328. THE SANTOS OF SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH, Intramuros

A TRIO OF ANTIQUE SAN ROQUE IN A RETABLO FRAGMENT

One of the grandest churches in the Philippines is also one of the most visited in Manila—the San Agustin Church,  founded by the pioneering Augustinian order and the third structure built on the site. It was completed in 1607, based on the design of Juan Macias, and originally named Iglesia de San Pablo. Over the years, the colonial church suffered from the Bristish sack of Manila in 1762, and a series of destructive earthquakes that toppled one tower in 1880. It was turned into a concentration camp during the 2^nd World War by the Japanese and sustained major damages, leaving the monastery in ruins. It was rebuilt after the war and the monastery was restored as a museum in the 1970s, which houses some of the most incredible ecclesiastical artifacts. The museum grounds are regularly utilized for exhibits of religious art, including the anique santo collection of noted collector Don Gregorio Araneta. 

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SAN AGUSTIN

INMACULADA CONCEPCION

SAN AGUSTIN

ST. PETER, a copy of the bronze statue in the Vatican

ECCE HOMO, from Cebu, on exhibit

STO. TOMAS DE VILLANUEVA

SAN JUAN DE SAHAGUN

STA. MONICA

NTRS. SRA. DE LA CONSOLACION Y CORREA

STA, RITA DE CASCIA

STO. SEPULCRO

SAN JOSE Y NINO JESUS

CALVARIO

VIRGEN DELA CORREA PAINTING

SAN AGUSTIN

SAN ESTEBAN MARTIR

JESUS CARRIES THE CROSS, ICON

SAN AGUSTIN

CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST AT CALVARY

SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL

STA. MONICA

CRUCIFICIXION OF CHRIST

327. THE ALTAR SANTOS OF SAN GUILLERMO CHURCH, Bacolor, Pampanga

The venerable San Guillermo Church, in the former capital of the Philippines, Bacolor, is a beautiful legacy of the Agustinos who built the church in 1576 on land donated by Don Guillermo Manabat, town founder. Completely destroyed by an earthquake, it was rebuilt in 1897 by Fray Manuel Diaz.

SAN GUILLERMO CHURCH,
wikimedia commons

The gilded retablo mayor, and the side retablos are intact—despite being half-buried in the lahar inundation of 1995 triggered by the Pinatubo eruption. They are profusely carved with baroque and rococo designs, and the richness of the details are better seen now that they have been beautifully restored. Inside the nichos are various antique  Augustinian santos from the colonial period. These, too, have been restored, repainted, and regilded under the supervision of the late Thom Joven, Pampanga’s most eminent ecclesiastical artist.

Now a tourist attraction, the San Guillermo Church continues to be a place of worship, a witness to the history and old glory of Bacolor, acclaimed for its arts and artists, hence the sobriquet—“Atenas ning Pampanga”-- the Athens of Greece.

316. THE BOHOL CHURCH MURALS

By Mary Marshall

Originally published  in Archipelago, The International Magazine of the Philippines, 1978-VI A-48. Pp. 24-26.

The church of Loboc in Bohol was built in 1602, paintings and ceilings were restored in 1927.

 Bohol island is probably  most well-known in the Philippines for its strange, humpy Chocolate Hills and its startled, saucer-eyed tarsiers. Its mefolk too have something of a reputation. Bohol’s heroes include fierce datus such as Warai Tupueng and Sikatuna (famous for his blood compact with the conquistador Legaspi), Tamblot the apostate pries, and Dagoho the outlaw and priest-killer. Not a breed to be trifled with. Nor a region where one would expect to find the flowering of Christian folk art. Nevertheless, some of the most remarkable churches in the Philippines are found in Bohol, and some of the oldest.

