View allAll Photos Tagged Catechism
From Wikipedia: The Grand Marian Procession is intended to promote religious catechism through publicly parading images outside the Manila cathedral on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
In addition, the Cofradia is known for selecting more than ninety of the most prominent and liturgically inspiring Marian images in the country, most notably the ones featured, as the canonically crowned images in the Philippines, such as the Our Lady of La Naval de Manila and Our Lady of Manaoag. The event is often chaperoned by the Armed Forces of the Philippines who sponsors the security of the event.
The town of Morong traces its origins to the pioneering work of the Franciscans Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa. Both were responsible for starting most of the lake town mission in 1578. Fr. Plasencia was well known for his mastery of Tagalog and is credited with compiling a dictionary of the vernacular and writing a draft of a catechism which is later used for composing the Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book printed in the Philippines.
It was not until 1586, that Morong had a friar permanently assigned to attend to the people. The church, dedicated to St. Jerome, stood on the opposite bank of Morong River where the church stands presently. But in 1612 a conflagration consumed the town and with it the church. The townsite was transferred to its present position in 1617. A new church was completed in 1620. The church had remained substantially unchanged until 1850-53, when Fr. Maximo Rico commissioned Bartolome Palatino, a native of Paete, to renovate the facade and build a bell tower. In 1962, the church interior was renovated and facade coated with Portland cement. During the renovation, the dimensions of the windows along the nave were increased and other openings added to the wall adjacent to the convento. The convento is presently a school, although a room on the ground floor adjacent to the church has been set aside for a Blessed Sacrament room.
The Morong facade and bell tower is easily the most striking of all church facades along Laguna de Bay. Frequently photographed and described as baroque, the facade/bell tower is more properly described as neo-baroque because the baroque period ended in the Philippines before 1780. The central portion of the facade surges outward and the catenated balustrade above give the whole a dynamic felling. Various decorative elements, some Mexican in origin, give the facade a richness characteristic of Baroque. Four angels, representing the cardinal virtues, stand at the corners of the bell tower. Fr. Felix Huerta, writing in 1852, states that the facade had finials shaped as jars and shells used for illuminating it.
It is said that it was built by Chinese craftsmen as evidence: two Chinese lion sculptures ( a boy and a girl lion ) at the entrance to the steep driveway. Unfortunately one lion, said to be the girl lion was stolen early year 2000- 2005. Local folklore said that the female lion has a hidden treasure inside it. While the other lion; the Male lion, is safe guarded at the St. Jerome school vicinity.
The stone and mortar church which has a three-story facade, and an octagonal bell tower whose cross is illuminated at night and can be seen from the surrounding countryside. The bell tower of the church is used by local fisher man in the nearby towns as a light house when fishing at night and during the storm. Its Frontispiece and the belfry were renovated by Bartolome Palatino of Paete, between 1850-1853.
Although the church interior was damaged by war, a few elements are worth noting, namely, the crocodile motif carved on the supporting brackets of the choir loft; the bas relief of the Baptism of Jesus in the baptistery, and the image of Saint Jerome on a side altar.
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
Tower Street, Dudley.
Below is an entry from Blocksidges Almanac in 1887
BAYLIES' CHARITY SCHOOL.
This Charity School is situated in Tower Street, and was established in
1732. The boys attcnd every Lord's Day at the Unitarian Meeting House,
Wolverhampton Street, during Divine Service.
The number of boys on the books is 230, seventy-five of whom are clothed
annually. Master—Mr. H. A. Lewis. Assistants—Mr. W. J. Chance, Mr.
F. Willetts, and Mr. James Childs.
The Trustees are Messrs. George Thompson, Henry Wood, Edward
Grainger, John Richards, Edward Harper, and John Finch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Baylies's were members of the Old Meeting House, Dudley. The brothers Robert and Samuel with their sister Ann having prospered in life and having some idea of the benefits which might accrue to the rising generation, endowed and founded the school bearing their name in Pease Lane, now Tower Street, in 1832. From their tastes, which were mainly educative, we infer from many incidents, that they were of a literary nature, and somewhat in advance of the age.
As all education seemed to be incomplete without a Catechism, the Baylies's being Nonconformist chose and included in their scheme the Assembly's Shorter Catechism as being least Anglican.
The origin of the 'Protestant Dissenters' in Dudley dated from the ejection of the 2000 ministers occasioned by the Act of Nonconformity, which came into force on St Bartholomew's Day, August 24th, 1662. ... In the Birmingham 'Church and King Riots', June 1791, ... many of the chapels round about were dismantled, the Dudley Old Meeting House being among the number.
As stated before, the Baylies's possibly were of this Nonconforming body.
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
The church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont originated in the abbey of Sainte-Genevieve, where the eponymous saint had been buried in the 6th century. Devoted to the Virgin Mary, then to St. John the Apostle, the place was too small to accommodate all the faithful. In 1222,Pope Honorius III authorized the establishment of an autonomous church, which was devoted this time to St Etienne, then the patron saint of the old cathedral of Paris.
Soon, the new building was overwhelmed by an increasingly dense population: theSorbonne and many colleges were located on the territory of the parish. It was enlarged in 1328, but a complete reconstruction became necessary from the 15th century. In 1492, theGénovéfain monks donated a portion of their land for the construction of the new church.
This involved several steps. Under the direction of architect Stephen Viguier, the apse and the bell tower was sketched in 1494, the first two bells were cast in 1500. The choir offlamboyant Gothic, was completed in 1537 and the following year, it was the turn of the frame to be raised. The loft was built around 1530-1535.
In 1541, Guy, Bishop of Megara, blessed the altars of the chapels of the apse. The same year, the parish awarded contracts for the windows and statues from Parisian artisans. The nave, from the Renaissance period, was not hunched before 1584. The first stone of the facade was laid in 1610 by Marguerite de Valois, who had agreed to do so in a personal donation of 3000 pounds.
The church was dedicated on 25 February 1626 by Jean-François de Gondi, first archbishop of Paris, Cardinal de Retz's uncle. Nevertheless, developments continued: in 1636, the organ was installed, the work of Pierre Pescheur.
In 1651, a new pulpit was installed. It was also adjusted for the local wardens and housing for the priests.
During the 17th and 18th century, the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont enjoyed great prestige. It was the scene of great processions where the shrine of Sainte-Genevieve went to Notre Dame and subsequently returned to his church. It also housed the remains of Pierre Perrault, the painter Eustache Le Sueur and Blaise Pascal. Those of Racine andIsaac de Sacy Lemaistre were also transferred in 1711 from Port-Royal in Saint-Etienne.
During the French Revolution, the church was first closed and then turned into a "Temple of Filial Piety." Catholic worship was restored in 1801, benefiting from the Concordat. The following year, the demolition of the abbey church of Sainte-Genevieve Abbey and the breakthrough Street Clovis made St. Stephen an independent building. Under the Second Empire, the church was restored byVictor Baltard: the front was raised and the statues destroyed by the revolutionaries, were returned. Baltard also built the chapel of catechisms.
The 19th century was marked by many events. On 10 January 1805 Pope Pius VII celebratedMass in the church. In 1833, Frederic Ozanam, a parishioner of St. Stephen, founded with friends the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. On 3 January 1857 Bishop Marie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour, was assassinated with cries of "Down with the goddesses!" by the priest Jean-Louis Verger, opposed to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. A plaque at the entrance to the nave marks the grave of the prelate, who was to inaugurate the novena of St. Genevieve. The occultist Eliphas Levi was indirectly involved in this tragic event.
On 23 August 1997 Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass there during the visit to Paris on the occasion of World Youth Day.
The church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont originated in the abbey of Sainte-Genevieve, where the eponymous saint had been buried in the 6th century. Devoted to the Virgin Mary, then to St. John the Apostle, the place was too small to accommodate all the faithful. In 1222,Pope Honorius III authorized the establishment of an autonomous church, which was devoted this time to St Etienne, then the patron saint of the old cathedral of Paris.
Soon, the new building was overwhelmed by an increasingly dense population: theSorbonne and many colleges were located on the territory of the parish. It was enlarged in 1328, but a complete reconstruction became necessary from the 15th century. In 1492, theGénovéfain monks donated a portion of their land for the construction of the new church.
