Lucban shrine is another site to say prayers for the dead

Prayers, written in multicolored sheets protected by plastic, are “locked” in this station at Kamay ni Hesus Shrine in Lucban, Quezon. —DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.

LUCENA CITY—The Kamay ni Hesus (Hand of Jesus) Shrine in Lucban town in Quezon province has become an alternative place where one can offer prayers for their departed loved ones.

Fr. Joey Faller, known as the “healing priest” and founder of the religious complex 118 kilometers south of Metro Manila, said it was for those who could not go to cemeteries for various reasons.

“The prayer lock station is now an alternative space where one can pray and commune with their departed loved ones not only during Todos los Santos but throughout the year,” Faller said in a telephone interview on Monday.

Faller said he expects the arrival of devotees who wish to observe the commemoration of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day but could not visit the graves of their relatives due to financial, health or other reasons.

“I invite them here at the shrine. Together, we will pray for their departed loved ones in the company of saints,” Faller said.

More than 200 concrete images of saints are scattered in the complex at the foot of mystical Mt. Banahaw.

“At the prayer lock station, we will pray for them in a special way. All they need to do is write the names of their departed loved ones and their prayers will be ‘locked in’ for eternity,” he said.

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, Kamay ni Hesus has given devotees a place to pray and commune with God.

The prayer lock station was opened to devotees during Holy Week this year as the latest spiritual attraction at the shrine located on a hilly part of Barangay Tinamnan, 2 km from the Lucban town center. —DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.