CAMIGUIN | Of Churches and Old Church Ruins

I slept soundly the whole night. It was my first 10-hour sleep post-Sendong relief efforts IBS, Inc. did. I woke up around 3AM, irritably the morning person in me does that —   but the house was so still and it seemed as I was the first one to awoke.  Here’s a random tip: When on vacations, always wake up early — way before sunrise. That way you get to see the first rays of the sun on wherever you’re staying. On this trips’ case, I knew I didn’t have a beachfront view for the sunrise and was geographically located at the wrong side of the island, so I stayed in and went back to bed — thus the  10-hour sleep.

I stayed at Sagay, Camiguin, at the southwestern part of the island. So when asked which I wanted to check out first — I  don’t know why by I quipped, churches! You know what they say about finding a bit of you in everywhere you go? This was it. I felt the need to detach myself from the depressing situation of then nearly a month post TS Sendong in Iligan. I found myself saying a prayer, the feel the need to let it be — me for now. Selfish, The need to regroup pieces of myself — I did, here, on my first stop of the island of Camiguin.

The interiors of the church is not yet finished. But what met me was the artistic use of bamboo, and driftwood on its’ interiors. There’s something about the drift wood chandeliers  hanging from the ceiling. It gave the rustic appeal to the whole place.

To the right side of the church is an open chapel. Devoted to Sto. Rosario, the image of the Lady of the Rosary is encased and transfixed in front of a old tree draped in vines. Stone benches lined up on the grassy earth and a comforting sound of the church bells framed the already solemn ambiance.

The Catholic church of Catarman, Camiguin is a little bit off the national highway. It still has the old town church feel to it. Standing atop a small hill surrounded by trees and lined benches – I could only imagine how it was during times when a Eucharistic Mass is celebrated. 

This church is kinda like the Mamabajao Parish in a little way, this one without the paint on its walls. We did not get to stay long, I suddenly remembered a random list of must-go-to-places we must get to.

Established earlier as a Spanish settlement, the town of Catarman used be notably popular, until a volcanic eruption in 1871 took out most of the town. What remains now is the still standing adobe walls shyly peeking out from the moss and ferns that had grown on them. Of the three churches, the Old Church Ruin was the only destination I had on my list. For some apparent reasons that only the universe knows of, of why I thought of stopping by these two other churches, made me glad that I did. It took my mind off the depressing Sendong struck Iligan — like I said, I needed to find the hope from the depressing scene I worked on and with since Day1.