This involved several steps. Under the direction of architect Stephen Viguier, the apse and the bell tower was sketched in 1494, the first two bells were cast in 1500. The choir offlamboyant Gothic, was completed in 1537 and the following year, it was the turn of the frame to be raised. The loft was built around 1530-1535.
In 1541, Guy, Bishop of Megara, blessed the altars of the chapels of the apse. The same year, the parish awarded contracts for the windows and statues from Parisian artisans. The nave, from the Renaissance period, was not hunched before 1584. The first stone of the facade was laid in 1610 by Marguerite de Valois, who had agreed to do so in a personal donation of 3000 pounds.
The church was dedicated on 25 February 1626 by Jean-François de Gondi, first archbishop of Paris, Cardinal de Retz's uncle. Nevertheless, developments continued: in 1636, the organ was installed, the work of Pierre Pescheur.
In 1651, a new pulpit was installed. It was also adjusted for the local wardens and housing for the priests.
During the 17th and 18th century, the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont enjoyed great prestige. It was the scene of great processions where the shrine of Sainte-Genevieve went to Notre Dame and subsequently returned to his church. It also housed the remains of Pierre Perrault, the painter Eustache Le Sueur and Blaise Pascal. Those of Racine andIsaac de Sacy Lemaistre were also transferred in 1711 from Port-Royal in Saint-Etienne.
During the French Revolution, the church was first closed and then turned into a "Temple of Filial Piety." Catholic worship was restored in 1801, benefiting from the Concordat. The following year, the demolition of the abbey church of Sainte-Genevieve Abbey and the breakthrough Street Clovis made St. Stephen an independent building. Under the Second Empire, the church was restored byVictor Baltard: the front was raised and the statues destroyed by the revolutionaries, were returned. Baltard also built the chapel of catechisms.
The 19th century was marked by many events. On 10 January 1805 Pope Pius VII celebratedMass in the church. In 1833, Frederic Ozanam, a parishioner of St. Stephen, founded with friends the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. On 3 January 1857 Bishop Marie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour, was assassinated with cries of "Down with the goddesses!" by the priest Jean-Louis Verger, opposed to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. A plaque at the entrance to the nave marks the grave of the prelate, who was to inaugurate the novena of St. Genevieve. The occultist Eliphas Levi was indirectly involved in this tragic event.
On 23 August 1997 Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass there during the visit to Paris on the occasion of World Youth Day.
By Wikipedia
www.sriyantras.com/christian-symbols.html
Hundreds Of High Resolution Christian Symbols in Mandala Form. The Symbols Of The Cross and The Star Of Bethlehem Drawn In Mandala Formation
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
This church, now demolished, was built c 1822 while Fr Nicholas O'Connor was parish priest. 'Lewis' Topographical Dictionary' (published 1837) mentions that the building was not yet complete though. Bishop James Doyle (JKL) noted in 1823 that the church stands with house and garden adjoining. Also, that two Masses are celebrated there on Sundays; also vespers; and that Catechism classes are 'taught by pious persons but no Confraternity nor library.'
The present parish church was opened in September 1965 while Fr Thomas Browne was parish priest.
Postcard held by the Delany Archive: www.delanyarchive.ie. Document code: P10/1.
Our images are copyright. Please contact us in advance for permission if you wish to reproduce images (including on other websites): delanyarchive@carlowcollege.ie.
The town of Morong traces its origins to the pioneering work of the Franciscans Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa. Both were responsible for starting most of the lake town mission in 1578. Fr. Plasencia was well known for his mastery of Tagalog and is credited with compiling a dictionary of the vernacular and writing a draft of a catechism which is later used for composing the Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book printed in the Philippines.
It was not until 1586, that Morong had a friar permanently assigned to attend to the people. The church, dedicated to St. Jerome, stood on the opposite bank of Morong River where the church stands presently. But in 1612 a conflagration consumed the town and with it the church. The townsite was transferred to its present position in 1617. A new church was completed in 1620. The church had remained substantially unchanged until 1850-53, when Fr. Maximo Rico commissioned Bartolome Palatino, a native of Paete, to renovate the facade and build a bell tower. In 1962, the church interior was renovated and facade coated with Portland cement. During the renovation, the dimensions of the windows along the nave were increased and other openings added to the wall adjacent to the convento. The convento is presently a school, although a room on the ground floor adjacent to the church has been set aside for a Blessed Sacrament room.
The Morong facade and bell tower is easily the most striking of all church facades along Laguna de Bay. Frequently photographed and described as baroque, the facade/bell tower is more properly described as neo-baroque because the baroque period ended in the Philippines before 1780. The central portion of the facade surges outward and the catenated balustrade above give the whole a dynamic felling. Various decorative elements, some Mexican in origin, give the facade a richness characteristic of Baroque. Four angels, representing the cardinal virtues, stand at the corners of the bell tower. Fr. Felix Huerta, writing in 1852, states that the facade had finials shaped as jars and shells used for illuminating it.
It is said that it was built by Chinese craftsmen as evidence: two Chinese lion sculptures ( a boy and a girl lion ) at the entrance to the steep driveway. Unfortunately one lion, said to be the girl lion was stolen early year 2000- 2005. Local folklore said that the female lion has a hidden treasure inside it. While the other lion; the Male lion, is safe guarded at the St. Jerome school vicinity.
The stone and mortar church which has a three-story facade, and an octagonal bell tower whose cross is illuminated at night and can be seen from the surrounding countryside. The bell tower of the church is used by local fisher man in the nearby towns as a light house when fishing at night and during the storm. Its Frontispiece and the belfry were renovated by Bartolome Palatino of Paete, between 1850-1853.
Although the church interior was damaged by war, a few elements are worth noting, namely, the crocodile motif carved on the supporting brackets of the choir loft; the bas relief of the Baptism of Jesus in the baptistery, and the image of Saint Jerome on a side altar.
Tombstone of Methodist minister and publisher, William Briggs (September 9, 1836 - November 5, 1922. Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Canada. Spring morning, 2021. Pentax K1 II.
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/briggs_william_15E.html
BRIGGS, WILLIAM, Methodist minister and publisher; b. 9 Sept. 1836 in Banbridge (Northern Ireland), son of Thomas Briggs and Mary ——; m. 27 Aug. 1868 Rosalie Marian Clarke (d. 1919) in Montreal, and they had a son; d. 5 Nov. 1922 in Port Credit, Ont.
William Briggs was born into a Scottish-Irish family. His mother died when he was six. Around this time the family moved to Liverpool, England, where Briggs was educated at Mount Street Grammar School and Liverpool Collegiate Institute. He subsequently acquired some commercial training, but soon rejected the idea of a business career. According to the Reverend John Saltkill Carroll*, Briggs experienced “an undeniable conversion” in boyhood, and he was soon preaching in and around Liverpool. He immigrated to the Canadas in his early twenties and was introduced into the Canada Conference of the Methodist Church. Received on trial as a lay preacher at Durham (Ormstown), Lower Canada, in 1859, he was ordained into the ministry in 1863. During the next 15 years he served at churches in Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal, London, Cobourg, and Belleville.
By the late 1870s Briggs was at the height of a successful ministerial career. In 1876 he had become pastor at the centre of Canadian Methodism: Metropolitan Church in Toronto. Though little is known of his religious or social views, he was a popular preacher, by all accounts one who combined theology with humour and pragmatism. “While others have been best at first, and have gradually degenerated into mere dawdling, goody-goody talkers,” one newspaper reported, “Mr. Briggs has gone steadily forward in pulpit power, in broad mental culture, and in general excellence and influence.” His administrative abilities had been recognized with appointments as financial secretary (1874) and secretary (1876-77) of the Toronto Conference and chairman of the district (1875).
In February 1879, as part of a reorganization of the church’s publishing wing in Toronto, the Methodist Book and Publishing House, Briggs was elected book steward, or business manager. The house was then a small bookstore and plant that sold bibles, hymn books, catechisms, commentaries, biographies, and Sunday school books, printed such publications as the Christian Guardian, and did a small amount – two or three titles a year – of original publishing. Under Briggs’s leadership, it was to become one of the most important Canadian publishing houses by the end of the century.
