Since it was Edmund’s birthday, we stayed for the 5:30 pm Sunday mass at St. Martin de Tours in Taal, Batangas last August 26.
We sat closer to the altar which turned out to be a mistake because it was hot, there’s no breeze.
I could not stand the heat so I went to the side door where it was a little windy.
According to Freddy, Monsignor Fred Madlangbayan is slowly raising funds for the church’s painting and restoration by soliciting from kababayan’s abroad. The church also sells crypts for P60,000.
I bought a set of candles for P20 and lighted them in this designated area.
The drippings are collected by Marivic and Eduardo who make the candles. They distribute to the vendors for P7 a set which the vendors sell for P20/set.
The woman here is Marivic. The guy in red is Freddy who has been selling candles for dozens of years. From September to December when more foreign tourists come, he could make more than a thousand pesos a day on weekends. He’s been working as the church’s janitor and katiwala since 1996 and currently receives P3,000 a month wage.
Edmund was at first hesitant to go on a road trip this weekend to visit another church. We were in Iloilo a week before we went to Batangas and we visited 4 churches. Edmund said if every week daw we would visit churches we would be able to complete the 14 Stations of the Cross way ahead of next year’s Holy Week.
