When I was much younger, I thought of joining the Benedictine monks at the Monastery of Transfiguration in Malaybalay, Bukidnon. Yeah, that's hard to believe, but once upon a time, that came to mind. (I even wrote their Abbot to inquire about the Benedictine life.)
Back during my altar boy days, I read an article about the life of a corporate person who left his job to heed his calling, and that somehow inspired me. Anyway, things took a different turn for me and I am where I am now, but I didn't really expect that I would one day get to visit the place I once thought I could become part of.
On an early Friday morning, I decided to do a bit of daring. Because of a reservation confusion, I ended up checking in at a hotel in Malaybalay instead of Valencia. Anyway, my work for the day wasn't to begin til 9AM so that gave me a good three hours to find the Monastery of Transfiguration.
I asked the concierge how to get there, and was informed that I could ask one of the local tricycles to take me there since the monastery was in a secluded part of Malaybalay.
Upon leaving the hotel, I saw a tricycle parked nearby and talked to the guy Manong Ely. After agreeing that I'd pay him P180 to take me to the monastery and back to my hotel, we were off.
The monastery was about 20 to 30 minutes away. From the highway, we made a turn at one of the narrow and winding roads . It was a bit of rough roads, but you get a grand view of the mountains and the fields so that was okay. After a couple of minutes, I was greeted by the wooden sign that read "Monastery of Transfiguration."
We first visited the old monastery. The area where the monks used to live was now converted to a retreat house. The chapel appeared to be small to me but it was still nice. After saying a short prayer, I went back to meet Manong Ely and made our way to the new monastery. It was farther away and the road was a bit bumpy but once I saw the prominent triangular structure from afar, I must say I got excited.
The new monastery was just wow! It was grand yet simple. The new monastery was beautifully designed by the late National Artist Leandro Locsin. As I made my way up to the chapel, I was greeted by a sign saying "Be still and know that I am God." And cheesy as this may sound, the tranquility of the surroundings, the beauty of nature, the grandness of God's work are more than enough to make you feel the presence of a mighty being.
Inside the chapel, I said another short prayer. As I was about to leave, the church caretaker called me and said I should go up and see the Mother and Child image up close. And that's what I did.
Afterwards, I asked for a big favor from the caretaker to please take my photo in front of the altar and outside the chapel. Eeeep! I know I was disrupting him from cleaning the house of God, but I'm sure he and He understand. In fact, the guy seemed to be quite a pro at taking photos of visitors because he told me where I should stand so that I can have a nice photo with the chapel in the background. When I got my photo, I thanked him a million times and then headed back to meet Mang Ely.
Our last stop before going was the Monastery shop. Aside from the usual religious icons and medals, there were a couple of abaca bags being sold. But most of the items were native delicacies made by the monks. I bought some peanut brittle, nuts, cheese sticks, and Monks' Blend coffee. Mang Ely got a small cross for his pocket and I paid for it as a souvenir.
The whole experience, though short, was quite something. I'm really glad that I went out and searched for the Monastery because it was really worth it.
Check out the short video blog I made about the Monastery. (I think making vidblogs is something I might like doing.)
Alright, next entry will be about another daring adventure and how I ended up having a chipped front tooth. Augh!
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