Tag Archives: monasterio de tarlac

revisiting the monastery

Posted by rob on

i revisited the monasterio weeks ago with my parents.  the last time we were there (see post) it was a thursday and unfortunately there was no mass for that day.  it was a sunny friday when we went this time, there were a couple of coaster buses when we arrived in the monastery for there was a ‘field trip’ for students from a school in nueva ecija.  they did not stayed long though and never waited for the mass at 10:30 am.

while waiting for the mass i took pictures around the place, we then went to the reception area and my ma saw  rosaries from bethlehem at the counter for sale.  i bought two pieces of the lovely rosaries for me and her to keep.

the mass started and i stayed outside the chapel, seeing the monks made me remember of a deceased second uncle.  he was a missionary priest who met a fatal vehicular accident.  he was an inspiration for me to attend the seminary, i pictured myself before as taking his place.  but god had a different plan for me.  i have brushed off the thought a long time ago, buried under a pile of my so-called past ambitions.

monasterio de tarlac

Posted by rob on

last week, my ma invited me to join her and my father to visit monasterio de tarlac, a monastic community of the servants of the risen christ which houses a relic of a fragment of the holy cross of jesus.  the relic itself is inside an arqueta (an ornate box) found in the chapel of the monastery.  i have read that twice a year, this relic is open for public viewing.

queen helena, mother of emperor constantine, in her journey to the holy land in 312 ad, had the temple dedicated to venus destroyed.  uncovered was christ’s sepulcher and three crosses.  to discern which of the crosses was christ’s, they were brought to a gravely ill woman.  when she touched the third cross, she got healed—a sign that this was the true cross of jesus. following the fall of constantinople, fragments of the cross were divided among the knights as booty and were distributed to churches and monasteries in europe. sixteen centuries later, a relic of the true Cross, now encased in a silver arqueta engraved with christian symbols associated with the crucifixion, lies in the chapel of the holy cross in the peaceful and quiet monasterio de tarlac.

from hacienda luisita in tarlac, it took us an hour drive to reach lubigan, san jose  and the place itself is located in the mountaintop, offering a scenic view of the towns of tarlac.  the monastery also has a 30 foot statue of the risen christ.

more pictures of the monastery can be found on my other post, ‘revisiting the monastery’.