The Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help: Our Love and Devotion

In times of difficult moments, we always seek Divine help, a spiritual intervention that will give us answers to our specific needs. We have our prayers, our personal petitions from God. We come to the house of God, His church, with humility and faith to kneel and offer a prayer.

Today, I chose to travel to a particular place of the Mother of God. The National Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also known as Baclaran church. I have visited the Shrine many times since mid-2000, just the beginning of the new millennium. 

What makes our devotion special is when our Mother took us to the Shrine to pray the novena and celebrate the mass. Later I realized that my Mother has a great devotion and faith in the Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and with the intervention of Mama Mary, a mission station was built in our hometown in Jamindan, Capiz, and was named after the same title as Mary - - Our Lady of Perpetual Help. 

Located in Barangay Linambasan, the mission station of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was elevated to a Parish in the year 2018 with Reverent Father John Denosta as the first-ever priest assigned a few months before Reverent Father Jeffrey Estrella took over to continue the religious service to the people. 

Whenever I am in our hometown for a vacation, I visit this peaceful sanctuary to pray for the intervention of Mama Mary. My devotion started because it was our own Mother who led and guided us to come to the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. My mother has testimonies of the blessings and miracles of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and she would want us to devote ourselves to Mama Mary as our Divine love and light. 

Since then, I have experienced peace and serenity and answered prayers which I consider a miracle because it was responded to at the right time when I almost felt hopeless and desperate. 

Today, the first day of May 2019, was a blissful experience with thousands of devotees who recited the novena and celebrated the mass. There is a Divine presence that keeps us feeling embraced and comforted. The solemnity of the eucharist makes us feel strongly connected, and our communication feels like being heard. 

During the silent moment, our hearts could feel that Mama Mary, the Mother of Christ, is there for us like our mother, who protects and comforts us. 

Today, my petition is for our good health and healing, that God will protect us from sickness and illnesses and heal our physical, mental, and emotional discomforts. And my greatest desire is to have found the one who will complete me and live a better life together.

Today, I am with the Divine and have prayed for whatever my heart desires. I am forever grateful to Mama Mary, and may she always hear and intercede on our prayers to God, for our love and devotion is never-ending and eternal.

© 2019 Del Cusay

Related Post:

👉 Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish: Heaven on Earth

Easter Sunday 2019: A Peaceful Journey

The holy week gives us time for contemplation about our faith in God. It renews our faith in Jesus Christ through his passion, death, and resurrection. In commemorating his painful sacrifices and journey to Calvary, we have walked through our path and be with Him.

This year's Holy week gives a new level of enlightenment. Just a few miles away from Manila is a pilgrimage city that millions of Christians visit, especially during the Holy Week. The Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, known as Antipolo Cathedral, offers tranquility for devotees as they pray and renew their vows.

Holy Week 2019: Our Journey to Calvary is our version of Christ's passion. We carry our own cross towards our own Calvary, perhaps experienced in our lifetime on earth. Our sufferings give us hope and strengthen our faith that things are not in our control but only God, the source of our power and the giver of life.

Easter Sunday gives new hope for Christians and humanity as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. It is a celebration for every family, knowing that Christ is indeed alive and with us always on our life's journey.

Easter Sunday is a joy we share among family members and friends. We see the pleasure glittering in the eyes. We hear the holiness in someone's voice. We feel compassion for someone's actions.

We are now truly living and continue to follow the path that gives us pure bliss and enlightenment through God's loving mercy and glory forever.

© 2019 Del Cusay

Holy Week 2019: Our Personal Journey to Calvary

Calvary is a hilly place associated with the crucifixion and death of Jesus, a place we always remember to be the most painful event in His life. Its relevance in today's time goes beyond our catechism about his passion and death, but also our personal journey as we experience carry our own cross —our trip to Calvary.

This year's Holy Week celebration commemorates Christ, our Lord's passion, death, and resurrection. This is the time for personal reflection and devotion about the significance of Christ's suffering for humanity that is not exclusive to a particular faith, culture, and social status but refers to Christ's love for all human beings.

We may be suffering endlessly in our lives, even after death, but through pains and sorrows, we learn to grow spiritually and become a more substantial followers of Jesus and servants of God. If we can remember the stories of several saints that we venerate, they may have been the most sinful man who lived on earth. However, God transformed them into his living disciple until their last breath.

Just like us, ordinary humans, we strive hard to become holy, but sins are inevitable. No matter how prayerful we are, we commit sins with our thoughts, words, and actions, yet we still follow Christ and do not abandon our faith. The church is our refuge in times of difficulties; we kneel to pray, ask for forgiveness, and repent for our sins even though we continue to commit sins to various degrees.

We carry not just our own cross, but we have multiple crosses along the way. We take the cross for our family, country, and humanity. From our own cross, we are now connected and interrelated. We have sinned personally, as have our families, government, and society.

These crosses are the hardest and the most painful to carry. Every day we struggle for something, from our thoughts and intentions to our decisions and actions. Our daily suffering is a reminder that as we live on earth, we are bound to suffer just like Jesus, and He taught us that through pains and struggles, we can be saved through His examples; for me, that's how Jesus saved us from our sins through His unconditional love.

We have our personal journey of suffering and our very own Calvary in our hearts and mind. When we become a prisoner of our negativity, we also become a prisoner of our faith.

In my hometown in Jamindan, a Parish was built by the people as they carried their cross. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Linambasan, Jamindan, Capiz, is a place for people who call for the Divine Mother to help us ease the pain and comfort us in our difficulties as we carry our cross.

At these times, we even go beyond our personal cross as we help each other carry the cross of the community of the faithful so that we may be able to walk straight on the path and take a lighter load than we can bear. When we can maintain the little discomfort as we carry our cross, we can help lighten up the heaviness of our society created by our negativity. We can then go beyond our share of the country by being the responsible and faithful citizens that our family and small community have produced.

Holy Week 2019 is to reflect beyond our personal desires for holiness. We may be a sinner, but we can grow spiritually to become better members of our families, community, and beloved country. The Calvary in our time is not a final destination of suffering, but we always carry it and bear with it until our last moment and judgment.

© 2019 Del Cusay

Related Post:

👉 Holy Week 2018: A Loving and Merciful God