Baclayon. The most ancient, was built by its parishioners in 1595 to the design of Spanish priests, Juan de Torres and  Gabriel Sanchez, members of the first Jesuit mission sent to the Philippines, in 1581. Typically, it is a massive construction made from limestone blocks hewn from the quarries of Baclayon and neighboring Albuquerque. It stands confronting the sea, its massive  three-storey tower with splayed base resembling a fortress is not fortuitous. The belfry served as a citadel in which parishioners could huddle for protection when Moro pirates made one of their lightning salving raids during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The seven sacraments which correspond to the seven ages of man are also depicted in the ceiling murals.

Harassed by Moro pirates from the seas and unbelievers from the hills, Chrstian missionaries had limited success in Bohol. The initial impact of the Jesuit missions was confined to the coastal areas around Baclayon, Loboc and Dauis. Even then, it seems to have been superficial as far as most impressionable Boholanos were concerned.

In 1621,a native priest, Tamblot, incited the lowland converts to abandon the new religion. Only Lobic and Baclayon held firm in the new faith.Elsewhere, the renegades burnt villages and churches and built temples to the old gods. In 1774, another, more serious rebellion broke out. When a Spanish priest refused to give Catholic burial to a Boholano killed in a duel, the dead man’s brother Francisco Dagohoy killed he priest and formed an outlaw band in the hills. Many malcontents and rebels against Spanish rule joined him and the revolt lasted nearly 100 years.

Despite the constant challenges to Christianity to Bohol and throughout typhoons and earthquakes, the great churches of Baclayon and Loboc survived. Other damaged churches were laboriously rebuilt or repaired (Loboc in 1855 for instance, and Dauis in 1883). Today, the churches of Albuquerque, Loboc, Loon and Dauis house some remarkable ceiling morals which seem to have been first painted around the middle or later half of the last century.

Many of the murals portray scenes from the life of Christ, his mother and various saints, with San Roque and the Santo Niño especially popular subjects. Sometimes, special themes are followed, such as the Resurrection and the Ascension, or the Childhood of Christ. Sometimes, “musical” paintings are carefully selected for the rear of the church near the choir gallery. We see King David playing the harp, or an angelic trio of violinist, harpist, and flautist, with a ladylike accompanist at the piano.

In Albuquerque and Loon, , the murals include a delightful and unusual series of tableaux on the theme of the Seven Ages of Man. The various scenes illustrate events of religious significance in man’s life, from birth through baptism, first communion and confession, marriage, last rites and funeral mass.

The Ages of Man murals have great appeal. The turn of the century middle-class costumes have an evocative period flavor. In the Loon paintings, the artist allows himself some wry humor: in the scene of the first confession, a horned devil lies in wait outside the confessional for a girl who clearly has been no better than she should be.

In November 1876, the river of Loboc overflowed and flooded the town to the level of the feet of the Virgin painted on the altar reredos. The townspeople implored the help of Our Lady and her intervention in stopping the flood is commemorated with ceiling paintings.

The paintings in Loboc have very local reference. In November 1876, the waters of the river Loboc, across the street from the church, rose during a severe typhoon to the level of the feet of the Virgin of the church, in the reredos above the altar. At this pint, the flood waters were stayed and gradually receded. The miracle, attributed to the Virgin, is recalled in two of the  ceiling paintings, one a Filipino version of the biblical flood with dramatically tumbling nipa huts.

The Bohol mural painters make no claim to be Michelangelo, but their rk has vigor and sincerity hich endows their church interiors with a warmth and life missinh from many more austerely or conventionally modernized Spanish churches elsewehere. For one travel-strained visitor least, their discovery was truly a serendipity.

303. THE CARVINGS OF SAN AGUSTIN

Santo Tomas de Villanueva, bas-relief 18” x 24”.

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi officially established the colonial city of manila on June 24, 1571. He organized the local government and laid down the plans of what later would be known as Intramuros, the Walled City.

He was following the orders of the Real Audiencia in Spain during the reign of Philip II. “Highest among the design of His Majesty is the spreading of the Catholic faith”. Going into details, the royal ordinance instructed: “Alongsie the fortress, you should have a church built where Mss shall be held and nearby should be a house for the religious..”

