LUCBAN, QUEZON?For the Catholic faithful in search of a place for meditation and prayers this Holy Week, the ?Kamay ni Hesus? shrine here at the foot of Mount Banahaw offers not only a contemplative atmosphere but also a process for the purification of the body and soul.

Starting Holy Monday, devotees may also have a ?holy bath? as the final phase of the Lenten cleansing process, said Fr. Joey Faller, the charismatic healer who founded the shrine.

Patterned after Lourdes, France, to heal sick devotees, the water in two separate dipping pools for men and women comes from a spring that flows from Banahaw. Devotees believe that the mountain is a sacred place.

Before the water reaches the pools, it passes through the fountain below the Holy Eucharist in the Blessed Sacrament chapel in nearby Marian Park.

?Water symbolizes glorious life from the Holy Spirit. It will purify the body after deep reflection, prayers and meditation,? Faller said.

The ?holy bath? is free to all.

?No fee will be collected. We will just put up a system for the orderly turn of those wanting to purify their body. The dip in the holy water is a continuation of the healing process,? Faller said.

The shrine administrator, Fr. Angelo Jaballa, said the plunge in the knee-deep mini-pool would be like a ?renewal of baptismal vow.?

Sacred dip

?It?s not totally a bath but a sacred dip after the recital of ?Hail Mary,? said Jaballa.

He made it clear that those wanting to have a holy bath would be required to put on some body cover. ?We will have volunteers to assist them,? Jaballa said.

On Black Friday last year, Faller said more than 200,000 pilgrims visited the shrine located in Barangay Tinamnan, two kilometers away from the town proper.

?We expect more than half a million pilgrims this Holy Week. But we will control them to make them follow the regulations to maintain the pious atmosphere for all the faithful,? he said.

The religious center is now a sprawling five-hectare property with a wide parking space for devotees who come from different parts of the country, including the Visayas and Mindanao.

?We acquired the adjacent two and one-half hectares to turn the shrine into a mecca for Catholic faithful across the archipelago. The payment mode to the owner of the lot is an easy ?when able? basis,? Faller said.

Diocese-run

He said the center was no longer being run by the ?Kamay ni Hesus Ministry Foundation? but by the Diocese of Lucena.

?The place is now being managed by my partner, Father Angie, in behalf of the diocese,? Faller said.

Faller and Jaballa transformed the adjacent lot, which has a hill beside a 50-foot concrete statue of the Ascending Christ, into a ?Garden of Eden.? It has a small waterfall whose crystal-clear water comes from a spring atop the hill.

The hill, which Faller calls ?Mount Sinai,? is host to several huge concrete icons of biblical figures, like Moses and Abraham. They are located in different spots and can be reached through concrete stairs snaking around the mount.

The wide grassy space in the Garden of Eden, where a cave-like Bible theater was constructed, is for children, according to Jaballa.

?The kids can watch spiritually enriching programs inside the theater, while their elders are in deep communion with the Lord in different meditating sites in the complex,? he said.

Sea of Galilee

In one corner of the garden, workers were spotted rushing the completion of a pool that will serve as a replica of the ?Sea of Galilee? where Jesus Christ performed many miracles.

?We will put different varieties of fresh water fish in the pool and we will call them Saint Peter fishes. We envision the Garden of Eden as a paradise, especially for children,? Faller said.

Still, the main feature that continues to attract devotees to the shrine is Faller?s famous healing power.

?I welcome them all,? he said with a fresh smile.

Most of the pilgrims return to experience the physically exhausting but sanctifying climb to the 50-foot concrete icon of the resurrected Christ.

To provide comfort to the pilgrims this Holy Week, the two priests placed ?mini-huts? in strategic spots and stalls that sell food at the parking lots. The huts can be rented for P50 an hour.

?The huts and stalls will remain until May 31. The little earnings that we can derive from the rent can greatly help in the maintenance of the complex. We believe that the devotees are all aware that the place is not a commercial hub with unwanted noises and distractions. They will behave,? Jaballa said.

Seat of Mary

The other hill near the highway has also been transformed into a ?Seat of Mary.? It has a towering concrete statue of the Virgin Mary.

Instead of the original plan to build a diorama of the different phases of the Holy Rosary, the two priests decided to transform the site into a bigger panorama of divinity.

?With the ascending Christ on the other side of the shrine, here now is the assumption of the blessed Mother in the opposite corner. Mama Mary looking lovingly to his Son, Jesus Christ, and the Son looking lovingly to his Mother,? Faller said.

He added: ?The whole compendium of theology is now here in the complex. From Annunciation, Resurrection, Coronation and Assumption of the Blessed Mother to the Holy Bible itself, the area is now heavily loaded with spirituality. We?re inviting all the faithful to visit the place for meditation and prayers.?

Pieta

The place has also become a ?gallery of saints.? Several monuments of the saints are found on the premises. ?The site is a sanctuary protected by God,? Faller said.

A Pieta made from marble, which, according to Faller, costs more than P2 million, is found in the Marian Park.

?It was donated last February by a rich Marian devotee who became fascinated with the shrine. She called us by phone and offered the two-ton Pieta icon that she had in Guam,? he said.

Faller said the marble figure was made by a Chinese sculptor.

Retreat center

The center also maintains a two-story retreat center which can accommodate 120 people in several single, double and dormitory-type bedrooms.

The facility, which has a small snack house in one corner of the basement, is fully booked until 2010, Faller said.

The complex now employs 35 regular staff members though many volunteers render services.