Sta. Clara Father and Daughter

Prayer petitions and egg offerrings at Sta. Clara Convent

People come to offer eggs here to request for good weather on specified days – birthdays, wedding days or just any occasion where downpour could spoil festivities. The nuns of the Order of St. Claire of Assisi who lead lives in complete devotion to God, include such petitions in their prayers.

But appeals are not limited to weather conditions, pleas could be anything. Outside the building across the church, long tables have been laid out, occupied by people filling out slips of paper with requests for prayers. The petitions are dropped into metallic repositories that resemble ballot boxes, eventually finding their way to the hands of the nuns. A receptionist receives gifts and tributes and places them in a revolving contrivance that ingests the packages, delivering them to the unseen world behind the walls.

I chanced upon this father, kid in tow, filling up a prayer form. I wondered what he could be seeking intercession for. In his kid's face, I see nothing but hope.