In early June 2016, I was invited to join a pilgrimage tour by the local parrish St. Ambrosius, Melati Mas, near Jakarta. The location was in the area of Kuningan near Cirebon, very close to the border from West to Central Java. The cost for the tour, food, drinks, tour leadership, entertainment was IDR 100.000 or 8 EUR,-. The duration of the drive was about 6 hours one way, most of it on the newly built toll road between Jakarta and Cirebon
The bus trip
We had a couple of committed volunteers who took over entertainment, organisation like ordering buses, ordering and distributing food. So members of our parrish were invited to share their story about God, their life, an important person in their life or just sing a song with the group. In fact all the participants of the tour shared a bit of what they have with the other members of the parrish. It was really something that Jesus taught us and our parrish put it in practice. We all tried to help the engaged members to distribute the food and drinks we pre-ordered beforehand. The toll road was newly built, smooth, going through rice fields and mountainous areas. Different from the older toll roads, there were no tellers on the gates and we need to use a bank card.
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| Our parrish sharing experiences and songs in the bus |
The pilgrimage venue in the village of Cisadana in the Kuningan area
Before we realised, we had reached the village of Cisadana on the foot hill of Mount Ceremai where the worship cave is located.. It is called Gua Maria Sawer Rahmat or Mother Mary's Cave spreading grace in abundance. From the legends I heard that the village was once very poor and the crop failed every year. After the Holy Cave was finished and active, the village farming crop started to flourish due to the grace spread by the cave. Another reason for this might be the touristic significance of the village and the very famous culinary specialties in the area
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| Climbing the steep steps of the passion walk |
We had to climb up the steps of a fairly steep hill to get to the Holy Cave. It was a little bit slippery after a prolonged period of rainy days and I can't imagine what it would be like if it had rained the day before. I pretty much admired the elderly and frail gentlemen and ladies who managed to climb up without complaining. It seems that their strong belief in God made them strong and able to do things they otherwise cannot do, like climbing a fairly long steep hill. This is normal for a seasoned trekker like me but certainly not for a less physically active and frail elderly person.
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| These are the good angels who did everything to make the tour a great experience |
There were a couple of worship stations where we were about to contemplate Jesus Christ's passion walk to Gogotha. Jesus had to bear his cross, Jesus was flogged and insulted, Jesus fell down and a stranger had been commanded to bear the cross, the woman who cleaned His face and Jesus' face was printed in the cloth. This cloth is still guarded in the Museum of Vatican. Finally we reached St Mary's cave, a worship venue with a small fountain. We met the priest who was scheduled to hold a service in the chapel. He invited us to attend the service which we did.
Our late lunch in Cirebon
We were later than usual due to some traffic jam and the additional 2 hours that we attend the beautiful Holy Mass. Our lunch in Cirebon became nearly an early dinner. As we entered the restaurant, it looked smaller than it was and the appearance was not very impressive. Just after we entered, we noticed that the restaurant had 3 levels and we were seated at the upper level. From here we could have a breath-taking view on a vast area of rice terraces and being located on a hill, we could view the city of Cirebon from up high. The restaurant itself was nicely appointed, with wooden floors and chairs in traditional Sundanese Style
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| View from Kelapa Manis restaurant on the rice fields and the city of Cirebon |
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| The local pastor Santo who unexpectedly invited us to the service in the chapel |
Last station: Trusmi batik in Cirebon
A 3 hour stay at Trusmi Batik was planned but it had to be shortened to barely 1 1/2 hour due to the unexpected events we had. I thanked God because I have been warned that Trusmi Batik was very touristy, expensive and crowded on the weekends. The Trusmi street is a well-known culinary area in Cirebon where you can sample a numerous selection of cheap traditional foods. We arrived around Iftar time during Ramadhan, so we could experience the rushing traffic and people who came to the area to buy their food for Iftar(break fasting during Ramadhan). Unfortunately we all had just eaten at the restaurant and nobody was hungry. Besides, crossing the street with the crazy traffic made me fear for my life. I just had a relaxing break and a glass of freshly squeezed frosty juice, a very well-known Iftar beverage in Indonesia.
Tip: Avoid the Trusmi Batik shop and instead shop at the neighbouring Batik shops in the same street. They are cheaper, less touristy and at least of the same quality.
The trip was the highlight of my stay in Melati Mas. I must say thank you to all the people who took so much time and effort to organise the tour. Our parrish community leader Pak Sandy and his wife, former leaders Richard and Rudy and their better halves, a lot of other comitted Christian people that I met on the prayer evenings in Melati Mas. This tour is not only a nice trip to a beautiful area on the border to central Java, it makes you contemplate about Christ's passion and his suffering, is a good exercise for young and old, a lovely tour through the mountains and rice terraces to the village of Cisadana on the foot hill of Mount Ceremai.
Members of our parrish spent a whole day on a marvelous tour, shared experiences and knowledge together, came closer to each other and practiced the teachings of Christ in their day-to-day life without any special effort
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