A Day of Prayers at Monasterio De Tarlac

Jesus the Redeemer

As the song goes, it is a long and winding road. And once you left the city proper, the country side view of farmlands will greet you until you eventually ascend. And once you see biblical quotes beautifully planted on a road side, then, you are just few minutes away from the home of a relic from the holy cross - the Monasterio de Tarlac.

Monasterio de Tarlac is a popular tourist destination in the province of Tarlac. It is a monastery on top of Mount Resurrection, part of the Zambales Mountain Range in municipality of San Jose. In the monastery can be found a relic of the True Cross. 

There is no entrance fee to the monastery and it is open to the public daily from 7:00AM to 6:00PM. 

The Monasterio de Tarlac has 278-hectare Tarlac Ecotourism Park which was developed by the former congressman Jose "APING" Yap. It is surrounded by nature with natural and fresh air coming for the mountain. The Monasterio de Tarlac has 30-foot colossal statue of catholic's Jesus Christ overseeing the city.

King of the World

Reception, Museum, Priest's Quarter in One

Monasterio de Tarlac is run by the Servants of the Risen Christ Monastic Community that founded by Fr. Ronald Thomas Cortez in 1998. In 2005, Fr. Cortez attended the World Youth Day celebration in Germany, where he met the custodian of the relic , Msgr. Volker Bauer who was looking for someone to whom he can entrust the relic. Msgr. Volker entrusted the relic to Fr Ronald who placed the holy cross to the monastery.

Castle-like Function Hall

Mini Chapel

The Altar and the Mass Open Field 

It was believed that the relic was part of the cross discovered by Saint Helena in Jerusalem, the mother Emperor Constantine the Great. It was told that Saint Helena excavated three crosses in Jerusalem which were believed to be the crosses used during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. She brought a woman who was about to die and asked her to touch the first two crosses but nothing happened. When the third cross was touched, the dying woman was healed.

The Altar that holds Relic of the Holy Cross

Open Mass Area

Castle at the Back

The sacred relic was authenticated with papal seal. It was enshrined in a beautiful chapel on the Mountain of Resurrection in San Jose, Tarlac on January 30, 2007. The enshrinement was officiated by Archbishop Fernando Filoni who was the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines back then. The relic is enshrined beneath the chapel’s altar, held by a golden arquetta adorned with religious symbols.

Gate Top and Mountain

A Pope and a Pergola

My Mom and I

The Monasterio de Tarlac is in the Servants of the Risen Lord Monastic Community, Tarlac Ecotourism Park, Lubigan, San Jose, Tarlac. From Manila, take the North Luzon Expressway, exiting at the Santa Ines Toll Plaza in Mabalacat, Pampanga. Proceed northwards to Tarlac City. In the barangay of San Sebastian, turn left at the Tarlac-Pangasinan bypass road going to the town of Camiling. Follow the 36-kilometer backcountry but well-paved road to the barangay Lubigan in San Jose, Tarlac.

Some information were obtained here.