Baclaran's National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help

Hey folks! Welcome to another @photocontests entry post.

This is Baclaran's famous 24hr church known for the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help and benedictions that cause traffic every Wednesday due to all the people who go there for novena.

Say hello to the altar of the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help (Pambansáng Dambana ng Ina ng Laging Saklolo) in Baclaran. This can be found in Paranaque City, one of the cities in Metro Manila, Philippines.

So last month when I was trying to get to where the world's oldest Bamboo Organ is for a music festival in a Las Piñas church, I ended up here instead on one night. All the jeepneys are full most of the time going to Las Piñas City in the evening. Eventually I tried to walk from near the Baclaran LRT station to where I thought I could have an easier time to ride but alas, no luck at the time so I curiously went into this church instead. It was along the road I walked so I thought, why not go inside and pray before going home.

Never been to that place before when I decided to drop by you know. I've been hearing about the famed Baclaran Day for years but never once thought of going there until I chanced upon it. It's my first time being in it and heck it's huge, errr spacious?

But wait, upon getting impressed by the size of it, I saw several cats loitering and feeling like they own the place. Haha. Check this out!

Couldn't help but take a picture of one of the cats, what with the cute backside...

Although I had one pic of it that's kinda creepy. Look at the cat eyes. Errr well lemme soften the pic up so it still looks kinda cute.

Thar ya go.

Anyway a little bit of history:

• It was completely built on December 5, 1958. It took almost a year to build.
• And it is massive at the floor size of 5,069.2 sq. m. Well that's huge enough for me...
• It can seat up to 2,000 people but up to 9,000 people can stand around according to Wikipedia. It's also one of the largest Marian churches in the Philipines.
• The Redemptorists began the novena in 1948, and since then it has been a famous go to place on Wednesdays.
• Pope John Paul II held mass in it in 1973.
• It also has the country’s "longest mosaic mural" called Panagpo, finished just late last year and is 213-meter (700-feet) long. Didn't see this though because it was dark.

What else can I say but the size is just impressive. And I never knew there's a place of worship like this that's open 24 hrs. Churches and parishes I know usually close at night so this was a welcome surprise. Lots of people still go and mill in and around the place even at past 9pm so at least the place still feels safe enough to go to at night. There are guards outside the church too. Parking wasn't too full but imagine, I was still seeing cars coming in at past 9 in the evening! I am just amazed. Lol.

Any Pinoys been there at night too?

XOXO,
@artgirl