Also known as the Diocesan Shrine of the Holy Face of Jesus of Manopello, the Immaculate Conception Parish Church in Nampicuan, Nueva Ecija houses the Replica of The Holy Face of Manoppello (Italy)/The Veil of Manoppello, the first degree replica of the cloth bearing The Face of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Date of Visit: March 25, 2017
Journal notes
What struck me in our journey to the Shrine of The Holy Face of Jesus was the story of how the Veil of Manoppello, a first degree replica of the cloth bearing The Face of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, was enshrined in the Immaculate Conception Parish Church, a small church in the then fifth class municipality of Nampicuan, Nueva Ecija. The parish priest narrated to us how the procession bearing the veil took hours to wend its way from the expressway to the church, when the route normally took only 15 minutes. The route was lined with thousands of people coming from all over the country, a turnout completely unexpected as the announcement of the event did not have much fanfare. And even more astounding was that birds flew in a circle around the veil, throughout the procession!
Many places in the Sanctuary of the Holy Face of Jesus in Nampicuan reminded us that Lenten Season is an invitation to us to return to God through prayers, alms giving and works of mercy, and fasting and abstinence.
The main church, which houses the sacred cloth of the Holy Face of Jesus inspired us, Lisa and Liza, to intense prayer and gave us a certain feeling of being so close to Jesus. I (Liza) also found The Fountain of Mercy Prayer Garden and Candle Room to be beckoning to me to light a prayer candle.
The garden and candle room is an open dome structure where each of its seven pillars represents the 7 Corporal Works of Mercy: 1. feed the hungry, 2. give drink to the thirsty, 3. clothe the naked, 4.shelter the homeless, 5. care for the sick, 6. visit the imprisoned and 7. bury the dead. Each of these pillars bears an image representing the work of mercy. Underneath each image is a drop box where the pilgrims can drop their financial aid to support the specific corporal work of mercy it represents. This place so timely reminded us of the corporal works of mercy and inspired me (Lisa) to drop in each of the boxes, (but more on the box for ‘visit the imprisoned’ as this is the one I most neglect) as part of my alms giving that Lenten season.
There is also a place within the compound of the Sanctuary with wooden tables and chairs under big old trees where the DNFI pilgrims partook of a simple lunch as every one of us observe fasting and abstinence during entire Lenten seasons. The fasting was very memorable for we ate couscous (durum wheat semolina), a first time for me (Lisa), and bangus tinapa nuggets (a product being developed by St. Homobonus Corporation, a social enterprise of DNFI officers’ siblings).
We left the place feeling closer to Jesus whom we carried with us throughout the Lenten Season and beyond.