I first heard of St. Padre Pio through my friend Mark a few years ago when I attended the birthday of his son, named after the saint himself. He said that they prayed to St. Padre Pio and offered novena to him with whom he and his wife, Reena believed had helped both of them to conceive their first born son. Mark told me that when I get married, I can also pray to Padre Pio to ask for his help to conceive.
In July 2016, I remembered about my conversation with Mark. Due to my frustration of not getting pregnant the previous month, I thought that it would be good to pay homage to St. Padre Pio’s National Shrine in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. I told my husband about my plan to visit the Shrine and supportive as he was, he offered to accompany me. It will be our first time to go to Batangas so it was also an opportunity for us to spend quality time together.
We planned to go there on the third Saturday of July since I am busy with work on weekdays. With a little research, I learned that every first and third Saturdays of the month, there’s a 9:00AM mass followed by a Healing Liturgy. I felt that it was a good timing to go there as planned.
We lived near Makati City Hall. We left the house around 6:00AM. Our first destination was the bus station in Pasay-Buendia. Since we thought that we would be late for the 9:00AM mass if we would ride the jeepney which stops for every passenger’s destination, we opted to ride the taxi. After all, the road was free from traffic congestion since it was early morning so we thought it would really help us speed up our travel time. If we didn’t ride the taxi, our route would have been to ride the tricycle from Makati City Hall to Jazz Residences and walk a few meters to Buendia. From there, we can ride the jeepney to the bus station in Pasay-Buendia. When we arrived at the Pasay-Buendia bus station, we looked for the bus with the route to Lucena, Quezon. The bus fare was Php80. To ensure that we will not miss our stop, we requested the driver to drop us off at the St. Padre Pio National Shrine bus stop. We were dropped off at the corner of Barangay San Pedro in Sto. Tomas, Batangas where there is a small street leading to a nearby 7-11 store where tricycles going to the Shrine are located. As what I could remember, the tricycle fare was Php20 per person.
When we arrived at the St. Padre Pio National Shrine, there weren’t many people around because they were already inside the church. We were just in time for the 9:00AM mass. It was the Healing Liturgy that really moved me. I felt that God was really working in me to heal me for whatever ailments I have in my body. When you visit the Shrine, I recommend that you stay after the mass for the Healing Liturgy and profess your faith that God will really heal you. After the ceremony, my husband and I got the chance to stroll around the place.
The National Shrine of St. Padre Pio
This is a shed where you can buy your votive candles.
This tower holds St. Padre Pio's portraits and the map of the whole Shrine.
My husband and I actually went back to the Shrine after a few weeks when we found out that I got pregnant for us to say thank you to Padre Pio who we believed was also instrumental for us to have our daughter.
I suggest that when you go to the St. Padre Pio National Shrine, Batangas, go there with an open heart and open mind accompanied by faith in God and let the Holy Spirit work in you.
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