Lay witness to my so-called fundamental existence.

After two and a half months of waiting, the results of the 2007 nursing licensure examination were released last Sunday. My family was happy to have another registered nurse in the house. Ellen’s name was on the list of new nurses. Mom and Dad are proud and happy once more.

And so we troop down to this southern town and drove up to the hills where a popular monastery was located. The Monastery of the Holy Eucharist is found at the Marian Hills of Lindogon Simala, Sibonga, Cebu. Sibonga is about 70 km south of Cebu, about 2 hours drive from Cebu City.

It was Ellen who requested to visit the monastery because she and her boyfriend had promised to return to that hill if ever they passed the nursing exam. Both of them did and now, they planned to visit the monastery and donate the name plate to the sacred home of the Blessed Virgin.

We decided to meet at McDonald’s Jones because mom and Grandma had to drop by a physician at Chong Hua Hospital to set up a schedule for Lola’s overall check-up. We also waited for my sister Christine and her family to arrive. The little rockstar Diva would be coming along too.

At about 1.30 pm, we fetched Felma and Monica at the hospital and proceeded to the south reclamation project and drove down via the coastal diversion road. It was my first long drive with the family and it was memorable. I led the way, my brother-in-law’s car was trailing behind. Ellen, Felma and grandma sat at the back while dad was on the passenger seat.

Ellen had requested for us to hurry up because her boyfriend went ahead and was patiently waiting for us at the hills. And so my speedometer flashed an 80km/hr, more than enough for my mom’s eyes to widen and my dad to hang on to the side handle and his seat belt. But I was driving okay. Except for one incident that happened at the corner leading up to the hills when my side mirror was nudged by a passing car.

We reached the place at 3pm. At the gates of the monastery, we saw Ellen’s boyfriend waiting at the side of their SUV. Dad and Ellen decided to go down and greet Stephen and his dad. I went inside and looked for a slot for ZeeWee. The monastery hills were very distant from the national highway but then I was quite surprised that there were a lot of people who came. The parking lot was even filled up completely.

The Monastery of the Holy Eucharist is a pilgrimage site and it sits on a vast tract of land. I looked around and saw a lot of wonderful spots. Foremost of which is the huge image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which stood about 20 feet from the ground. The statue was facing the wonderful church of light blue and gray. The church, a stunning structure which I associate with the Baguio Cathedral, was not yet completely made. It was build from the donations that people give to the monastery.

The church sits upon a hill, hundreds of feet away from the main gate. The imposing church houses the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin. It felt like it was Holy Week when we got there. The place was filled with people. People walking in and out of the church, people lighting candles, people queuing up to visit the miraculous image in her pedestal and people kneeling down in prayer.

We entered the church and lined up to visit the Blessed Virgin. We were made to take off our shoes while the guard handed out a floral sheet to my sister to cover her cleavage. Yes, the monastery had guards to check on your clothes. Women who wear shorts, sleeveless shirts, low neckline and short skirts were given the said blue floral sheets to cover their legs, arms and neck. It didn’t bother me at all. I was just surprised that there were system installed in the monastery and I appreciated the fact that things were very organized.

We were almost at the small enclosure where the miraculous image was housed. Ellen handed me a pen and a sheet of stationery and told me to write down my intentions. I remembered that my sister told me earlier that the Blessed Virgin of the Hills is known to grant the wishes of the pilgrims. So I wrote my intentions in red ink and pink paper.

I had a lot of intentions and I was hoping that she would grant me my requests. Of course I wrote my thanks and my appreciation for the blessings and the good things that happened to me and my family. I said my prayers and my intention in front of the image. I may not be that religious but I somehow remember the importance of prayer. I dropped the paper inside the intention box and left the room.

I looked around the sacred home and noticed that the church was not yet finished. The ceiling was non-existent and the floor was not yet tiled. What struck me most is that people flock to the place not because of the physical structure but because of their faith and in their belief that some entity from the heavens could help them with their needs. It was quite fascinating to see how FAITH could build a pilgrimage site of this magnitude.

The Marian Monks of the Eucharistic Adoration may have been so blessed. I saw a lot of people bring food to the monastery. Some brought along sacks of rice and donated it to the monks. I roamed around and saw a couple of construction works going on. The site had a grotto with a man-made waterfalls and pool. It had a vast paved parking space, a separate chapel for the monks and some religious figures adorning the grounds.

We had taken some time after saying our prayers to ‘cam-whore’ outside of the church. My grandma was very glad to have come along. My mom was even happy to have visited the place. Even the little rockstar Diva had a wonderful time, walking and shouting in the monastery.

This was a fine day for the family. We thanked the heavens for Ellen’s success in the nursing board examination.