A New Chapel in Dupax del Sur

I don't know if I was just plain lucky or I happened to be what they term in Isinay as nitivu^ (roughly: "born to be that way"). But when a big occasion happened in the history of Dupax del Sur as a Catholic community last April 28, I was with my digital camera at the right place and at the right moment -- and, what's more, I was the only one with a camera at the time.

The event was the inauguration of the Adoration cum Meditation Chapel, the newest improvement of the St. Vincent Church of Dupax. Those of you who served as sacristan in the past or may have acted as ninong or ninag to a wedding or baptism, the chapel took the space in what used to be the sacristi where the mass wine and the sacristans' uniforms were kept.

On hand to do the honors of giving the imprimatur, if we may call it that, to the adoration chapel was no less than Bishop Ramon Villena of the Diocese of Bayombong. As if to accentuate the importance of the event, the bishop borught with him two sisters to witness the event.

By the way, in his sermon during the mass that preceded the inauguration, Bishop Villena expressed appreciation of how Dupax del Sur is always combining its patron and town fiestas -- unlike other towns of Nueva Vizcaya.

Here are some of the shots I took of the event:

Early church-goers start to fill the front pews.

Mayor Romeo Magaway Sr. thanks Bishop Ramon Villena for gracing the town fiesta.

Bishop Villena says the prayers before opening the door to the chapel.

Here's how the Adoration/Meditation Chapel looks like. Note how the original brick masonry has been retained. When I was a student at St. Mary's Dupax, this place used to be where we mass servers would go to change our civilian clothes  into sacristan uniforms, then colored red and white. Despite its unwashed smell, we loved to wear the uniform particularly during misa de gallo when the December temperature in Dupax then was much colder than it is now.

Madam Lilia Castaneda-Magquilat (2nd from the right) helps prepare the altar for the Bishop's prayers.

Bishop Villena sprinkles holy water to the devotees that include Mayor Romeo Magaway Sr. (2nd from the right) and Doctora Virginia Galutera-Laccay (lady with candle on the right).

Fr. Resty Valdez, Parish Priest of Dupax, thanks the people who supported the construction of the chapel, specifically mentioning the family of the late Judge Florentino Galutera as the chief donor.

One of the "angels" who sat on the carriage of St. Vincent during the procession plays beside the ancient deep well (poso in Isinay) just outside the chapel on the right. The poso used to have a pump (bomba) and had plenty of water even in summer; now it is equipped with an electric pump to draw water. The building on the left was the kitchen where then Sacristan Mayor Eufracio "Parasyo^" Dinu baked wafer for cutting into round hosts ("ostia"). When I was in grade school I was one of the beneficiaries of the wafer trimmings he gave to kids who went to watch him make the hosts.