As book steward, Briggs continued to concentrate on church-related material; the output of Sunday school publications, in particular, expanded greatly. However, with the house firmly established as a profitable business and ensconced in new quarters in 1889, his energies turned to the development of a secular list. The number of British and American works that it reprinted rose dramatically; non-religious works appeared under the imprint “William Briggs.” The firm also entered the school-textbook market and was active in commercial job printing.
Perhaps most important, Briggs oversaw a significant increase in the number of Canadian publications. By the 1890s his house was publishing about 20 original works each year. Some were about religion or were written by Methodist scholars, among them George John Blewett*, but new subject areas were also developed, especially history, fiction, and poetry. Most of the titles in these areas dealt with Canadian subjects. Indeed, the Methodist Book and Publishing House consciously presented itself as a publisher of Canadian works, frequently emphasizing the patriotic and nation-building aspects of its activities. Briggs was aware that a market was developing for books by Canadian authors and dealing with Canadian themes, and his success lay in his ability to respond to this cultural nationalism. Possessed of sharp critical and commercial faculties and capable of gauging public tastes, Briggs provided opportunities for Canadian authors, offering them encouraging editors such as Edward Samuel Caswell*, and he trained a new generation of publishers. Among the bestsellers to emanate from his house were Songs of a sourdough (1907) by Robert William Service* and Sowing seeds in Danny (1908) by Helen Letitia McClung [Mooney*].
Briggs’s involvement with books did not curtail his participation in other areas of the church. He continued to preach and was a delegate to every General Conference between 1874 and 1918. As well, he was a delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States (Washington, 1882) and to ecumenical conferences in Washington (1891) and London (1901). Awarded an honorary dd in 1886 by Victoria University in Cobourg, he was a member of its board of regents in 1906–7. He also held positions outside the church: he became a member of Toronto’s Board of Trade in 1898 and served terms as president of the Master Printers’ and Bookbinders’ Association of Toronto.
Accounts of Briggs often mentioned his blend of personal sincerity, geniality, and commercial aggressiveness. In 1880 John Carroll described him physically: medium in height and weight, “oval yet full-faced, with a noticeably well-developed head, beyond the average size.” “As a man,” Carroll continued, “he is modest without bashfulness; as a Christian, religious without cant; as a preacher, fervent and eloquent without rant; as a platform speaker, ready, pointed, and pertinent; and as a Connexional business man, capable and successful without being fussy and pretentious.”
In the last decade of Briggs’s stewardship, original publishing declined. He seemed more concerned with the erection of a substantial new building in 1913-15 and the sale of foreign books (agency publishing), a valuable part of the business. The General Conference named him book steward emeritus in 1918, when he was succeeded by the Reverend Samuel Wesley Fallis, and he stepped down altogether in 1919. On 1 July of that year the Methodist Book and Publishing House was renamed Ryerson Press after its founder, Egerton Ryerson*, and in 1920 it began a fresh phase under its new editor, Lorne Albert Pierce*. At a time when religious impulses were expressing themselves more and more in secular form, Briggs had steered the house away from its earlier focus on creed and narrow denominationalism and had been instrumental in its major expansion. As the Bookseller and Stationer (Toronto) commented, during his career as steward the name of William Briggs “became a household word wherever books were read in Canada.”
Briggs died in 1922 at his son’s home in Port Credit and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto. He left an estate worth more than $80,524, a personal testament to the sound business sense of a popular Methodist preacher.
Church of the Holy Ghost was completed in the 1360’s and except the baroque spire, it has retained its original medieval exterior. The tower bell was made in 1433, and was the oldest in Estonia. The painted clock on its facade is the oldest public timekeeper in Tallinn. The altar, commissioned from Berndt Notke in 1483, is one of the most precious medieval works of art in Estonia. The church also holds an important place in Estonian cultural history: the first Estonian sermons were preached here; the Livonian chronicler Balthasar Russow worked here as a teacher in the late 16th century; and Johann Koell, a pastor at the church, is considered to be the author of the first Estonian book, a catechism published in 1535.
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The town of Morong traces its origins to the pioneering work of the Franciscans Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa. Both were responsible for starting most of the lake town mission in 1578. Fr. Plasencia was well known for his mastery of Tagalog and is credited with compiling a dictionary of the vernacular and writing a draft of a catechism which is later used for composing the Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book printed in the Philippines.
It was not until 1586, that Morong had a friar permanently assigned to attend to the people. The church, dedicated to St. Jerome, stood on the opposite bank of Morong River where the church stands presently. But in 1612 a conflagration consumed the town and with it the church. The townsite was transferred to its present position in 1617. A new church was completed in 1620. The church had remained substantially unchanged until 1850-53, when Fr. Maximo Rico commissioned Bartolome Palatino, a native of Paete, to renovate the facade and build a bell tower. In 1962, the church interior was renovated and facade coated with Portland cement. During the renovation, the dimensions of the windows along the nave were increased and other openings added to the wall adjacent to the convento. The convento is presently a school, although a room on the ground floor adjacent to the church has been set aside for a Blessed Sacrament room.
The Morong facade and bell tower is easily the most striking of all church facades along Laguna de Bay. Frequently photographed and described as baroque, the facade/bell tower is more properly described as neo-baroque because the baroque period ended in the Philippines before 1780. The central portion of the facade surges outward and the catenated balustrade above give the whole a dynamic felling. Various decorative elements, some Mexican in origin, give the facade a richness characteristic of Baroque. Four angels, representing the cardinal virtues, stand at the corners of the bell tower. Fr. Felix Huerta, writing in 1852, states that the facade had finials shaped as jars and shells used for illuminating it.
It is said that it was built by Chinese craftsmen as evidence: two Chinese lion sculptures ( a boy and a girl lion ) at the entrance to the steep driveway. Unfortunately one lion, said to be the girl lion was stolen early year 2000- 2005. Local folklore said that the female lion has a hidden treasure inside it. While the other lion; the Male lion, is safe guarded at the St. Jerome school vicinity.
The stone and mortar church which has a three-story facade, and an octagonal bell tower whose cross is illuminated at night and can be seen from the surrounding countryside. The bell tower of the church is used by local fisher man in the nearby towns as a light house when fishing at night and during the storm. Its Frontispiece and the belfry were renovated by Bartolome Palatino of Paete, between 1850-1853.
Although the church interior was damaged by war, a few elements are worth noting, namely, the crocodile motif carved on the supporting brackets of the choir loft; the bas relief of the Baptism of Jesus in the baptistery, and the image of Saint Jerome on a side altar.
WELS Multi-Language Productions (MLP) is partnering with the Bethany Lutheran College Fine Arts department to produce illustrations of Bible stories and Catechism lessons for use in world mission fields. Fourteen ELS/WELS artists came together alongside Rev. Dr. Terry Schultz, Artistic Development Missionary for MLP, to illustrate 54 Biblical accounts for use in Zambian Sunday Schools. Church leaders in Zambia plan to distribute these illustrations for use as inexpensive, impactful visual aids in Sunday School classes.
The “Images of Grace,” exhibition is available from August 31-September 27, 2022 in the Ylvisaker Fine Arts Center Gallery. A special gallery reception was held on September 1 at 7 p.m. (pictured). It include a panel discussion with Rev. Dr. Terry Schultz; Rev. Larry Schlomer, WELS World Missions Administrator; Professor Andrew Overn, Art Director; and various contributing artists.
This exhibit represents the beginning of an ongoing project and partnership between Bethany’s Art Department and Multi-Language Productions.
The town of Morong traces its origins to the pioneering work of the Franciscans Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa. Both were responsible for starting most of the lake town mission in 1578. Fr. Plasencia was well known for his mastery of Tagalog and is credited with compiling a dictionary of the vernacular and writing a draft of a catechism which is later used for composing the Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book printed in the Philippines.
It was not until 1586, that Morong had a friar permanently assigned to attend to the people. The church, dedicated to St. Jerome, stood on the opposite bank of Morong River where the church stands presently. But in 1612 a conflagration consumed the town and with it the church. The townsite was transferred to its present position in 1617. A new church was completed in 1620. The church had remained substantially unchanged until 1850-53, when Fr. Maximo Rico commissioned Bartolome Palatino, a native of Paete, to renovate the facade and build a bell tower. In 1962, the church interior was renovated and facade coated with Portland cement. During the renovation, the dimensions of the windows along the nave were increased and other openings added to the wall adjacent to the convento. The convento is presently a school, although a room on the ground floor adjacent to the church has been set aside for a Blessed Sacrament room.
