The Our Lady of Turumba Church with 14 icons housed in it. Not to mention the side altars.

At the neighboring town of Paete, all doors of the old church of St. James the Apostle were open. Statues of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary, the Crucified Christ and the Two Thieves and Mary Magdalene could be seen.

At exactly 2:30 PM, we were counting. We had visited 7 churches and we had reached our target. After a brief walk at the town plaza of Paete, we boarded our bantam, turned right at the highway and headed home. It was a day well spent. And as I have always been saying, we surely will be back. Like the swallows of Capistrano.

Konted