It's Been a Real Pleasure St. Anthony

The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic nation, thanks to the 333 years of Spanish influence, and the third largest Catholic country after Brazil and Mexico. Hence, anything related to the faith is pretty much a big deal in itself. So, just imagine the uproar when we found out that St. Anthony of Padua's relics are coming to the Philippines 20 years after the first visit! The event was set for April 20-May 2, 2016. Adding further glee was that our local parish, National Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (NSOLG) was among the chosen venue. Hooray!

It dropped by NSOLG on April 23, 2016.  Parishioners waited in the hot summer afternoon and patiently waited for the procession to arrive. I was with my father and mother then. I initially planned to go with my friend Jean T., who is among the most in touch spiritually among our barkada, however she was still doing office work during the weekends, so. . . But, I did see her father; he was among those who threw the confetti upon the relics' arrival, how cute!

 

I was supposed to include the photos I took of the event, however, my mother inadvertently deleted them, so I am just posting the pictures I got form NSOLG's Facebook page. The whole experience was humbling. A lot of parishioners were there of varying ages and walk of life. People from neighboring cities came to be part of the historic event. We were told the office's phone were ringing nonstop ever since the news of the relics coming to the parish broke out. 

 

The couple Julius Babao and Tintin Bersola-Babao along with their children shared their story of faith and miracles through St. Anthony of Padua's intercession. Their sharing is actually among my favorite. They recounted that they asked for three favors. The first one was that Julius catch a break in his career, the second was that the house they were building be finished within the year and the third was that they can marry by the end of the year in a St. Anthony church. All of these were fulfilled and happened in the order they had hoped for. Amazing, isn't it?

I got one of these.

There were two relics that were brought in the country.  We were given the chance to see them up close and even allowed to kiss and touch them. We didn't pass up the chance, of course. It's not like Italy is just a car away from visiting, you know, so seize the chance, I say! Two queues were formed and fortunately, I sat in the second pew so I didn't had to wait long for my turn. There were also things given out to the parishioners, among them was the blessed oil,  St. Anthony of Padua novena, fan , etc. After the mass, bread was given out. It was supposed to be a tradition of sorts with regards to St. Anthony.