I visited two churches in Binangonan, Rizal on November 16, 2019. It took us two hours going and three hours coming back. Actually, two hours and fifteen minutes and three hours and fifteen minutes to be exact. Such a waste of time and gasoline. And we emitted toxic fumes and hot air into the atmosphere, for five hours.
I went straight to the Nuestra Senyora De Los Angeles in Pila-pila.
My mom loved this church. This was her anchor.
This is a beautiful church but I miss the old church. I miss the sound of the birds flying when I enter the church. Ngayon I hear the noise from the outside and the sound of the electric fan. No more birds.
I was taken aback when I saw a coffin inside the church. I asked the church caretaker and he told me it was borrowed from a punerarya. Parishioners wrote down the names of their deceased loved ones and placed the paper inside the coffin. It was like a pa-epek for the All Soul’s Day. I personally didn’t feel good about this way of remembering dead loved ones. I thought the presence of that “borrowed” coffin was too heavy for a visual effect. Instead of putting the names of the dead loved ones, mabuti pa ilagay na lang sa box sa tabi ni Jesus or Mama Mary. Masyadong pang teleserye yung sa kabaong pa ilalagay yung mga pangalan. Sad and creepy. Patay na nga ipapaalala pa na patay. Too much for me.
I offered several masses for Thanksgiving, Special Intentions, and for the souls of my parents and Kuya Ben. I usually do advance offerings but the church secretary only accepted up to February, for the death anniversaries of mama and kuya.
I wanted to offer masses for Oyen’s wedding, family birthdays for 2020 pero she said masyado pang malayo. I told her “sige, babalik na lang ako”.
I also went to the Parish of St. Ursula in Poblacion. I also offered several masses for Special Intentions, Thanksgiving for birthdays, Oyen’s wedding, for the souls of Mama, Papa, and Kuya Ben. The church staff accepted the mass offerings until mid of 2020. Prayers for good health, safe travels, help in problems whether work or personal, are categorized under Special Intentions.
There was a wedding being held. It was in Tagalog. The priest asked the groom “kaya mo ba syang bigyan ng brand new na sasakyan?” Gusto ko sanang sumagot, sana sa Ford Cainta kayo bumili.
I fell asleep on our way home. The driver woke me up “mam, mam, magpapagas tayo”.
It was very dark outside and since our car has dark tint, feeling ko super gabi na. I must have slept for two hours. It was 4:00 when we left the church, now it was 6:45 pm. I gave the driver 2,000 for the gas. I had no idea where we were. My husband got worried when I told him I couldn’t recognize my surroundings. Tila naalimpungatan ako. He phoned the driver to ask saan na kami. After gassing up, and some two kilometers run, I saw the lights from the buildings in Ortigas Center. I messaged Edmund, alam ko na kung sa’n kami.
We were not able to attend mass. The two of us just had dinner at home. Oyen attended their high school grand reunion.
