It was springtime when I was in Annandale, Virginia. I was told that it was the best time of the year. Indeed it was magical. I was so grateful to be there.
It was a happy reunion for my husband Benny and his younger brother Dennis Soliven (who were roommates when they were kids back home in Manila). Dennis’ lovely wife Celeste Alinea Soliven is my favorite sister-in-law. We are as close as real sisters, which makes being married to brothers double the fun.
Ever hospitable Dennis and Celeste insisted on being our personal tour guides. They enthusiastically drove us around to view the wonders of a country that has been very good to their family.
Their adorable twins Cami and Pio were on spring break. It was a special time for all of us to be together.
In keeping with this blessed season, they carefully organized an itinerary that included an Easter pilgrimage to places close to their hearts.
From their beautiful home in Annandale where we stayed, several scenic states were just a relaxing drive away.
Our tour began in Washington DC. “This is one of my favorite cities,” claimed Dennis because designer Charles Enfant designed it using Paris as his inspiration.
I gasped when I saw clouds of pink blossoms around the Tidal Basin. The Cherry Blossom trees were in full bloom! This delicate gift of 3,000 trees from the Mayor of Tokyo to the United States government given in 1912 is as well known around the world as other landmarks of the nation’s capital such as the US Capitol and the White House. They continue to celebrate friendship, and rebirth, reliably showing up every year for a fleeting two weeks to officially welcome spring.
My brilliant brother-in-law Dennis Soliven was one of the 20 “topnotchers” of the Philippine Bar (He was No. 17). He completed his Masters in Law at the University of Michigan. He pointed out to us the World Bank where he currently works as a lawyer. Then he took us to the nearby St. Stephen Martyr, an elegant church at 2436 Pennsylvania Avenue. I was deeply moved by the homily of Monsignor Edward J. Filardi, the parish priest. Have you ever met a priest who looks like Richard Gere? He really does. I had to look thrice to make sure it wasn’t jet lag and I wasn’t in the movies but in church. If you are ever in this area, I encourage you to attend the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass. He is an excellent speaker, personable, and after Mass he greets all out of town guests.
Celeste shared that during a recollection, Monsignor Filardi brought out the crucifix he was wearing for all to see. Then solemnly he declared that, “the cross is a tangible sign of God’s great love for us, it must therefore be worn with much pride and reverence.”
My husband and son Vincent enjoyed the proliferation of museums in DC, all for free. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that not only were there various shopping outlets, supermarkets and exciting restaurants in Virginia. Everywhere we went there was quite a preponderance of the most picturesque churches.
There is a practice we learned when we were kids. Whenever you enter a church for the first time, you must make three wishes. Joyfully, I had my fill of wishes in all the churches I got to visit.
Celeste took me to attend morning Masses at St. Ambrose in Annandale where we enjoyed a stunning indoor resurrection garden. We visited St. Michael’s Catholic Church awed by its domed ceiling in colored stained glass mosaic. The parishioners took great pride in the 24 years of unbroken exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Michael’s. Despite snowstorms and hurricanes, they managed to keep Jesus company night and day. One of the most magnificent stone churches I had ever been to was the 100-year-old St. James in Falls Church where we heard mass on Holy Thursday.
On Easter Sunday, we all heard Mass in Christ the Redeemer church in Sterling, Virginia. The voices of a delightful Filipino choir led by Paul Hontiveros, his wife Carisse and daughter Cerissa (who sang like an angel) blended so beautifully. Celeste joyfully shared, “We are blessed with a lot of wonderful friends who have likewise settled here.”
After Mass we headed on to the charming home of Benjie, Magoo and little Paulo Escay in Falls Church for the traditional Easter egg hunt. This lovable family welcomed us with open arms and a table laden with a sumptuous buffet of comfort food, which included homemade beef tapa, chorizo, farm fresh eggs cooked three ways, garlic rice, thick hot Spanish chocolate and Manchego cheese.
Magoo Aquino Escay, a graduate of St. Theresa’s College who now works in the World Bank in DC, is a kitchen goddess whose passion is cooking for friends. She made my mornings a joy to wake up to because of an ample supply of homebaked goodies from her kitchen. Her buttery banana bread, whole wheat pandesal and baklava were unforgettable. So was her unending kindness. Benjie Escay is an accounting wiz with a heart of gold. This gentleman from Bacolod is a devout church usher who has never missed daily Mass since the age of 18. He immediately won us over with his gentle, accommodating and thoughtful manners. Though we just met, it’s like I’ve known them for ages. Their friendship, which I so enjoyed during my stay, is one of God’s greatest gifts.
Over the weekend, on to The Grotto at Emmitsburg in Maryland we went. An hour’s drive from DC was this beautiful mountain shrine devoted to our Mother Mary, visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year from all over the world. It features one of the oldest American replicas of the Lourdes shrine in France, built only 21 years after the apparition of Mary at Lourdes in 1858. For decades before that, it was a site for prayer and devotion beloved by many important American Catholic leaders, including Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American woman to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
In its natural splendor and peaceful stillness, many had found spiritual refreshment, healing and a deeper holiness. As we walked up to the grotto to light our candles and drop off our prayer intentions, Dennis and Celeste related their first visit. They fervently prayed for a child. A year later they were blessed with not just one child but beautiful twins. Their son Pio looks like daddy Dennis and their daughter Cami looks just like Mommy Celeste. Talk about answered specific prayers. Since then they have been coming back to this shrine. As the twins happily filled their drinking bottles, Celeste urged me to drink from the spring of fresh holy water that flows daily from the mountain. In the scenic Glass Chapel we said our special prayers and admired an exhilarating view of the forested valley below.
We celebrated our happy blessings over a delicious lunch at Carriage House Inn. This restaurant owned by the Hance family likewise attracted many pilgrims into its comfortable country atmosphere in a building dating circa 1857. Their signature crab cakes, seafood chowder, lemon poppy-seed cake and MJ, the friendliest server, made it most memorable. Little Pio, extremely pleased with his food, exclaimed, “I love this place!”
Out in the gardens, I marveled at the springtime flowers blooming in riotous colors. Their fragrance caressed my soul like an angel’s prayer. It was a beautiful season. The Lord has risen. Even nature rejoices.
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