Cherubs serving as column support for the lectern, carving 8” x 19”

Fires burned down the church and the two others that took its place. In 1599, the cornerstone of the actual church hich stands today was laid by the Mexican bishop, Pedro Gurto. The original plan was laid by Juan Macias, but he died before the church and the monastery were finally finished in 1607. Antonio Herera, an Augustinian lay brother who was supposedly a relative of the architect lf Escorial, took over and finished the work.

The present church is fully 371 years old an d has withstood earthquakes and invasions during the colonial era, profanation and bombings during World War II. In the final dys of the battle for the liberationof Manila in 1946, the church and the monastery became a refugee camp for nearly seven thousand people. When the entire Intramuros was razed by nearly 300 bombs that were dropped each day by American fighter planes, only San Agustin remained intact—a true miracle. A visible prayer, it stood alone amid a devastated city that once held as many as twenty equally old and beautiful churches.

Cherubs and dragons serving as column support for the base of the lectern, carving 12” x 9”

The façade of San Agustin Church is classic. Four twin columns support the gable with its rose window. A cross tops the central pediment. The beautifully carved main door depicts St. Augustine, patron of the church and of the order. Four granite lions, carved in the Chinese manner, guard the bases of the columns. They match the two granite lions at the entrance to the patio.

An odd note about the facade: one tower is notbly missing. It was taken down after it cracked during the earthquake of 1880. Which is a pity. From the tower hanged a most historic bell which rang only to announce good news—and very bad news, such as big fires which often engulfed the Walled City.

Purgatory, bas relief, 2 x 5”

The central nave is long and high, punctuated with circular windows through which the light streams in. Two side aisles led to ten chapels which were donated by the leading clans and families of Manila. One of these chapels is dedicated to Miguel Lopez de Legazpi,who died in 1572, only a year after he founded the city. He was buried in the church he provided first for and his remains have been kept in San Agustin ever since.

Beside the church is the monastery whose lower cloisters are now a museum housing a collection of colonial Philippine art. Among the pintings are huge oils that commemorate the life of St. Augustine, his mother St. Monico and other scholars and holy men who belonged to the Augustinian order.

Close up view of the pulpit’s panel.

The large refectory, with seventeenth-century frescoes on the ceiling, contains religious statuary and paintings as well as mission furniture from three centuries of the Spanish colonial era. The library contains books and documents of the once extensive San Agustin archives. Among those on display is a handpainted 17^th century Missal, opened to the page of the Christmas Mass. From the windows of the library may be seen the botanical garden of father Manuel Blanco whose book (published in the 19^th century) on tropical plants and flowers is a much cherished volume.

The finest examples of woodcarvings may be found in San Agustin; within the church and throughout the cloisters. Stunning is the choir—fro the carvings on its woodwork and on its furniture. The choir seats, done in the Renaissance style, are often enthusiastically called “jewels of art”. They are in hardwood with bone inlay. Consisting of 68 seats supported by colossal arches, it dates back to the 17^th century, the work of artisans from Canton.

 Full-length view of the pulpit with canopy, bas relief

San Agustin is a witness to Philippine colonial history. The very first school in the country ws opened in its premises; it housed the first printing press; later it opened the first sanitarium. During the calamities, it was always a  refuge. But it was not spared from damage, sacking and looting. During the British Occupation of Manila in 1762, sacred vessels, religious art treasures and the library of more than 3,000 volumes with manuscripts and incunabula were stolen.

In San Agustin was held the first national synod in 1581 which is of utmost significance for it compelled the colonial government to abolish slavery. In San Agustin, too, was signed the capitulation of Manila from the Spaniards to the Americans in 1898. There is a particular irony here—from it was in San Agustin in 1581 that the legal bsis for the colony was calrified. It may truly be said that the most outstanding carving on San Agustin is the inscription of history itself on its very walls.