Baclaran Church: The 7-11 Church

Baclaran Church:  The 7-11 Church

              

               7-11 convenience stores are located nationwide and these food outlets are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Mercury Drug Store, the most popular drugstore in the country, has key branches that are also open 24 hours a day.  7-11 stores ensure that the usual food needs of consumers are provided non-stop.  The same is true with Mercury. Now, there is a Catholic Church that is open 24 hours a day. And 7 days a week. And this is Baclaran Church in Paranaque City, Metro Manila.

              Though popularly known as Baclaran Church, the church's official name is Our Mother of Perpetual Help Shrine. It is also called  the Redemptorist Church as it is under the Redemptorist priests. The Redemptorists came to the Philippines in the early 1900s and settled for a while in Cebu, then moved to Malate and finally established residency in Baclaran in 1932.  Most Redemptorist priests who first arrived in the Philippine Islands were from Australia and Ireland.

              Through the years, the number of devotees to Our Mother of Perpetual Help has grown rapidly, owing to the fact that many have claimed to be the recipients of spiritual blessings through the intercession of Our Mother. A man facing a serious personal problem or somebody with a severe ailment can pray at the Church and write a particular request. Everyone is welcome any day, anytime.  But every Wednesday is "Baclaran Day" or "Araw ng Baclaran" when thousands of devotees flock to the Church to hear the Perpetual Novena.  A Novena is a special church ceremony where the devotees pray for nine consecutive sessions.  Its purpose is to ask for divine guidance or a particular intention.  It can also be a way of expressing one's gratitude for special prayers that have been answered.

              Though the seating capacity of the church is about 2,500 visitors, the number triples every Wednesday. Devotees squeeze themselves and occupy every available space, be it at the right or left aisle, at the balcony or at the church courtyard. Total number of visitors on a regular Wednesday, from morning to evening, can exceed 100,000. It is literally jam packed.  On Wednesdays, expect heavy traffic at key points in Metro Manila as a result of people driving to Baclaran Church or devotees taking public utility vehicles bound for the Redemptorist Church. Barkers shout: Baclaran..Baclaran...Baclaran.  And on days like this, business is good in Baclaran. Vendors, stall owners, drivers, pickpockets, and other business minded people are having a field day as the faithful, after attending to their religious duties, make purchases for themselves and their home companions. Business thrives in Baclaran because of the Redemptorist Church.

- Konted

Baclaran Church is along Roxas Boulevard in Paranaque City.

Baclaran Church, also known as Our Mother of Perpetual Help Shrine, has a Modern Romanesque style of architecture. Its architects were Cesar Concio and Jesse Bontoc.

The convent adjacent to the church

This hall is exclusively for lighting candles.

There are numerous rows of candles. When making petitions or giving thanks, devotees light candles.

Big boxes of small candles.at the entrance of the hall.  White candles are lit when someone wants to be healed, purified or be protected from harm.

The statue of The Crucified Christ near the main entrance

Churchgoers pray while touching a statue of the Santo Nino. Sampaguitas hanging are offerings.

Church interior

It was a Monday when I took this shot.  I was able to get closer to the main altar as there were few churchgoers at that time.

Closer shot of Baclaran Church's main altar

View of the center aisle from the main altar

The artistically designed pulpit

Devotees occupy the right and left aisles of the church every Wednesday which is Baclaran Day.

There are confessions everyday and almost every hour.

Baclaran Church is jam packed every Wednesday.  Wednesday is "Baclaran Day". (g'gle pic)

Parking slots at the northern side of Baclaran Church compound

The northern side of Baclaran Church

Side doors are open, allowing good ventilation.

Schedule of masses and novenas for 2014

The drop box when making requests or petitions

The drop box when expressing gratitude for graces received and petitions granted

Baclaran Church Redevelopment plan

Proposed projects and corresponding expenses to be incurred in line with the 150th celebration in 2016

For the Caritas group based in Paranaque City

The administrative offices housed at the convent

Beautiful  plants

Counselling services at the St. Gerard Family Life Center near the church

Statue of St. Therese de Lisieux at the courtyard

Our Mother of Perpetual Help Arch with a statue of The Risen Christ

Old acacia trees at the courtyard

Rosaries and other beads, prayer booklets, stampitas and small statues for sale at the side of the church.

Near the main entrance of the church compound

Roxas Boulevard and the service road near Baclaran Church

Public utility vehicles bound for Mall of Asia, Department of Foreign Affairs office along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue, S&R store, etc.  This terminal is near Baclaran Church.

A bus loads and unloads passengers at the service road.

There are many buses travelling to and from various points of Metro Manila and the nearby provinces.

The Baclaran public market near Baclaran Church

Fresh catch from the sea

Items are sold at bargain prices.

The famous Seafood Restaurant. You buy at the market below and then have them cooked at the restaurant.

Mama Lucy restaurant at the 2nd floor of the market

Redemptorist Road at the northern side of Baclaran Church

Business is good in Baclaran.

Store owners and vendors offer goods at bargain prices.

Collars, leashes and chains for your dogs

Shirts, shorts, pajamas and underwears

The sign says: "Tapat na po", which means the price has been fixed at P100.

A vendor sells a pair of slippers for only P50.

Lechon at a small eatery

A mall  near Baclaran Church

The  LRT terminal near Baclaran Church

When the train leaves the Baclaran terminal, there are enough seats for commuters.  But once the train makes the first stop at Edsa Terminal and the next two stations, passengers are compressed like sardines.  Punong puno !!

Reserved for the Train Engineer (driver).  Trains  have no steering wheels as the direction of the train is controlled by the tracks. What is needed to be controlled is the speed.

