Jernie's Hub

Friday morning I walked down to the Christ the King Catholic church behind our building. After a series of call to the church I couldn't get hold of anyone. So I had no idea what time was the mass. I was constantly checking from our balcony if people started arriving at the church. There were just few and it was already 10pm so I decided to just go. The notice board shows that the mass would be at 12:30pm. Alone, I just did the "Way of the Cross" and recited the "Rosary". There were a number of families who were doing the same. It brought me back memories of the "Holy Week" celebration in my hometown.

Good Friday is a holy day for us. Apart from the fasting that we usually observe, we were also pre-occupied with religious activities. It would start with the morning mass then a procession around the town to commemorate Christ's 14 Stations of the Cross. Then at 1pm, we would all go to the church to hear Christ's Seven Last Words. Later in the afternoon, we would again convene at the church for another procession around the town remembering Christ's death. In the evening, there would be a vigil at the church. Black Saturday is a quite day. I remembered that we were strictly prohibited from playing any music at all from Good Friday until early morning of Easter Sunday. On Saturday afternoon, we used to prepare a sort of stage where the re-enactment of Jesus Christ's and Mother Mary's meeting at Sunday early morning will be held. Children done their angel attire with their wings and would sing songs in Latin. The men would take Christ's statue from one direction and the women would take Mother Mary's statue from opposite direction and subsequently would meet at the stage where the angels were singing. The moment they met, the Angel would sing and take the black veil from Mother Mary and the rest of the angels would throw flower petals from their baskets. I was once an Angel who sung during this event but at that time we had to do it inside the church because the rain poured endlessly. Thereafter, everyone would go to the church for the Easter Sunday mass. After the mass, we would have a good breakfast and would be in a festive mood celebrating Christ's Resurrection. The children in the angel attire would be going around town, singing at every house-hold. We would give them some amount of money. For the rest of the Easter Sunday, we would spend time with the family. I had never celebrated Holy Week and Easter Sunday solemnly but in my hometown.

Anyway, when I get back to the apartment we had breakfast. No fasting at all. Thanks to the Pinoy TV channel, I had the chance to watch "Christ's 7 Last Words'. Late in the afternoon, we headed to our friend's house for a small get-together. On Saturday, we drove to Niagara on the Lake. Herbert's cousin and family were there. We had a fantastic time with the children playing games and doing some crafts. It was also a good time to catch-up on many things since we haven't been together for some time. We missed the children's activities on the Easter egg hunting as we arrived there at lunch time.

with the kids playing domino

We did some of their crafts. Our Easter crowns looks nice, isn't it?

Nice bags, eh?

Thayia busy with her puzzle.

Sunday morning, all of us went for a brunch at the Hilton Hotel and subsequently parted ways.


The weather was so nice that day. While driving along the Ontario Lake, we enjoyed the fantastic view of the lake. We could even see Toronto and Mississauga skyline from the opposite side of the lake. As we were approaching Mississauga, we decided to drive south to take a walk by the lake. We ended up at the Port Credit. There we spent good hours of the afternoon. It is a beautiful place.

Beautiful sights from the lake side.

I loved listening to the sound of the water as it rushes to the the shore. I took a really deep breathe, trying to imagine that we were in Loreto (my home town in Dinagat Island).

Nice apartment, at its perfect location. We were wondering if there are some units for rent. It is a lovely place to stay during the summer.