The Morong facade and bell tower is easily the most striking of all church facades along Laguna de Bay. Frequently photographed and described as baroque, the facade/bell tower is more properly described as neo-baroque because the baroque period ended in the Philippines before 1780. The central portion of the facade surges outward and the catenated balustrade above give the whole a dynamic felling. Various decorative elements, some Mexican in origin, give the facade a richness characteristic of Baroque. Four angels, representing the cardinal virtues, stand at the corners of the bell tower. Fr. Felix Huerta, writing in 1852, states that the facade had finials shaped as jars and shells used for illuminating it.
It is said that it was built by Chinese craftsmen as evidence: two Chinese lion sculptures ( a boy and a girl lion ) at the entrance to the steep driveway. Unfortunately one lion, said to be the girl lion was stolen early year 2000- 2005. Local folklore said that the female lion has a hidden treasure inside it. While the other lion; the Male lion, is safe guarded at the St. Jerome school vicinity.
The stone and mortar church which has a three-story facade, and an octagonal bell tower whose cross is illuminated at night and can be seen from the surrounding countryside. The bell tower of the church is used by local fisher man in the nearby towns as a light house when fishing at night and during the storm. Its Frontispiece and the belfry were renovated by Bartolome Palatino of Paete, between 1850-1853.
Although the church interior was damaged by war, a few elements are worth noting, namely, the crocodile motif carved on the supporting brackets of the choir loft; the bas relief of the Baptism of Jesus in the baptistery, and the image of Saint Jerome on a side altar.
The town of Morong traces its origins to the pioneering work of the Franciscans Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa. Both were responsible for starting most of the lake town mission in 1578. Fr. Plasencia was well known for his mastery of Tagalog and is credited with compiling a dictionary of the vernacular and writing a draft of a catechism which is later used for composing the Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book printed in the Philippines.
It was not until 1586, that Morong had a friar permanently assigned to attend to the people. The church, dedicated to St. Jerome, stood on the opposite bank of Morong River where the church stands presently. But in 1612 a conflagration consumed the town and with it the church. The townsite was transferred to its present position in 1617. A new church was completed in 1620. The church had remained substantially unchanged until 1850-53, when Fr. Maximo Rico commissioned Bartolome Palatino, a native of Paete, to renovate the facade and build a bell tower. In 1962, the church interior was renovated and facade coated with Portland cement. During the renovation, the dimensions of the windows along the nave were increased and other openings added to the wall adjacent to the convento. The convento is presently a school, although a room on the ground floor adjacent to the church has been set aside for a Blessed Sacrament room.
The Morong facade and bell tower is easily the most striking of all church facades along Laguna de Bay. Frequently photographed and described as baroque, the facade/bell tower is more properly described as neo-baroque because the baroque period ended in the Philippines before 1780. The central portion of the facade surges outward and the catenated balustrade above give the whole a dynamic felling. Various decorative elements, some Mexican in origin, give the facade a richness characteristic of Baroque. Four angels, representing the cardinal virtues, stand at the corners of the bell tower. Fr. Felix Huerta, writing in 1852, states that the facade had finials shaped as jars and shells used for illuminating it.
It is said that it was built by Chinese craftsmen as evidence: two Chinese lion sculptures ( a boy and a girl lion ) at the entrance to the steep driveway. Unfortunately one lion, said to be the girl lion was stolen early year 2000- 2005. Local folklore said that the female lion has a hidden treasure inside it. While the other lion; the Male lion, is safe guarded at the St. Jerome school vicinity.
The stone and mortar church which has a three-story facade, and an octagonal bell tower whose cross is illuminated at night and can be seen from the surrounding countryside. The bell tower of the church is used by local fisher man in the nearby towns as a light house when fishing at night and during the storm. Its Frontispiece and the belfry were renovated by Bartolome Palatino of Paete, between 1850-1853.
Although the church interior was damaged by war, a few elements are worth noting, namely, the crocodile motif carved on the supporting brackets of the choir loft; the bas relief of the Baptism of Jesus in the baptistery, and the image of Saint Jerome on a side altar.
The town of Morong traces its origins to the pioneering work of the Franciscans Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa. Both were responsible for starting most of the lake town mission in 1578. Fr. Plasencia was well known for his mastery of Tagalog and is credited with compiling a dictionary of the vernacular and writing a draft of a catechism which is later used for composing the Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book printed in the Philippines.
It was not until 1586, that Morong had a friar permanently assigned to attend to the people. The church, dedicated to St. Jerome, stood on the opposite bank of Morong River where the church stands presently. But in 1612 a conflagration consumed the town and with it the church. The townsite was transferred to its present position in 1617. A new church was completed in 1620. The church had remained substantially unchanged until 1850-53, when Fr. Maximo Rico commissioned Bartolome Palatino, a native of Paete, to renovate the facade and build a bell tower. In 1962, the church interior was renovated and facade coated with Portland cement. During the renovation, the dimensions of the windows along the nave were increased and other openings added to the wall adjacent to the convento. The convento is presently a school, although a room on the ground floor adjacent to the church has been set aside for a Blessed Sacrament room.
The Morong facade and bell tower is easily the most striking of all church facades along Laguna de Bay. Frequently photographed and described as baroque, the facade/bell tower is more properly described as neo-baroque because the baroque period ended in the Philippines before 1780. The central portion of the facade surges outward and the catenated balustrade above give the whole a dynamic felling. Various decorative elements, some Mexican in origin, give the facade a richness characteristic of Baroque. Four angels, representing the cardinal virtues, stand at the corners of the bell tower. Fr. Felix Huerta, writing in 1852, states that the facade had finials shaped as jars and shells used for illuminating it.
It is said that it was built by Chinese craftsmen as evidence: two Chinese lion sculptures ( a boy and a girl lion ) at the entrance to the steep driveway. Unfortunately one lion, said to be the girl lion was stolen early year 2000- 2005. Local folklore said that the female lion has a hidden treasure inside it. While the other lion; the Male lion, is safe guarded at the St. Jerome school vicinity.
The stone and mortar church which has a three-story facade, and an octagonal bell tower whose cross is illuminated at night and can be seen from the surrounding countryside. The bell tower of the church is used by local fisher man in the nearby towns as a light house when fishing at night and during the storm. Its Frontispiece and the belfry were renovated by Bartolome Palatino of Paete, between 1850-1853.
Although the church interior was damaged by war, a few elements are worth noting, namely, the crocodile motif carved on the supporting brackets of the choir loft; the bas relief of the Baptism of Jesus in the baptistery, and the image of Saint Jerome on a side altar.
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
The text of this book was originally written for eighteenth-century English Catholics by Richard Challoner. Fr Vincent McNabb, who was closely allied with the Guild of St. Joseph and St. Dominic, suggested that it needed better typography which Hilary Pepler and Philip Hagreen remedied in a most charming way. Fr McNabb made some changes which were then submitted to the Bishop of Southwark, Dr Peter Emanuel Amigo who authorized the edition.
The town of Morong traces its origins to the pioneering work of the Franciscans Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa. Both were responsible for starting most of the lake town mission in 1578. Fr. Plasencia was well known for his mastery of Tagalog and is credited with compiling a dictionary of the vernacular and writing a draft of a catechism which is later used for composing the Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book printed in the Philippines.
It was not until 1586, that Morong had a friar permanently assigned to attend to the people. The church, dedicated to St. Jerome, stood on the opposite bank of Morong River where the church stands presently. But in 1612 a conflagration consumed the town and with it the church. The townsite was transferred to its present position in 1617. A new church was completed in 1620. The church had remained substantially unchanged until 1850-53, when Fr. Maximo Rico commissioned Bartolome Palatino, a native of Paete, to renovate the facade and build a bell tower. In 1962, the church interior was renovated and facade coated with Portland cement. During the renovation, the dimensions of the windows along the nave were increased and other openings added to the wall adjacent to the convento. The convento is presently a school, although a room on the ground floor adjacent to the church has been set aside for a Blessed Sacrament room.
