An egg for a prayer – St. Claire Katipunan

I took the Nursing Licensure Examination last December 2011. And as expected for any board examination, examinees visit various churches to pray for them to pass, and so I did. One of the churches we visited was St. Claire in Katipunan. Thankfully, I passed the examination and it is time to go back and give thanks to St. Claire. =)

Going there is very simple, you just have to ride the LRT2 going to Santolan and alight at Katipunan Station, South Wing. From there you can walk to your right and pass right under the bridge (refer to the picture below) and you can see vendors which leads to the church entrance.

Like we did before, I bought a tray of eggs for P35.00. The eggs are wrapped in various colors, as per the vendor, the colors signify your prayers. Blue, which I bought, is for hope, Red is for good luck, Green is for money, and I can’t remember the rest. ;p

I did a little research about the egg offerings because I’m really curious, why eggs?? I mean, is it St. Claire’s favorite food? And we even jokingly said that it is for San Pedro, so that our prayers can easily pass his gate.

“It is believed that offering eggs to the Poor Clares in exchange for prayer petition of a good weather, works. By tradition, a dozen eggs (representing the twelve months of the year) is offered even if one wishes only for a day or two without rain.” -Indeed, when I was in high school, every foundation day or any celebration of different departments, I hear my teachers say that they will offer eggs to St. Claire for a good weather.

“There really is no one true explanation how this tradition came about. But in Dr. Alejandro Roces’ book “Fiesta,” he theorized that this may have something to do with Sta. Clara’s name. “Clara” in Castillian means “a short interval of fair weather on a rainy day.” In Spanish however, “clara” pertains to the albumen or egg white. This then translates to offering claras (egg whites) to Sta. Clara to pray for a clara (fair weather) during a rainy day.”

So there..more on passing the tradition and giving meaning to it =)

Upon entering the gate of the church, you will see this huge dog, sleeping or standing at the guard post (beware for those with kids). But seriously, he is so nice, he doesn’t bark, it is like he’s been guarding the place for years…=) you can pat his head and he will just stare at you thanking you for petting him =) And yes, he is so big he looks like a boar, but I still find him cute. =)

Next to the guard house is the wishing fountain, any amount would do. But the challenge is, you gotta hit the top most part of the fountain which is really hard. But it feels like a pro once you get the shot, seriously. =) Of course, you pray before tossing your coin.

Next to the wishing fountain is St. Claire’s statue where people offer candles or sampaguitas and prayers. Prayer booklets for novena are available at the side of the statue and once you are done, you can just return it for the next users.

At the back is the church, and this is the beautiful front side of the church.

Next to St. Claire’s statue is the church, the entrance is on the left side. Of course, I wasn’t able to take a photo of the church from the inside. Last time I checked, mass schedule is  Mon-Sat 6am and Sundays at 6:30am and 5:30pm.

Right after the mass, people usually go to an area where in you will right your prayers on a piece of paper and give it to the nuns who will pray for you. Pens, pencils and papers are available there. This is also the place to give your colorful eggs. =)

Going there with my friends praying for guidance felt really good. But going there alone, thanking her for everything felt so peaceful… Yes, you can pray anywhere and any time, but a little effort with the perfect ambiance helps a lot too! =) Have a blessed Summer everyone! =)