The Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery, Carmelite Spirituality Center, and Claretian Mission Center were just among the tourist destinations we visited during our six day stay in Ormoc City. The trip was comfortable despite the scorching temperature solely caused by the sun’s persistence.

Our first stop was the breathtaking Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery situated in the hills of the Barrio Cabaon-an. Its location was quite perfect when your own soul is searching for refuge. If there was indeed a perfect haven to surrender yourself to the goodness and purity of God’s will then this was indeed the ideal place to contemplate.

The outskirts were mostly covered with pine trees and other trees I have yet to identify that contributed to the monastery’s green paradise. The entire place was echoing with spiritual solemnity that for the most part I felt that some divine being was watching over its visitors.

The monastery was built back in 2001 and was later blessed by our very own Cardinal Vidal in June 25, 2001. Remarkably, it was built due to private donations and funding events held in California.

Back then and until now, the monastery was administered by eight humble Clare nuns from the Clarisas Capuchinas Sacramentarias Order in Mexico. These nuns have fervently prayed in adoration to the Blessed Sacrament and prayed for the whole world and the Church. Many have long since approached these nuns seeking their spiritual help and prayers.

Their only means of fulfilling their basic necessities are through selling vestments, pastries such as cookies, bread, corn chips, and so forth. But they still appreciate help from the community to help them survive.

Just recently, they have built the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe overlooking the monastery. It was designed to serve as a formation house for novices and a reception area for welcoming visitors. It was not my intention to be climbing steps but I felt like we had to go up there to witness this wonderful shrine. After reaching the peak of the shrine, I watched high above its location and felt how lucky we were to have seen the Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery.

Related posts:

1. Exploring Lake Danao National Park