The Morong facade and bell tower is easily the most striking of all church facades along Laguna de Bay. Frequently photographed and described as baroque, the facade/bell tower is more properly described as neo-baroque because the baroque period ended in the Philippines before 1780. The central portion of the facade surges outward and the catenated balustrade above give the whole a dynamic felling. Various decorative elements, some Mexican in origin, give the facade a richness characteristic of Baroque. Four angels, representing the cardinal virtues, stand at the corners of the bell tower. Fr. Felix Huerta, writing in 1852, states that the facade had finials shaped as jars and shells used for illuminating it.
It is said that it was built by Chinese craftsmen as evidence: two Chinese lion sculptures ( a boy and a girl lion ) at the entrance to the steep driveway. Unfortunately one lion, said to be the girl lion was stolen early year 2000- 2005. Local folklore said that the female lion has a hidden treasure inside it. While the other lion; the Male lion, is safe guarded at the St. Jerome school vicinity.
The stone and mortar church which has a three-story facade, and an octagonal bell tower whose cross is illuminated at night and can be seen from the surrounding countryside. The bell tower of the church is used by local fisher man in the nearby towns as a light house when fishing at night and during the storm. Its Frontispiece and the belfry were renovated by Bartolome Palatino of Paete, between 1850-1853.
Although the church interior was damaged by war, a few elements are worth noting, namely, the crocodile motif carved on the supporting brackets of the choir loft; the bas relief of the Baptism of Jesus in the baptistery, and the image of Saint Jerome on a side altar.
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
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The town of Morong traces its origins to the pioneering work of the Franciscans Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa. Both were responsible for starting most of the lake town mission in 1578. Fr. Plasencia was well known for his mastery of Tagalog and is credited with compiling a dictionary of the vernacular and writing a draft of a catechism which is later used for composing the Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book printed in the Philippines.
It was not until 1586, that Morong had a friar permanently assigned to attend to the people. The church, dedicated to St. Jerome, stood on the opposite bank of Morong River where the church stands presently. But in 1612 a conflagration consumed the town and with it the church. The townsite was transferred to its present position in 1617. A new church was completed in 1620. The church had remained substantially unchanged until 1850-53, when Fr. Maximo Rico commissioned Bartolome Palatino, a native of Paete, to renovate the facade and build a bell tower. In 1962, the church interior was renovated and facade coated with Portland cement. During the renovation, the dimensions of the windows along the nave were increased and other openings added to the wall adjacent to the convento. The convento is presently a school, although a room on the ground floor adjacent to the church has been set aside for a Blessed Sacrament room.
The Morong facade and bell tower is easily the most striking of all church facades along Laguna de Bay. Frequently photographed and described as baroque, the facade/bell tower is more properly described as neo-baroque because the baroque period ended in the Philippines before 1780. The central portion of the facade surges outward and the catenated balustrade above give the whole a dynamic felling. Various decorative elements, some Mexican in origin, give the facade a richness characteristic of Baroque. Four angels, representing the cardinal virtues, stand at the corners of the bell tower. Fr. Felix Huerta, writing in 1852, states that the facade had finials shaped as jars and shells used for illuminating it.
It is said that it was built by Chinese craftsmen as evidence: two Chinese lion sculptures ( a boy and a girl lion ) at the entrance to the steep driveway. Unfortunately one lion, said to be the girl lion was stolen early year 2000- 2005. Local folklore said that the female lion has a hidden treasure inside it. While the other lion; the Male lion, is safe guarded at the St. Jerome school vicinity.
The stone and mortar church which has a three-story facade, and an octagonal bell tower whose cross is illuminated at night and can be seen from the surrounding countryside. The bell tower of the church is used by local fisher man in the nearby towns as a light house when fishing at night and during the storm. Its Frontispiece and the belfry were renovated by Bartolome Palatino of Paete, between 1850-1853.
Although the church interior was damaged by war, a few elements are worth noting, namely, the crocodile motif carved on the supporting brackets of the choir loft; the bas relief of the Baptism of Jesus in the baptistery, and the image of Saint Jerome on a side altar.
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
BLVd. NEAR PORTER Ind.
Date: Circa 1908
Source Type: Postcard
Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Ernest G. Atkins (#303)
Postmark: None
Collection: Steven R. Shook
Remark: The Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran Church in Porter, Porter County, Indiana, can trace its establishment to 1852. The church seen in this postcard image no longer exists. It represented the third of four churches that have occupied the same site. The location of this church is the southeast corner of the present day junction of Beam Street and Mineral Springs Road in Porter, Indiana.
At 3:45 pm on Saturday, March 11, 1933, the church seen here was destroyed by a fire caused by a propane gas tank explosion in the basement. The blast occurred while the congregation's Luther League members were preparing to serve a waffle supper. Injured were Ruth Chellberg, Adele Borg, Marion Dilley, and Steve Ignacik. Chellburg was severely burned but she did recover.
The church filed suit in the Porter Circuit Court for damages against the Protane Corporation and Illinois Bottled Gas Company to collect $21,000 in losses caused by the fire.
By August of 1933, construction had begun on the structure currently used by the congregation. The structure cost $30,000 to build and was sited at the same location of previous church.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the October 14, 1899, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
The Baillytown Swedish Lutherans have started out to raise money to build a new church on their property west of the Hydraulic brick yards. If build the structure is to be the finest in the township.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the February 17, 1900, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Chesterton Chips.
The Swedish Lutheran Augsburgs church decided at a meeting held Feb. 14 to build a new church this year. The plans call for a church the equal of any in the township. The basement will be of stone, and the main part of brick. The main part will seat 300 and the gallery 100. E. G. Peterson, of Englewood, Ills., is the architect, and will superintend the work. A lot of material will be donated, and also considerable labor, including hauling, by the congregation. Work on the edifice will begin as soon as the weather will permit.
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The following two newspaper items appeared in the March 3, 1900, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
The members of the Swedish church have been hauling brick all this week from the Hydraulic yards for their new house of worship.
Rev. M. Lonner went to Joliet Wednesday to make the contract for stone for the foundation of the new church. He returned Thursday evening.
Carlson & Nelson have the contract for the building of the new Swedish church at Baillytown, the plans for which will call for the expenditure of about $4,000. The old edifice will be moved across the road from its present site and will be occupied by the church until the new structure is ready for dedication.
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The following two newspaper items appeared in the May 5, 1900, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
The Swedish Lutheran congregation of Baillytown will give a strawberry festival in the orchard at the parsonage this (Saturday) evening beginning at 7 o'clock, to which all are invited. The proceeds will be turned over to the church building fund.
E. G. Peterson, of Chicago, architect for the Baillytown church, was here last Tuesday and had a meeting with the building committee, and it was decided to begin work as soon as the old church is removed. The work will be in charge of the architect, who will come and inspect it once a week during it progress. J. P. Carlson was elected as foreman under the architect to take charge of the labor, etc.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the July 6, 1900, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
The Swedish Lutheran picnic given in Samuelson's grove on the Fourth of July netted the new church fund over $300. It was attended by over 2,000 people, a great many of whom were former residents of this township now living in neighboring towns, who were very generous to the cause. It is surprising the large number of people who once lived here that are now located elsewhere. They all return to renew old friendships on the fourth, preferring old friends to the attractions of the cities.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the July 20, 1900, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
The laying of the corner stone of the new Swedish Lutheran church at Baillytown will take place Sunday afternoon, July 22, beginning at 3 o'clock. The corner stone will be laid by Rev. H. O. Lindblad of Chicago, who will also deliver the principal address of the day. There will be addresses in German by Rev. Houseman of Chesterton, and Rev. Lonner will talk in English. Rev. Lindblad will speak in Swedish. The public is cordially invited to attend. An appropriate program has been prepared for the occasion. In the forenoon Rev. Lindblad will preach in the old church. In the afternoon there will be a collection taken up for the church fund; those attending will please bring their purses to help the good cause along.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the July 27, 1900, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
CORNER STONE OF BAILLYTOWN CHURCH
Is Laid Amid Imposing Ceremonies and General Rejoicing by the Swedish Lutheran congregation Last Sunday
The corner stone of the new Swedish Lutheran Augsburg church at Porter was laid on Sunday afternoon last. All the members from the different districts of the church and a great many from Chesterton, Millers and other neighboring villages were present. It is possible there were 1000 present to witness this solemn ceremony. A little after three o'clock it began with the singing of a hymn in the Swedish language by the congregation. After the singing, Rev. H. O. Lindeblad, of Chicage [sic], gave the principal address of the occasion and had chosen for his text Jeremiah 51:50. "Remember the Lord from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind." In this address words were uttered that will always be remembered in the hearts of those present that could understand the beautiful language of the Swedish people. Rev. Housman of Chesterton, was the next speaker, and he gave an address in the German language. The writer of this not only understands German but is able to talk in that language also, therefore he is able to say that Rev. Housman gave both a good and very appropriate address for the occasion.
