Our thirtieth entry in this blog is our trip to Simala Shrine, also referred to as the Monastery of the Holy Eucharist, which sits atop a hilly portion of Upper Lindogon in Simala, Sibonga, Cebu and is home to Our Lady of Lindogon. This is actually our nth time to visit here since my mother (Gooya as the kids call her) is a devotee and never fails to visit Mama Mary in Simala at least once a month. I was not able to get photos way back when the shrine still looks very simple. I still remember though, the very simple church standing on top of the rocks. Now, a very grand shrine, somewhat like a European Church, is what you will see as soon as you enter the gates.

“The construction of the shrine was reportedly made possible in part by the donations of faithful pilgrims. In this time of our visit, the structure already resembled a sprawling castle, but there were still traces of unfinished portions. I assumed they weren’t quite done building and that they may have proceeded in gradual phases.”

Because of its huge area, you can do lots of things here. Aside from attending masses, you can line up towards the top of the church where you can pray with Mama Mary’s statue, I think this is the original and miraculous statue in Simala Shrine. You can also offer prayers or “pamisa”, or look at all their collection of saint statues, visit the picturesque scenes surrounding the Shrine, or buy souvenirs like rosaries and religious readings in their mini stores. One of the best displays here are the letters and offerrings from ordinary people who gets their prayers answered through the intercession of Mama Mary. The main thing we always do here is to light up the colored candles. The colors have meanings, depending on the focus of your prayers. Red, love; blue, perseverance; black, souls; green, prosperity; gold, healing; violet, achievement; white, purity; cream, conversion; pink, thanksgiving; yellow, peace; orange, reconciliation; brown, vocation; gray, deliverance.

We visited on a very hot Sunday and a lot of people are lining up towards Mama Mary’s statue. The kids were both hyper at first but is now very very tired and opted to sit by cemented floors along with hundreds of people. Ate Rei here is no longer enjoying the trip, and Sai as well. But it is good to bring them in places like these at times, it will teach them patience both in lining up and in long hour trips.

I am very very sure we will still visit here, perhaps next month, or next year…. 🙂