TRAVELS AND MIRACLES
August 7th 2008 00:00
I can not vouch for this. I am not saying that I don’t believe in it, but no human being can guarantee a miracle. Yet many, especially those who need one, believe in it. And, once in a while, people come out and swear that it happened to them.
Maybe it is a matter of perception, a coincidence or a real experience, but this world is not running out of people who were considered terminally ill, who survived, and claimed that they had been miraculously saved.
If you are among those who believe and think that they can use a miracle, or even just merely curious, there is a place in the Province of Quezon, some 150 kilometers southeast of Manila, where people go to beseech God for some miraculous healing of whatever it is that physically ails them.
That place is the town of Lucban, where a healing priest by the name of Fr. Joey Faller built a shrine called “Kamay ni Hesus” (Christ’s Hand) thru the help of those who believe that God’s healing power flows thru him.
He hails from this town and he officiates mass in the church below the shrine followed by a prayer healing. Devotees with all sorts of physical ailments would flock to hear the mass whenever they learn that he is around - hoping for that one miracle that would save their lives.
And they come in droves. People who can no longer squeeze themselves inside the church participate in the ceremony by standing in the patio outside. And usually, there are as much (if not more) people outside as there are inside the church.
Lucban, however, has not always been known as some kind of pilgrimage site. It first became popular as the Summer Capital of Quezon being at an elevation of around 1400ft. It lays at the northeast foot of the mystical Mt. Banahaw and its annual festivity “Pahiyas Festival” celebrated in honor of San Isidro Labrador, characterized by colorful “Kiping” decorations made it even more popular.
By the way, those colorful decorations are edible.
Resorts with cottages and swimming pools filled with very cold freshwater surround the area and so do hot springs. A couple of restaurants offering purely native Filipino dishes serve their food in floating bamboo rafts each fitted with a dining table and a roof.
But while, the “Pahiyas (meaning: décor, decoration) Festival” draws people to this town on the days leading to the 15th of May every year, the new shrine brings the people to the place practically all year round.
Maybe it is a matter of perception, a coincidence or a real experience, but this world is not running out of people who were considered terminally ill, who survived, and claimed that they had been miraculously saved.
If you are among those who believe and think that they can use a miracle, or even just merely curious, there is a place in the Province of Quezon, some 150 kilometers southeast of Manila, where people go to beseech God for some miraculous healing of whatever it is that physically ails them.
That place is the town of Lucban, where a healing priest by the name of Fr. Joey Faller built a shrine called “Kamay ni Hesus” (Christ’s Hand) thru the help of those who believe that God’s healing power flows thru him.
Shrine in Lucban, Quezon
He hails from this town and he officiates mass in the church below the shrine followed by a prayer healing. Devotees with all sorts of physical ailments would flock to hear the mass whenever they learn that he is around - hoping for that one miracle that would save their lives.
And they come in droves. People who can no longer squeeze themselves inside the church participate in the ceremony by standing in the patio outside. And usually, there are as much (if not more) people outside as there are inside the church.
Lucban, however, has not always been known as some kind of pilgrimage site. It first became popular as the Summer Capital of Quezon being at an elevation of around 1400ft. It lays at the northeast foot of the mystical Mt. Banahaw and its annual festivity “Pahiyas Festival” celebrated in honor of San Isidro Labrador, characterized by colorful “Kiping” decorations made it even more popular.
One of the featured decorations in Lucban's Pahiyas Festival. Pic borrowed from www.tourism.gov.ph
By the way, those colorful decorations are edible.
Resorts with cottages and swimming pools filled with very cold freshwater surround the area and so do hot springs. A couple of restaurants offering purely native Filipino dishes serve their food in floating bamboo rafts each fitted with a dining table and a roof.
But while, the “Pahiyas (meaning: décor, decoration) Festival” draws people to this town on the days leading to the 15th of May every year, the new shrine brings the people to the place practically all year round.
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