Rev. Lonner, pastor of the church was the third speaker. He spoke first in the Swedish language and gave a history of the church from its beginning, and stated that this building of which the corner stone now is to be laid will be the third the congregation has built in its history and had to worship in. Rev. Lonner gave the same address in English also. Rev. Lindeblad also made a few remarks in English, and a Swedish hymn was sung by the congregation while a collection was taken up, amounting to nearly $41. To close, the corner stone was laid by Rev. Lindblad, and he also pronounced the benediction over all present, over the congregation and over the work of the new church. The chorus also assisted in singing a very appropriate hymn.
The following articles were placed in the corner stone. Several Swedish newspapers and the Chesterton Tribune, a history of the church from its beginning until the present time, two of the Swedish hymn books that are now used in the church, one picture of the present pastor and his family, one new testament in the Swedish language, one medal made in honor of the meeting at Ujesala in 1539, when the Lutheran faith was established in all Sweden, one 50 cent piece, one 25 cent piece, one 10 cent piece, one 5 cent piece and one 1 cent piece and also a small copper coin of Swedish money, Luther's smaller catechism in Swedish, etc.
The church was established 48 years ago. At the beginning there were only eight families, in all 46 members, many of whom are now dead, and others have moved away from here. Only three of those who were with it from the beginning do yet belong to the church, and only two of them were present to see the laying of the corner stone. The names of those yet belonging are Otto Wistrand, of Salt Creek, James Erikson, of Baillytown, and Carl Gustaf Johnson, of Chesterton. When the church was established the members were all very poor; now the members are mostly all well off, and some are what may be said very wealthy. The congregation has always prospered and although many have year by year died and other have moved from here it has grown, and its present membership is 360. Eight pastors have as yet served the congregation. Rev. A. A. Andreen was the first pastor of the church. For some years he labored here and did good work, and that may be said of all his successors. Rev. P. Ljablom had charge of the church as its pastor from July 29, 1866, until April 1, 1869, when he moved to Minnesota where he is yet a laborer in God's vineyard. Rev. J. P. Nyquist was located here from Sept. 24, 1869, to May 30, 1871. Rev. Nyquist has been for many years, among those that rest the eternal rest above. Rev. C. H. Labeyren served the congregation from July 1, 1871, until the beginning of 1875. He is at present located in Nebraska. Rev. A. Challman was located here from March 3, 1875 to May 27, 1886. Two months ago he was by his Master relieved from work here and is now at rest in heaven. Rev. W. F. Doureen labored as the pastor of the congregation from June, 1891, to June 1, 1898. During 1898 Rev. O. V. Holmgrain, of Chesterton, served the congregation as its temporary pastor. Rev. M. J. Lonner has served the congregation since August 3d of last year.
Rev. Lonner has labored hard for the welfare and upbuilding of the congregation. The new church will, for generations to come, stand as a monument and as a proof of his faithful work. He has, in the last two months, raised over $1300 for the new church and he expected to be able to raise $700 more during this and next month. When the congregation decided to build the new church it had already nearly $2,000 in a fund for the same purpose, and with $2,000 more and all the donated labor it is expected the church will be paid for when finished, and it will be safe to say when furnished that it will be one of the finest country churches in the county.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the September 14, 1900, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
The brick work on the new church at Baillytown, will soon be finished and as soon as possible the church will be inclosed nd the work inside begun.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the September 28, 1900, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Chesterton Chips.
Work on the new church at Baillytown is progressing as rapidly as possible. The structure looms up imposingly, and is a credit to the devotion and enterprise of the Swedish people of this township.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the October 5, 1900, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
The roof is being put on the new Baillytown church and will be nearly completed this week.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the November 16, 1900, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
The contract for the new pews for the Baillytown church has been let to the Grand Rapids School Furniture Co. It is expected that the church will be ready for use by Christmas if the weather will continue favorable.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the January 7, 1901, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
The colored glass for the Baillytown church has arrived, and will be put in place at once. The pews have also come, and will be put in place as soon as possible, which may but be until the last of the month.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the February 22, 1901, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
Work on the new Baillytown church is being rushed as fast as possible. The painters began work Thursday of this week. It is now thought that the edifice will be ready for services some time the last of March.
The old frame church building at Baillytown will be for sale as soon as the new one is ready. It is 27 by 50, one story, and 14 ft. ceiling. It has good frames and easy to move. It can be made into a good store building. The trustees will have the selling of it.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the March 22, 1901, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
It is now hoped that the new church at Baillytown will be ready for dedication next Easter. The painters are doing the inside work, and the furnace is in and running to keep the interior warm and dry. This church is undoubtedly the finest in the township. Rev. Lonner has already begun a campaign for a bell suitable for the edifices that he wants a pipe organ.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the April 5, 1901, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
To The Public.
The new Swedish Lutheran church at Baillytown will be about finished by Easter, and the opening service will be held in it the first Sunday after Easter, beginning at 10 o'clock in the morning. The communion service will be held in Swedish by Rev. M. J. Lonner, and Rev. H. O. Lindeblad, chaplain of Augustana Hospital, will preach from the pulpit in English. A great number of new members will be added to the congregation.
As to the new church, I say nothing. I will only invite all the members who have donated to it, and everyone else who is able to be present at the opening service to be with us, and than [sic] you can judge for yourself as to the looks of it, and I known you will say that it is good workmanship all through, and you will say that Messrs. Lahayn and Sandberg, of Chesterton, have shown themselves as masters of their trade. You will say that the fresco painting they have done is of the very finest, and you will say the same about the graining and the finishing touches of all the woodwork in the church. You are all requested to bring your pocketbook with you because a big collection is to be taken up for the benefit of the church.
Respectfully your friend,
M. J. LONNER,
Past of the church.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the June 14, 1901, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
The basement of the new church is to be furnished. Messrs. J. P. Carlson and Alfred Borg commenced the work this week.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the July 12, 1901, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
The old Baillytown church building has been sold to Carl Swenson.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the November 15, 1901, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter Pointers.
As it is near to the dedication of our new church, that is so near to Nov. 25, I will kindly ask all who have donated to be present on that day at 10 a. m., to see the dedication of the grand, new church. The dedication sermon will be preached in Swedish by the Rt. Rev. Bishop von Scheele from Sweden. Afterwards will be a short sermon in English by Rev. Lofgren, of Michigan City, and then the Bishop will speak in English. After the dedication a good dinner will be served for all in the basement. The new church bell, which cost nearly $500 and is bought from Meneely & Co., West Troy, N. Y., will call to service for the first time that day. Be sure to come now and come early in order to get room. As many at Valparaiso have donated to our church I hope the Valparaiso papers will also give room for this invitation.
Respectfully,
M. J. LONNER, pastor.
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The following newspaper item appeared in the November 29, 1901, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
IMPRESSIVE DEDICATION SERVICES.
Held Last Monday in the New Swedish Lutheran Augsburg Church at Porter.
Bishop von Scheele, Personal Representative of King Oscar of Sweden, Presides Over the Ceremonies.
The Large Church is Packed to the Doors Withy People From Far and Near Who Came to Witness the Ceremonies.
BY MRS. HANNAH S. BURSTROM.
The greatest event in the history of the Swedish Lutheran Augsburg church of Baillytown took place at 10 a. m. Monday, when the new church was dedicated. The occasion was hightened [sic] by the presence of Bishop von Scheele, of Sweden, a representative of King Oscar II.
The services were opened by the singing of a song by the congregation, after which the Bishop made his appearance in the clerical robes of the State church of Sweden. He has a straight, fine figure, and the gray locks on his head made him look venerable indeed. His discourse was a very able one, and he seemed to speak from the fullness of his heart. He spoke for about 45 minutes the first time, in the Swedish language. After him spoke the Rev. Abrahamson, of Chicago, in Swedish; Rev. D. A. Lofgren, of Michigan City, spoke in English.
