Via Dolorosa: The Grotto Of Healing And Purification
Lucban, a simple town in the Quezon province has been recognized for its Pahiyas festival.Nowadays its name has again become popular because of the Via Dolorosa - the grotto of healing and purification.Tourists and pilgrims would visit the town just to see the place, truly some good news for the tourism business.But hypocrisy for some who consider the place as a sacred and not a mere tourist spot.
Arrival at the Kamay Ni Hesus Shrine
The Kamay Ni Hesus Shrine wherein the grotto of Via Dolorosa can be found is an hour drive from Lucena- the Quezon province capital.We had heard the place so many times that my husband and I finally decided to check it out during the last week of February 2010.It was about ten thirty in the morning when we reached the shrine.
The climate was terribly hot but it had seemed that we forgot all about it upon entering the holy place.
Short History
A few years ago the only intention of the founders was to build a church known today as the Kamay Ni Hesus Healing Center.Through the good heart of some religious people, this church was finished within two years and three months without a real fund.The church was inaugurated on May 13, 2004 by Bishop Emilio Marquez of the Lucena Dioses.
During the construction, a dream about a grotto for the Blessed Virgin Mary beside the church was imagined by the members of the Kamay Ni Hesus Ministry Foundation (KHMFI).
Headed by Reverend Father Joey Ayala Faller (also the spiritual director of Kamay Ni Hesus Healing Center), the foundation agreed for a simple grotto that will also include the fourteen Stations of the Cross.However, through a trustee of the KMMFI- Benny Brizuela, a sign from God was revealed that his image be built at the top of the hill facing Lucban- His blessed town.
This vision urged the Brizuela family to give their full monetary support on the grotto of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the 50 foot image of the ‘Ascending Christ’.The said landmark was inaugurated on the 9th of December 2004.
The Via Dolorosa
The name of the grotto-Via Dolorosa is a Latin phrase that means ‘through sorrow’.It has 292 steps on its right side and 278 steps on its left.Starting with the Last supper and ending with Jesus returning from the dead, the Fourteen Stations of the Cross is arranged counter clockwise.
Pilgrims and Tourists
On our way to the top of the Via Dolorosa, my husband and I encountered some pilgrims and most ‘plain tourists’.Emphasizing my term about ‘plain tourist’, these are people who simply marvel about one place without respecting what the site is all about.True, visitors are not obliged to pray with the Stations of the Cross here, but they should know how to act in a sacred place.
Instead of walking in silence, these ‘tourists’ laugh while taking pictures for souvenirs, some complain with the steep steps, the others with the hot weather, not minding if they are disturbing the serenity of the place.And worst, upon reaching the topmost part of the hill, while devotees are praying on their own special spaces, we discovered some young ‘tourists’, having special moments on their own in some remote places.
A Confession
The Kamay Ni Hesus Shrine is a good place to visit.The beautiful landscaping and the amazing number of biblical images are enough to feast the eyes.But more to this, the shrine itself is a very healthy way to recollect and reflect.It is a serene place, best to unwind and renew one’s relationship to someone or to God, Himself.I and my husband are neither pilgrims nor ‘plain tourists’.We are simply visitors with an agenda of our own- My husband, a wannabe photographer wanted to shoot.As for a ‘slash’ writer like me, I needed an article.I have heard about some flaws about the shrine that I came here, to prove it.
I found some and understood.Not flaws at all but only judgmental opinions of men.This article didn’t go well with my original draft but still a good share.
Being at this place was like a detachment from the real world.I found peace within me after a very long time of living a routine busy schedule.My husband felt the same too.We plan to visit again soon, only this time with an oath to pray the Fourteen Stations of the Cross and not as some mere lookers.
(c) Phoenix Montoya @ March 31, 2010
* Originally 'Via Dolorosa De Lucban Quezon: The Grotto of Healing and Purification', this article is also published at Triond under the pen name of the author - Phoenix Montoya.