Thousands troop to Quezon shrine to pray for the dead as cemeteries stay closed

PRAYER LOCK Visitors offer prayers for their departed loved ones at the “prayer lock station” at Kamay ni Hesus (KNH) shrine in Lucban, Quezon. —PHOTO COURTESY OF KNH

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines — Catholic devotees are welcome to Kamay ni Hesus (Hand of Jesus), or KNH, shrine in Lucban town in Quezon province to pray for their departed loved ones, with cemeteries ordered closed from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2.

“The KNH shrine is open to everyone who wants to remember and pray for their departed loved ones on All Saints’ Day,” healing priest Fr. Joey Faller, said by phone on Friday.

All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, called “Undas” in the Tagalog-speaking areas in the country, are traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 to honor the dead and visit the graves of kin.

Last weekend, the 7-hectare KNH shrine welcomed an estimated 10,000 devotees who were closely supervised by volunteer marshals for the observance of COVID-19 safety protocols, according to Faller.

As of Oct. 29, Lucban still has eight active COVID-19 infections.

Before the pandemic, the throng of weekend pilgrims, most of them from outside the province, usually reached an average of 20,000, the priest said.

KNH has been allowed to accommodate at least 50 percent of its capacity after the province has been placed under the more relaxed alert level 2 until Nov. 14.For those who could not come to the shrine, Faller said they could send the names of their departed on his personal Facebook account and the KNH page, and he would read them during his online Masses.

Alternative place

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has ordered the closure of all cemeteries in the country during Undas to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission in crowded places.

Faller said they had a “prayer lock station” in a corner of the complex for those praying for their dead kin.

The prayer lock station, since it was put up in 2016, has become an alternative place where one can offer prayers for their departed loved ones, said the priest.

Taking off from the love locks made famous in Paris, where couples profess eternal love by leaving padlocks on railings of a bridge and throwing the key into the river, the KNH shrine offers a new brass padlock with two keys in exchange for a cash donation. The padlock is accompanied by a prayer in Pilipino sealed in a mini plastic wrapper to protect it from rain.

“The devotees simply write the names of their departed loved ones and their prayers will be ‘locked in’ for eternity,” Faller said.

The shrine, located in Tinamnam village some 2 kilometers from the town center, is one of the popular destinations of religious pilgrims in the country, especially during Holy Week.

The popular area inside the shrine is the 300-step “Stairway to Heaven” that features a 15.24-meter (50-feet) statue of the Risen Christ on top of a hill. INQ