The dedication ceremonies were conducted by Bishop von Scheele, assisted by nearly a dozen ministers from Chicago and elsewhere, the ceremony being very solemn. After the dedication the Bishop spoke in English and German. At the close of the services everybody was invited to shake hands with him, and every one present took advantage of the opportunity to shake hands with the distinguished clergyman, and all were given a hearty return of the friendly greeting.
Greetings per telegram were read from King Oscar of Sweden.
At the close of the morning services dinner was served for the Bishop and his party in the parsonage, and for other friends in the basement of the church.
The Bishop and his party left for Chicago at 2 o’clock. The afternoon service was conducted by Rev. Siljesstrom, of Laporte, and Rev. Forsberg, of South Bend.
Thus closed the greatest day in the history of the church.
There was one thing, however, that was a sad disappointment, and that was that the new bell did not arrive in time. It came to Chesterton Saturday night, but that was too late to get it hoisted. The pastor and congregation had worked hard all summer to get the bell in time for the dedication, but were destined to be disappointed after all. But “every cloud has a silver lining,” as the saying is. The ball is here and will be in place before another Sabbath.
A few works, before we close, about the object of Bishop von Scheele’s visit to this country. Bishop von Scheele and Rev. P. W. Waldenstrom were invited by Yale University to attend their bi-centennial anniversary as representatives of two of the oldest and most noted colleges in Sweden. “Upsala” and “Geile” college. They really did not represent these institutions, but they figured as such at Yale because all foreign visitors had to represent some institution of learning from their own country.
Then by invitation of the Lutheran Augustana Synod of North America and also at the request of King Oscar II, to represent him, he has been visiting the principal churches, schools and other institutions of that synod. He has been received with enthusiasm everywhere. At the festivities held at Bethany College, Lindsburg, Kansas, a long telegram of greeting arrived from President Roosevelt, also one from U. S. minister to Sweden and Norway, W. W. Thomas.
The railroad companies have vied with each other to carry the Bishop and his party, and some have furnished special car for their benefit.
We understand he will leave the United States for his own country some time in December.
The corner stone of the new edifice was laid on Sunday afternoon July 22, 1900, in the presence of all the members of the church and a great many from Chesterton, Millers and other neighboring villages were present to witness the ceremony. The following articles were placed in the corner stone: Several Swedish newspapers, a copy of the Chesterton Tribune, a history of the church from the beginning until the present time, two of the Swedish hymn books, such as are now used in the church, one picture of the present pastor and his family, one new testament in the Swedish language, one medal in honor of the meeting at Ujesala, in 1539, when the Lutheran faith was established in all Sweden, one 50 cent piece, one 25 cent piece, one 10 cent piece, one 5 cent piece and one 1 cent piece, and also a small copper coin of Swedish money, and Luther’s smaller catechism in Swedish.
The church was established about fifty years ago, and at the beginning there were only eight families, 46 members in all, most of whom are now dead and others have moved away from here. When the church was established the members were all very poor, now they are all well off, and some are quite wealthy. The congregation has always prospered, and although many have passed away year by year, and others have gone to seek new homes and fortunes elsewhere, the membership has grown to nearly 400.
Eight pastors have served the congregation, Rev. A. Andreen being the first. He labored here for a number of years with excellent results. Rev. P. Ljablom was pastor of the church from July 29, 1866, until April 1, 1869, when he moved to Minnesota, where he is yet a laborer in God’s vineyard. Rev. J. P. Niquist was located here from Sept. 24, 1869 to May 30, 1871. Rev. C. H. Labeyron served the congregation from July 1, 1871, to 1875, and is now located in Nebraska. Rev. A. Challman came here March 3, 1875, and remained for over eleven years. He was succeeded by Rev. W. F. Doureen, who labored here until June 1, 1898. Rev. O. V. Holmgrain, of Chesterton, served the congregation temporarily until August 3, 1899, when Rev. M. J. Lonner, the present pastor, took up the work of the congregation, and to his untiring efforts may be credited the handsome new house of God.
Sources:
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; October 14, 1899; Volume 16, Number 27, Page 4, Column 3. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; February 17, 1900; Volume 16, Number 45, Page 5, Column 6. Column titled "Chesterton Chips."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; March 3, 1900; Volume 16, Number 47, Page 4, Column 3. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; May 11, 1900; Volume 17, Number 5, Page 1, Column 7. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; July 6, 1900; Volume 17, Number 13, Page 5, Column 6. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; July 20, 1900; Volume 17, Number 15, Page 5, Column 6. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; July 27, 1900; Volume 16, Number 16, Page 5, Columns 5-7. Column titled "Corner Stone of Baillytown Church Is Laid Amid Imposing Ceremonies and General Rejoicing by the Swedish Lutheran congregation Last Sunday."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; September 14, 1900; Volume 17, Number 23, Page 1, Column 6. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; September 28, 1900; Volume 17, Number 25, Page 5, Column 7. Column titled "Chesterton Chips."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; October 5, 1900; Volume 17, Number 26, Page 2, Column 6. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; November 16, 1900; Volume 17, Number 32, Page 5, Column 7. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; January 4, 1901; Volume 17, Number 39, Page 4, Column 7. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; February 22, 1901; Volume 17, Number 46, Page 4, Column 2. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; March 22, 1901; Volume 17, Number 50, Page 5, Column 3. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; April 5, 1901; Volume 17, Number 52, Page 5, Column 3. Column titled "To The Public."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; June 14, 1901; Volume 18, Number 10, Page 5, Column 7. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; July 12, 1901; Volume 18, Number 14, Page 5, Column 7. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; November 15, 1901; Volume 18, Number 32, Page 4, Column 7. Column titled "Porter Pointers."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; November 29, 1901; Volume 18, Number 34, Page 1, Columns 6-7. Column titled "Impressive Dedication Services,"
by Mrs. Hannah S. Burstrom.
Copyright 2012. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook.
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
From Wikipedia: The Grand Marian Procession is intended to promote religious catechism through publicly parading images outside the Manila cathedral on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
In addition, the Cofradia is known for selecting more than ninety of the most prominent and liturgically inspiring Marian images in the country, most notably the ones featured, as the canonically crowned images in the Philippines, such as the Our Lady of La Naval de Manila and Our Lady of Manaoag.
Could also travel in reverse.. eliminating need for a roundhouse.. more than 300 were in use by the time electrification replaced them in 1903
Truchas,New Mexico; NM; US; USA; winter; snow; sunlight; Catholic; religion; faith; faithful; belief; beliefs; values; tenet; tenets; symbol; catholicism; doctrine; catechism; sanctuario; chapel; church; holy; rite; ritual; tourism; tourist; devotee; pilgrim; mission; revere; reverence; cold; parish; parishoner; priest; mass; novena; sacred; sacrament; confession; native american; immigrant; immigration; latino; pueblo; sunset; adobe,fence,gate,cross
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
Church Of Saint Bernadine: is a Catholic church located at Plac Bernardyński 4 in Kraków, Poland. The church is dedicated to St. Bernardine of Siena, and is the seat of the parish of the same name. The church was originally built in 1722-1742 in the Baroque style, and was consecrated in 1744. In 1869-1870 it was renovated in the Gothic Revival style. The main attraction of this church is the high altar, built between 1722-1742 in the Baroque style. It is dedicated to St. Bernardine of Siena, and is decorated with paintings and statues. The church also features several other altars, stained glass windows, and a beautifully decorated organ. It is one of the best churches in Poland which you must visit.
