Blessing of the Fire, Easter Vigil

What exactly is this thing called "Blessing of the Fire"? We've been Catholics all our life but we've never really participated in something like that. So when we were told that there's this "Easter Vigil" we decided to give it a go!

Easter Vigil, defined by Wikipedia as:

...also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in many Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Historically, it is during this service that people are baptized and that adult catechumens are received into full communion with the Church. It is held in the hours of darkness between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Day—most commonly in the evening of Holy Saturday—but is considered to be the first celebration of Easter Day, since the Christian tradition considers feasts and other days of observance where Masses are celebrated to begin at sunset of the previous day.
     In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, the Easter Vigil is the most important Mass of the liturgical year as well as the first celebration of the Gloria during the fifty-day long celebration of Easter, and is marked by the first use since the beginning of Lent of the acclamatory word "Alleluia", a distinctive feature of the liturgy of the Easter season. Similarly, in Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, the Divine Liturgy which is celebrated during the Easter Vigil is the most elaborate and important of the ecclesiastical year. The Easter Vigil has enjoyed a substantial revival among the Lutherans.

Now there are some rules to follow:

1. Ask the "regulars" or the parish exactly what time is the vigil. We arrived at 5:30 pm only to find out that it's scheduled for 8pm.
2. Ask what exact candle/bottle to bring. (See photos to know why)

By the time we got there

Mt. Makiling's Mudspring

Warning: Photo heavy entry.

What do you usually do for Holy Week? While people in Manila are off to provinces for the whole week of R&R,  people (and even tourists) in Los Baños, Laguna usually go up in Mt. Makiling for their Holy Week penitensya.

What exactly is Holy Week? Wikipedia defined it as:

Holy Week (Latin: Hebdomas Sancta or Hebdomas Maior, "Greater Week"; Greek: Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas) in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter. It includes the religious holidays of Palm Sunday,Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) and Good Friday, and lasts from Palm Sunday (or in the Eastern, Lazarus Saturday) until, but not including, Easter Sunday, as Easter Sunday is the first day of the new season of The Great Fifty Days. It commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels.

I have been to Mudsprings and Peak 2 ( highest peak of Mt. Makiling hiking trail) during my grade school years. We used to camp in Makiling Rainforest Park together with our family friends. For a change, this year ( or what seemed to be my first holy week after not observing it for six straight years) my high school friends and I decided to "hike" Mudspring for Maundy Thursday.

What exactly is "Mudspring"? Laguna Travel Guide defines it as:

The Mud Springs has been popularly but erroneously known as the crater of Mt Makiling. The Mud Springs site is actually one of the mud pots left in the mountain. "A mud pot is a type of hot spring that is formed when due to volcanic heat, sulfuric acid breaks down surrounding rocks into clay. The clay mixes with water to form mud that is very hot (80 C), sulfurous (50mg/L), very acidic (2ph) and varying in consistency and color."

We're supposed to meet at 6am in UP Main Library where we can park the cars properly and reach Mud Spring before lunch, but since some of our friends are running early morning errands and coming straight from Manila, we were able to leave at 7:30am.

By the time that we arrived, we have to listen to an orientation, assign a team leader, get the orientation stubs and trail map.

There is an entrance fee of Php5.00 each visitor that must be paid, they check your bags as well for any life-threatening apparatus.

Rules:

1. Follow entry requirements.
2. Observe access hours.
3. Use established hiking trails.
4. Camp in designated campsites.
5. Obey garbage in, garbage out rule.
6. Leave what you find.
7. Beware of obnoxious plants and animals.
8. Respect wildlife.
9. Prevent forest fire.
10. Stop vandalism.
11.  Be considerate of the other visitors, and
12. Familiarize the guide map.

Hikers