After Cambugahay Falls, our next stop on my itinerary were Salagdoong Forest and Salagdoong Beach but Noel asked us to check the Our Lady of Providence Church first.
Like Lazi Church, the exterior of the church showed its old beginnings. It's smaller though. Here's what the inside of this church looks like.
On the right side of the entrance was this door with a circular stained glass.
When we reached the altar, Noel said that the reason he brought us here was that he wanted to show us the statue of St. Rita of Cassia who he said is the patron of widows and the desolate. He then gave us a brief narration of how she wanted to be a nun but was instead forced by her parents to marry. The man she married was an alcoholic who was also abusive and unfaithful to her. When he was killed by his enemies, St. Rita dissuaded her two sons from avenging the death of their father to the point that she asked God to intercede. Her sons later died of natural causes.
After that, she became a nun but even her entrance was said to be a miracle as she was found by the sisters inside the convent in the morning even when the night before, the doors to the monastery were locked. It was said she was transported inside the convent by her patron saints St. John the Baptist, St. Augustine, and St. Nicholas of Tolentino. She is thus also credited as the saint of the impossible.
Despite this, Noel said that most visitors of this church would get scared once they saw St. Rita's statue up close.
And I really couldn't blame them because the statue held a skull and had such a grim expression on her face.
Before leaving the church, I took this photo of a painting on its wall.
And its bell tower.
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