LRT train traverses Taft Avenue. Fare from Baclaran to Monumento is P15.  From Baclaran to Roosevelt Avenue, it is P20.  But LRT trains are always jam packed.

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General Douglas MacArthur And His Dimples

General Douglas MacArthur And His Dimples

         I learned much about General Douglas McArthur in school.  He was the general wearing Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses and was always photographed with a corncob pipe.  He was the Commanding General of the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) when the combined American and Philippine troops took their last stand in Bataan and Corregidor.  After uttering that famous line "I shall return", he made good his escape to Australia.

General Douglas MacArthur wearing his favorite Aviators (Life photo; caption is mine)

The Fall of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942. Photo shows American and Filipino soldiers being held captive by Japanese soldiers. (wiki; caption is mine)

The ruins of Corregidor Island after the Battle of Corregidor in 1942 (wiki)

Japanese soldiers rejoice after the fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942. (wiki; caption is mine)

         And he did return to the Philippines after more than 2 years. Leading the American forces that landed in Palo, Leyte one day in October of 1944, he made that historic landing more dramatic with his statement: "People of the Philippines, I have returned. By the grace of the Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil." He and his men then liberated Manila and other key areas from the Japanese Imperial Army. He became a hero to every Filipino then, receiving endless accolades and adulations. A long highway in Central Luzon was named after him.  Today, MacArthur Highway remains as one of the most passable highways of the Philippines.

The American Forces under General MacArthur approaching Leyte in October, 1944 (wiki; caption is mine)

The American Forces under General MacArthur land at Palo, Leyte in October, 1944. (visitpinas; caption is mine)

General MacArthur accepts the official surrender of Japan on board the USS Missouri. (g'gle; caption is mine) 

General MacArthur was one of the heroes of WWII.

          When he was appointed as military adviser to the Philippine Commonwealth, an entire floor of the plush Manila Hotel was reserved exclusively for his use. It was his residence for several years. Today, there is still a MacArthur Suite at that 5-star hotel near Manila Bay. Life-size figures in Tacloban, Leyte depict his historic landing in 1944. There is also a McArthur Bridge in Sta.Cruz, Manila. General MacArthur Academy in Bulacan was named after the famous General.

The Leyte Landing Memorial in Tacloban Leyte (taclobanhotel.com; caption is mine)

The MacArthur Suite at the plush Manila Hotel (manilahotel.com; caption is mine)

Sta. Cruz Bridge in Manila was renamed MacArthur Bridge. (pagenation; caption is mine)

The MacArthur Monument near MacArthur Bridge (wikimapia)

            What I didn't learn in school was that General Douglas McArthur had "Dimples". My history teachers, from grade school to college, didn't tell me that. It was only from my barber that I learned that General MacArthur had "Dimples".  Dimples, here, refers to a lady named Elizabeth Cooper, a Filipina-Scottish beauty who was a vaudeville dancer and part-time actress. The General met Dimples in Manila in 1930, fell in love with her and took her as mistress. Douglas was then Chief of all US troops based in the Philippine Islands. The Philippines, at that time, was under American rule. 

Isabella Rosario Cooper or Elizabeth Cooper (findagrave.com)

Framed photo of Elizabeth Rosario Cooper, nicknamed Dimples (ionart; caption is mine)

            Dimples was then 15 years old while Douglas was in his early 50s. When MacArthur flew back to the States, he took Dimples with him. Dimples was kept in an apartment in Washington, D.C. where MacArthur worked as Chief of Staff of the US Army. She was not allowed to go out as it was supposed to be a secret affair. The general didn't want others to get wind of their relationship as it was a ground for disciplinary action. He was a divorcee then. And he knew that his old mother would not allow it. Douglas was a mama's boy.

Douglas MacArthur married divorcee Louise Cromwell Brooks in 1922. They divorced in 1929.  Louise was one of Washington's most beautiful women. She was also rich. (g'gle; caption is mine)

General Douglas MacArthur's mother, Mary "Pinkney" Hardy. (macarthur memorial; caption is mine)

           When boredom was starting to creep in, Dimples was demanding that her family be allowed to stay in the United States. She kept badgering him about it. And when two journalists threatened to expose the scandalous affair, MacArthur felt the pressure all the more. He gave Dimples a plane ticket for her return trip to Manila. The general wanted to end it all. But Dimples had another plan. She didn't fly back to the Philippines.  She traveled to the midwest and stayed there for years before settling in California.  Nothing was heard of Dimples from then on until 1960 when news came out that she committed suicide.  She had an overdose of barbiturates. And what about the general?  MacArthur married Jean Faircloth in 1937 when he was serving as military adviser to the Philippine government.

Douglas MacArthur married Jean Faircloth in 1937.  At this time, he was military affairs adviser to the Philippine Commonwealth gov't. He was also Field Marshall of the Philippine Army. He was recalled to active duty in the US Army in 1941. (nightscribe pic; caption is mine)

Jean and Douglas MacArthur (historic images)

General MacArthur with wife Jean and son Arthur IV visiting the Philippines in 1950 (g'gle; caption is mine)

          Now, all these years that Dimples was staying in California, was there a time that she met the illustrious general? Did they meet for old times' sake?  Wait, let me ask my barber.  He certainly knows. And then I'll let you know. Okay?

- Konted

General MacArhur's memorabilia (macarthur memorial)

General MacArthur's staff car in Tokyo (nepaidpascores)

President Quezon provided General MacArthur with a service vehicle with plate #1 while the General was serving as adviser to the Phil. Government. The vintage car is now on display at Baler Park.  (timawa pic; caption is mine.)

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Most pics/pertinent details from google