Strange Love

Pueblo de Argao, Cebu - What do you do if you just met someone who instantly falls in love with you and asks you to go off with him to some far away place in the middle of the night?

Come with me tonight. I will show you a place and tell you a story. My eyes instantly lit up like a bonfire whose last embers have caught their second wind. Off we sped into the night in a quiet highway down south of Cebu. The final turn to the left led us to an old steel gate where the gatekeeper plucked the remaining notes of his seasoned guitar at the merciful hour of three in the morning.

Where am I? Clad in my mini skirt and high heels, I stood in front of a big blue neon-lighted sign that read "Prayer Room". Outside was a pair of leather sandals that belonged to the resident priest in black habit who seemed to be stoned in prayer. I rolled my eyes and thought, okay Angel Michael, what are you up to?

This stranger took my hand and led me to an old stone church erected in the late 1700's. He slowly whispered to my ear, "Years ago, my parents got married here at St. Michael Parish Church. I promised myself if I ever find the woman I love so much, we will be married in this church. I don't know why I love you so much but I want you to be my wife and bear our children. Will you marry me?" Those sincere words warmed my heart as the cool night breeze caressed my bare legs that sent chills up my spine. I was silent. My loving presence was already enough to make his wish come true.

Under the moonlit sky, he held my hand as we walked up a long pathway by the acacia tree around the bend, leading to a secret garden. Each step I took seemed like a walk to the altar. At that moment, I stopped questioning what era I regressed into or what on earth I am doing there in the middle of the night with this stranger. We sat under a tree as he told me the story of the wrath of St. Michael's missing golden sword as I closed my eyes and savored that moment where our surreal existence seemed to be encapsulated in an invisible force field that neither time nor space can penetrate. It just felt so good to be loved.

Wait a minute. What have I wished for again? I was just silently thinking of the possible existence of a super sweet and romantic mortal, who knows what he wants and is not afraid to get it, loves fearlessly in the open, and is passionate for hitting the roads spontaneously. At an instant, here he is! Like a thief in the night, taking me to places I've dreamt of going. My thoughts come out of his mouth like I was just talking to myself. Do I dare ask who he is?

He watched me sleep for almost three hours outside the gates of the Virgin Mary Shrine at Simala. I was tired and halfway through my tantrums, I mumbled that I would like to have a word with the Virgin on what this nonsense was all about and this better be worth waiting for. He just laughed at me and told me to go back to sleep. I woke up as the sun glistened on the windshield as he patiently stared at me. You look like a baby angel when you sleep, so holy. Was he talking to me? I looked out the window. AVE MARIA. Open 8 a.m. Close 6 p.m.

The gates finally opened as Angel Michael grinned at me. An unfinished church stood on the other side of the hill where the miraculous shrine of the Blessed Virgin was kept. It was worth the wait as I was in an express lane to an audience with Virgin Mary and halfway feeling so bare in my mini skirt and high heels. Good thing a sarong was provided to wrap my bare legs as shoes were taken off at the bottom of the stairs. I signed the guest book as pad papers were provided for your petitions and pasalamats. I was intoxicated by the sweet scent of roses that filled the hall and being there with the Blessed Virgin was a wish already granted.

When a stranger comes into your life and showers you with love, thank that person. You may not be ready to return that love right at that moment nor are you obliged to do so. You may not fully understand the strange situation you're in. You may have the tendency to be overwhelmed and disoriented. You may be an answer to someone's prayer or you may be someone's wish come true. Whatever it is, be thankful that love has found you and you are no longer a stranger to love.