Thousands flock to ‘Lolo Uweng’ for healing, jobs

SAN PEDRO, Laguna—People may have many different references to God but in the coastal village of Landayan in San Pedro town in Laguna, Christ is called “Lolo Uweng.”

“I would say it is a sign of reverence,” said Sonny Ordoña, a coordinator of the social communications ministry of the Shrine of Jesus in the Holy Sepulchre.

Lolo, which has evolved from Lelong, is a Filipino endearment to a grandfather or an elder. On the other hand, Uweng is coined from Emmanuel Salvador del Mundo (Bringer of Salvation), which, according to old church workers, was inscribed in the icon’s original wooden camarin.

To Angelito Quintana, 43, a devotee since 1989, Lolo Uweng is seen as a dear grandfather who grants the prayer wishes of children. Quintana said he survived a kidney operation in 2004 through his continued devotion to Lolo Uweng.

Shrine

The Shrine of Jesus in the Holy Sepulchre is a 2,016-square-meter church that houses the life-sized wooden image of Lolo Uweng, a dead Christ that fishermen found on the shore of Laguna de Bay in the 19th century.

According to the shrine’s history, people built a makeshift church called the visita from bamboo strips and cogon grass for the roof. This was believed to be in 1836, based on the year inscribed on a bronze bell that, according to elders, was once hung in a belfry.

At the back of the visita is a 20-foot-deep well that never dries up. To this day, people come to draw water from the well, which is believed to have healing powers.

The visita back then not only served as a place of worship, but also a place where American teachers taught the barrio children. During the Japanese era, parents kept their daughters inside the visita to hide them from the Japanese soldiers.

As stories of miracles drew pilgrims, the visita was reconstructed into a concrete church. It later became a subparish of San Pedro Apostol Parish located in the town proper before it was enshrined on Dec. 1, 2006.

The shrine estimates at least 25,000 people coming to the church every Friday as a weekly devotion. The church and the yard teem with around 15,000 people to hear the Mass with 15 Masses held on Fridays.

“The ambience (during regular Fridays) is similar to that of the Holy Nazarene Shrine in Quiapo (Manila) or that of the Mother of Perpetual Help Shrine in Baclaran (Pasay City),” Ordoña said.

He said during Lent, close to a million devotees flock to the shrine, the number peaking on Maundy Thursday and on Good Friday.

In 2011, the number of pilgrims outnumbered by threefold the town’s population of 300,000.

Ordoña said devotees come from other parts of Laguna and from the provinces of Batangas and Cavite and Manila. The lines of people begin along the national road (about 250 meters to the shrine) and end at the shrine’s veneration chapel where the image of Lolo Uweng is placed.

“You cannot stay more than five to seven seconds (because of the long line of people waiting). But people say a glimpse and a touch of Lolo Uweng’s cloak is already enough,” Ordoña said.

In the evening of Good Friday and also during Landayan’s fiesta every May 29, the image is carried outside the shrine for a procession around the village.

Online prayers

“If the Nazarene shows Jesus’ suffering, the image of a dead Jesus symbolizes the consummation of His sacrifice for man’s redemption. Him lying in a tomb shows us that He truly became a man,” said Ordoña.

Devotees often say prayers for sick loved ones, for finding a job, or for their families’ welfare.

When the communication ministry recently put up a website and a Facebook page, devotees also posted their testimonies and prayers online. On its Facebook page, one devotee prayed to Lolo Uweng to save his marriage.

“Whatever their (online) posts are, these are expressions of their faith. When others get to read their testimonies, it’s like they are also blessed. It’s a way of multiplying blessings with an impact that spreads like wildfire,” Ordoña said.

Aside from its spiritual impact, Ordoña said the shrine and the flock of devotees stir up local entrepreneurship among Landayan’s residents.

He said among the thrusts of the municipal government here is to develop the shrine into a religious tourist destination.

“During Fridays, San Pedro comes alive and you can feel its pulse in Landayan,” he said.