Yesterday, Holy Saturday, I went with my mom, uncle, aunt and cousins to Our Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan some 3-4 hours from Manila. I’ve been there with my mom for around 2-3 times before, but the last time was ages ago. I almost didn’t recognize the place because of the renovation of the church itself and the commercialization around the place. (A Shakey’s-on-wheels was just outside the church property X_X)

Anyway, human faith and church art, usually very ornate and colorful, are always interesting photo subjects, so it was well worth the drive (or sleep LOL). For the cover photo, I mixed 3 photos together (Our Lady of Manaoag, my cousin praying, and church interiors).  I’m quite happy with the output, so I think I’ll do some more of this in the future. BTW, I’ve decided to make many of the pics below black and white. I’ve come to some realization that color sometimes is too distracting for some types of photos; which types, I haven’t really wrapped my head around yet.

Didn’t know this. Apparently, saints’ statues are covered with cloth once Jesus “dies” on Holy Thursday. I think they unveil them again after Easter Sunday. Not sure.

The line to Our Lady of Manaoag.

One by one, people are given a chance to take a peek at and touch the Our Lady of Manaoag  statue. There’s this opening under that image of the Holy Mother. A cousin of mine saw a person holding pens; she deduced they were to be used for some professional/bar exam.

A woman wipes her hanky on the glass case of Santo Nino.

A woman inserts some letters (of wishes?) into the glass case of Santo Nino.

The hands of Church statues are usually very expressive, so I opted to take pics of them instead of the whole busts. These are my fave shots LOL! The one here is Mary Magdalene’s.

If I’m not mistaken, this is Joseph’s.

Pedro Calungsod statuettes for sale in the Church shop.


A super-kulit kid blowing the prayer candles.

Hmm. A sign by the middle of the candle area where a Mary statue and a fountain was.

A man with a statuette of Our Lady of Manaoag.