St. James the Great
OK, I lied. This is the last short post. Sorry, I just couldn't let the day pass without posting this.
Above, a picture of the posh St. James the Great parish church's high altar in swanky Alabang, one of the wealthiest districts in Manila. The particular suburb in which this church is located is home to some of the oldest, most venerable families of the country. It is a veritable playground of the Spanish mestizeria, the relatively few of them still remaining in the country. What's interesting is that this church was built only within the last decade, having been completed, to the best of my memory, in 1995, blessed by no less than Jaime Cardinal Sin himself. I estimate this retablo to be at the very least 25 to 30 feet high. It is certainly one of the most beautiful built in recent memory.
The usus antiquor was celebrated here on November 14. What a sight it must have been to see the ancient rite celebrated on such a slice of heaven as this.
2 comments:
A joke has it that the patron saints for these wealthy parishes are picked on the basis of their wealthy, human patrons. For instance, another wealthy parish, Santuario de San Antonio, was named for Don Antonio Roxas; there's another church, Santa Susanna, whose wealthy patroness was a Dona Susanna... I'll try to dig up who exactly St. James was named for-- and no, I'm not talking about the saint! :D
Wow! I like...
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