By Ruby Villavicencio-Paurom
Inquirer
Last updated 00:52am (Mla time) 12/08/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Slowly and steadfastly, a prayer tower rises in a small town in Quezon.

What was then deemed impossible to build in this poor coastal town of Agdangan in the Bondoc Peninsula, a monstrance-shaped, 37-meter-high sanctuary, called the Luminous Cross of Grace, rises after three years of hope, prayers and thanksgiving for donors and service contributors.

Constructed beside the St. Isidore Parish Church, the prayer tower juts into the sky, a testament to the perseverance and faith of a handful of volunteers who believe they were called on this mission by God.

Waiting for another miracle
Devotees who visit the sanctuary go up 14 flights of stairs equivalent to the 14 stations of the cross. On each landing is an artwork done in mixed media (fiberglass, wood, metal, glass) depicting a station of the cross. So far, stations one to seven have been finished. Stations eight to 14 await funding or perhaps, another miracle.

The prayer tower has a dome where sits a cross which is 7 meters high and 5 meters wide. The luminous cross is mounted with five images of Marian apparitions.

The elements on the luminous cross and the building of the sanctuary are collective inputs from the dreams and inspirations received by various Catholic devotees and priests, mostly Filipinos, including an Indian national.

For the past three years, P20 million has come in the form of donations, from the sale of rosaries, rosary bracelets, Marian portraits, Christmas decors, religious icons and medals. Text brigades, mailed solicitations, Internet-based promotions, even overseas visits have been employed by volunteers to continue work on the prayer tower.

Built with faith and love
“[Because] we started with nothing, probably only with ardent prayers, we see the sanctuary’s construction as a miracle. Volunteers would be able to raise money, at least to pay the laborers, until money for fresh supplies and materials would come. Our Lord really provided,” says Dr. Paz Carandang, one of the Servants of the Luminous Cross of Grace, the name the volunteers gave themselves for the task of building the sanctuary.

“The building of the Luminous Cross of Grace sanctuary is a dream come true. We were guided by the inspiration that God is on top of the project. It is a work made possible only through faith and the community spirit of love,” she says.

Carandang adds: “Now we are witness to signs that the sanctuary may indeed have a role in the conversion of souls, as Fr. Raul “Puti” Enriquez declared before us years ago at the start of the project. Among ourselves, we have noted many changes taking place in the way we see our day-to-day lives, the way we tackle our personal problems and the way we have opened ourselves to be of help to others.”

God’s will
Carandang, a cardiologist with the Makati Medical Center, hails from Sariaya, Quezon. Three year ago, she was among those who responded to the call of Enriquez, parish priest of the St. Isidore Parish, to help build the prayer tower.

To many Servants of the Luminous Cross of Grace, the sanctuary now stands as a reminder of what faith can achieve and how the Lord’s promises come to be realized in the hands and thoughts of people who leave everything to God’s will.

It has become a symbol of the work ahead which is to reach out to souls who seek to return to the ways of the Lord. As a powerhouse of prayer, it echoes the call, many times delivered by the Blessed Mother in her apparitions, for conversion and spiritual renewal.

Seeking meaning to visions
Enriquez, who is known for his passionate advocacies within the Church, is a spokesperson for Gomburza, a cause-orientated organization of priests, nuns, brothers and laity committed to the struggle for justice.

He believes the mission for the building of a tower started when he perceived a call from God to obtain an image of Santissimo Cristo de Burgos from Spain in 1998.

Setting forth on a pilgrimage abundant with faith but with little money, Enriquez succeeded in bringing back a Santissimo Cristo de Burgos image which bears the 5,000 wounds Christ suffered in the Passion to complete the salvation of man. The image is a powerful symbol of God’s immense love for mankind.

In August 2004, earnest efforts to build the sanctuary beside the St. Isidore Church finally started after a group of devotees, all of whom were not from Quezon Province, sought a meeting with Enriquez.

Pilgrimage tourism
One of them was Cynthia C. Lazo, a Department of Tourism director who has made pilgrimage tourism a personal mission. While in prayer, Lazo says she had a vision of gathering people on a trip to Agdangan to see Enriquez.

In their meeting with Enriquez, Lazo and her group shared with him their separate visions which turned out to have common elements–a place of prayer, a luminous cross, fishermen, and the image of the risen Christ.

In turn, the priest told them that he, himself, had recurring dreams of building a towering place of prayer.

The Sanctuary design
Construction started in November 2004 using design specifications from Enriquez who wanted the sanctuary to rise 120 feet ( 37 meters) from the ground to symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel.

The monstrance design was provided by Aia Santos Halili, an artist from San Mateo, Rizal. According to Halili, the design came from a dream she had after accepting the assignment.

Halili initially thought her involvement with the Quezon project would end with the submission of her design to Enriquez.

However, she remained active with the construction, as did the other Servants, who started to discover their spiritual gifts, like healing and the ability to read mystical signs.

In March 2005, Halili was requested by an Indian devotee to render another version of a painting of the Luminous Cross of Grace with five images of Marian apparitions. The Indian devotee claimed that the Blessed Mother had prompted her to have the image done as a painting.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Halili became more active with the project as her gift for healing developed, as did the other Servants, including Halili’s sister Nona Aquino.

Raising funds and seeking spiritual graces by way of Holy Mass and confession, the Servants of the Luminous Cross of Grace meet at 7 p.m. every Tuesday at the Janssen Hall at the Christ the King compound on E. Rodriguez Ave. in Quezon City.

In the last three years, people have visited Agdangan to see the prayer tower, and attend Holy Mass on special liturgical feasts at the St. Isidore Church.

They have been also asked to render moments of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Many have recounted experiences of coming out refreshed and energized by the Holy Spirit.

Article taken from: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=105564