At the request of Mrs. Elena Montinola Balandra (younger sister of the late Fr. Vicente Torre Montinola), a pilgrimage was made to the Shrine of the Divine Mercy and Our Lady of Guadalupe along with her favorite nephew, Fr. Mike Carreon.

Mike and Mrs. Balandra outside the chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Valladolid.*

Towering image of the Divine Mercy in Calumangan, Bago City, Negros Occidental.*

First stop was in Calumangan, Bago City where we were met by Fr. Mike’s close friend, Fr. Rolly Escobido, Administrator of the Shrine. He gave us a tour from the grounds to the altar where one could see a towering image of the Divine Mercy and Sister Faustina who -I believe is one of the most beautiful saints I have ever seen- had a vision of the Lord which led to the devotion to the Divine Marcy. According to Fr. Rolly, the church was materialized through the generosity of the late Mariano Lim who was asked by Jesus to build a house for him, in a dream. Now, the Shrine of the Divine Mercy is one of the popular places in Negros being visited by pilgrims and tourists.

Next stop was the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Valladolid where Fr. Salvador, another friend of Fr. Mike met us and showed us around his parish from the ruins all the way to the small chapel where the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was enshrined. Per Fr. Salvador, the image came from Mexico on the 15th century and has been preserved in Valladolid all those years. Fr. Mike mentioned that if there is any parish that really needs help, it’s Fr. Salvador’s. The antique church was burned a couple of years ago and has not been rebuilt since then. It was in the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe where the parents of Judy Araneta Roxas (mother of Vice-Presidential candidate Mar Roxas) were married, according to Fr. Salvador hence, that sacred place must have some sentimental value to the affluent Aranetas. The only school that the parish has is the kindergarten class which is more of an apostolic than a financial help. I suggested that he should expand it to primary education to enable them to help children of the parish take their first holy communion. Also, he should form a Ways and Means Committee to map out plans in order to raise funds and a Finance Committee to assist in its finances.

The parishioners especially, the devout Catholics in Valladolid should be more than happy to get involved and work towards the improvement of their parish. Who knows, the ruins could be restored to its original appearance at some future time. Hard work and a lot of prayers should work. This is long shot but "Nothing is impossible with God."*