Hallelujah!

Today must be the day 99% of Facebook users are wearing their piety on their statuses, 

flashing the copy-pasteable greeting "Happy Birthday, Mama Mary."

I don't have a problem with that.

Some may simply be bandwagon riders; others devout followers.

I, for one, belong to the latter group since I was a kid.

My aunt, who's now a nun based in Italy, has raised me to a strong Marian belief 

that led me to a Mother-centric inclination to demonstrate love.

That which led me to treat my future relationships 

like my partners were fragile flowers to behold and take care of.

That which led me to be an eventual devotee of Baclaran Church's Mother of Perpetual Help (barely missing the important Wednesdays, busy or not, for 3 consecutive years now)

That which led me to promise my mom I won't leave her no matter what.

Not that I don't love my dad or love him less but as I was also born on Immaculate Conception Day, I, more often than not, tend to show compassion more for women than men.

I, more often than not, cry to Mama Mary for emotional comfort or spiritual bridge to God.

I, more often than not, am haunted by the pangs of conscience and even remorse seeing mothers astray in the streets, 

cradling their children like I were them.

But no, this post isn't entirely about Mama Mary.

My love for Her has already stood tests against tests that commemorating her on the Internet would personally be more an artificial & superficial gesture than sacred and spiritual.

Besides, my love for Her is not an annual tradition; it's my lifetime allegiance.

I'm singing Hallelujah, even on behalf of my dad, because 

a miracle has just occurred in our neighborhood Mercury Drug...

Virgo Sampaloc is back!

Yes, for the longest time, it was out of stock in all, I mean ALL Mercury Drug stores where they're commonly sold.

To the extent I once linked this to the Rapture frenzy 

blazing across the globe.

May I disclaim though that I'm not associating 

Virgo Sampaloc with the Virgin Mary.

If anything, I'm relating it more to my dad who's likewise a sampaloc lover.

Hallelujah!