A VISIT TO CARELUEGA

A VISIT TO CARELUEGA. My wife Myrna on our first visit to Careluega in Nasugbu, Batangas on her 47th B'day (26 June 2011). A Home Where Thousand Dreams are Born We visited Careluega in Nasugbu on the 47th year of my wife Myrna last June 26, 2011. A first time visitor, we roam around the place which seems to be just an ordinary pasyalan. We were not able to say our payers, talk to God the way we want since at that time the place was crowded. A lot of people roaming around with two (2) weddings scheduled on that day, it was a Sunday. The place is really a good place for prayers and reflections.  On our next visit we will do it on weekdays, earlier and if possible to make it on the 7 am mass. How to get there. Travel by bus, take the LRT or MRT to EDSA/Taft station. For MRT it's the last station going south and for LRT it is second to the last station going to Baclaran. Then we took a bus going to Nasugbu, Batangas, the Batman Starexpress Corp. (BSC) bus @ P106 each. Me and my birthday girl Myrna cost us P212 one way. Just tell the ticket issuer that you will be alighting at Ever Crest Golf and Country Club, a part of Batulao, not so sure. It's a 2 to 3 hours drive. From there take a tricycle going to Careluega, a 2 km rough road ride,  the fare is P50 for the two of us or maybe that's the regular fare for a single trip. Since trike don't usually pass Careluega, ask the driver to pick you up at a given time (they have cell phones for you to text). We asked for a 5:30 pm pick-up time, the time the park closes. By that time no visitors are allowed to enter the premises. The park entrance fee is at P30 each. The website slogan and details/description of the place below really speaks for the Careluega. "We welcome you to a home. Our doors are open to all people of goodwill longing to be in touch with themselves, other and with God through prayer and quiet moments." This part tells us to forget about hate, insecurities, sadness and all the negative feelings we have in life, towards our love ones, friends, and people we know and meet in our community, place of work, etc. And as we enter the place it's all about God, all about peace, love and happiness. The place is really a place to talk to God, to ask forgiveness and ask for mercy and blessings. The Transfiguration Chapel  Rising tall and majestic in the highest point of Caleruega is the Transfiguration Chapel. From here one can behold the expanse of Caleruega and witness the glorious opus of radiant nature – a symphony of sky, trees, and the distant hills of Batulao. Like St. Peter during Jesus’ transfiguration, anyone who experiences such splendour of nature’s poetry will declare: Lord, it is good for us to be here… (Mt.17:4). The chapel itself is replete with symbolism. Its facade is a reproduction of the original chapel in Caleruega, Spain. Its hut-shaped roof is in remembrance of the temporary sheds that the apostles wanted to build for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah during the transfiguration (Mt 17:1-8). The seal of the Dominican Province of the Philippines is depicted in stained glass in the upper portion of the chapel’s facade. The seven grapevines entwined in the steel doors of the chapel not only portray Jesus as the vine and we as branches (John 15:5), but also symbolize the seven sacraments. The main altar is a carved tree trunk representing the “stem of Jesse,” mentioned in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah: then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit (Is 11:1). The tabernacle is a gentle reminder of the burning bush through which God revealed Himself to Moses in Mt. Sinai (Ex 3:2). The birds carved on the communion table are representations of God’s providence in Matthew 6:26: Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap…and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. The stained glass depicts the Transfiguration of Jesus witnessed by Peter, John, and Luke. With Jesus are Moses and Elijah, two significant instruments of God in the Old Testament (Mat 17:3).