1. The Church of St. Bernardine of Siena is located in Krakow, Poland. 2. The church was built by order of King Władysław Jagiełło in the late 14th century as a part of a small monastery. 3. It is one of the oldest Gothic churches in Poland and has been part of the Krakow UNESCO world heritage site since 1978. 4. The church was heavily damaged in World War II, but was subsequently restored. 5. It now houses a museum devoted to religious history, as well as a number of other cultural attractions. 6. St. Bernardine of Siena was an Italian Franciscan friar who was canonized in 1450. Here are some facts about the Poland Church.These facts will help you understand why it is on the list of the best churches in Poland
Services:
1. Mass: The Church of St. Bernardine of Siena in Krakow offers Mass services for members of the Catholic faith. Masses are held daily. 2. Confession: The church also offers confession, or the opportunity to confess one’s sins to a priest and receive absolution. This service is available during set times on Sundays and weekdays. 3. Baptism: The Church of St. Bernardine offers baptism services for those individuals wishing to take part in the Catholic faith. 4. Weddings: Couples can also celebrate their wedding ceremony at the church. 5. Funerals: Funeral services are also available for those wishing to honor their loved one’s life. 6. Catechism: Those wishing to learn more about the Catholic faith can take part in catechism classes offered at the church. 7. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament: During certain times throughout the week, The Church of St. Bernardine of Siena presents the Blessed Sacrament to the public for worship. 8. Concerts: Concerts may also be held at the church on occasion. This beautiful church in Poland has made a lot of significance in the past.
In 1655, at the height of the Swedish Deluge, the Bernardine Church was ordered to be burnt to the ground. The Swedish forces were upon the city, and Polish Commander Stefan Czarniecki decided that the church would be too handy a base for the invading army. Only a statue of the Virgin was salvaged. Four years later, building began again on the site. The baroque edifice that was raised then has survived until this day, standing a stone's throw to the south of the Royal Castle complex. The church's acoustics are superb, and the interior provides a popular venue for concerts by the local St. Maurice's Orchestra and other ensembles.
Kraków, also seen spelled Cracow or absent Polish diacritics as Krakow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, economic, cultural and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Old Town with Wawel Royal Castle was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status.
The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second-most-important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was reported by Ibrahim ibn Yaqub, a 10th-century merchant from Córdoba, as a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918 and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic centre. As of 2023, the city has a population of 804,237, with approximately 8 million additional people living within a 100 km (62 mi) radius of its main square.
After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau (Kraków District) became the capital of Germany's General Government. The Jewish population of the city was forced into a walled zone known as the Kraków Ghetto, from where they were sent to Nazi extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz, and Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów. However, the city was spared from destruction and major bombing.
In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul II—the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. Also that year, UNESCO approved Kraków's entire Old Town and historic centre and the nearby Wieliczka Salt Mine as Poland's first World Heritage Sites. Kraków is classified as a global city with the ranking of "high sufficiency" by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Its extensive cultural heritage across the epochs of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture includes Wawel Cathedral and Wawel Royal Castle on the banks of the Vistula, St. Mary's Basilica, Saints Peter and Paul Church and the largest medieval market square in Europe, Rynek Główny. Kraków is home to Jagiellonian University, one of the oldest universities in the world and traditionally Poland's most reputable institution of higher learning. The city also hosts a number of institutions of national significance such as the National Museum, Kraków Opera, Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, National Stary Theatre and the Jagiellonian Library. The city is served by John Paul II International Airport, the country's second busiest airport and the most important international airport for the inhabitants of south-eastern Poland.
In 2000, Kraków was named European Capital of Culture. In 2013, Kraków was officially approved as a UNESCO City of Literature. The city hosted World Youth Day in 2016 and the European Games in 2023.
Kraków is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland, with the urban population of 804,237 (June, 2023). Situated on the Vistula river (Polish: Wisła) in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Kraków from 1846 to 1918, and the capital of Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
Timeline of Kraków
Historical affiliations
Vistulans, pre X century
Duchy of Bohemia, X century–ca. 960
Duchy of Poland, ca. 960–1025
Kingdom of Poland, 1025–1031
Duchy of Poland, 1031–1320
∟ Seniorate Province, 1138–1227
Duchy of Kraków, 1227–1320
Kingdom of Poland, 1320–1569
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1569–1795
Austrian Empire, 1795–1809
∟ Galicia
Duchy of Warsaw, 1809–1815
Free City of Cracow, 1815–1846
Austrian Empire, 1846–1867
Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918
∟ Grand Duchy of Kraków (subdivision of Galicia)
Republic of Poland, 1918–1939
General Government, 1939–1945 (part of German-occupied Europe)
Provisional Government of National Unity, 1945–1947
Polish People's Republic, 1947–1989
Poland, 1989–present
Early history
The earliest known settlement on the present site of Kraków was established on Wawel Hill, and dates back to the 4th century. Legend attributes the town's establishment to the mythical ruler Krakus, who built it above a cave occupied by a ravenous dragon, Smok Wawelski. Many knights unsuccessfully attempted to oust the dragon by force, but instead, Krakus fed it a poisoned lamb, which killed the dragon. The city was free to flourish. Dragon bones, most likely that of mammoth, are displayed at the entrance of the Wawel Cathedral. Before the Polish state had been formed, Kraków was the capital of the tribe of Vistulans, subjugated for a short period by Great Moravia. After Great Moravia was destroyed by the Hungarians, Kraków became part of the kingdom of Bohemia. The first appearance of the city's name in historical records dates back to 966, when a Sephardi Jewish traveller, Abraham ben Jacob, described Kraków as a notable commercial centre under the rule of the then duke of Bohemia (Boleslaus I the Cruel). He also mentioned the baptism of Prince Mieszko I and his status as the first historical ruler of Poland. Towards the end of his reign, Mieszko took Kraków from the Bohemians and incorporated it into the holdings of the Piast dynasty.
By the end of the 10th century, the city was a leading center of trade. Brick buildings were being constructed, including the Royal Wawel Castle with the Rotunda of Sts. Felix and Adauctus, Romanesque churches, a cathedral, and a basilica. Sometime after 1042, Casimir I the Restorer made Kraków the seat of the Polish government. In 1079 on a hillock in nearby Skałka, the Bishop of Kraków, Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów, was slain by the order of the Polish king Bolesław II the Generous. In 1138, the Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth came into effect upon his death. It divided Poland into five provinces, with Kraków named as the Seniorate Province, meant to be ruled by the eldest male member of the royal family as the High Duke. Infighting among brothers, however, caused the seniorate system to soon collapse, and a century-long struggle between Bolesław's descendants followed. The fragmentation of Poland lasted until 1320.
Kraków was almost entirely destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Poland in 1241, after the Polish attempt to repulse the invaders had been crushed in the Battle of Chmielnik. Kraków was rebuilt in 1257, in a form which was practically unaltered, and received self-government city rights from the king based on the Magdeburg Law, attracting mostly German-speaking burgers. In 1259, the city was again ravaged by the Mongols, 18 years after the first raid. A third attack, though unsuccessful, followed in 1287. The year 1311 saw the Rebellion of wójt Albert against Polish High Duke Władysław I. It involved the mostly German-speaking burghers of Kraków who, as a result, were massacred. In the aftermath, Kraków was gradually re-Polonized, and Polish burghers rose from a minority to a majority.
Further information: History of Poland in the Middle Ages
Medieval Kraków was surrounded by a 1.9 mile (3 km) defensive wall complete with 46 towers and seven main entrances leading through them (see St. Florian's Gate and Kraków Barbican). The fortifications were erected over the course of two centuries. The town defensive system appeared in Kraków after the city's location, i.e. in the second half of the 13th century (1257). This was when the construction of a uniform fortification line was commenced, but it seems the project could not be completed. Afterwards the walls, however, were extended and reinforced (a permit from Leszek Biały to encircle the city with high defensive walls was granted in 1285). Kraków rose to new prominence in 1364, when Casimir III of Poland founded the Cracow Academy, the second university in central Europe after the University of Prague. There had already been a cathedral school since 1150 functioning under the auspices of the city's bishop. The city continued to grow under the joint Lithuanian-Polish Jagiellon dynasty (1386–1572). As the capital of a powerful state, it became a flourishing center of science and the arts.
Kraków was a member of the Hanseatic League and many craftsmen settled there, established businesses and formed craftsmen's guilds. City Law, including guilds' depictions and descriptions, were recorded in the German language Balthasar Behem Codex. This codex is now featured at the Jagiellonian Library. By the end of the thirteenth century, Kraków had become a predominantly German city. In 1475 delegates of the elector George the Rich of Bavaria came to Kraków to negotiate the marriage of Princess Jadwiga of Poland (Hedwig in German), the daughter of King Casimir IV Jagiellon to George the Rich. Jadwiga traveled for two months to Landshut in Bavaria, where an elaborate marriage celebration, the Landshut Wedding took place. Around 1502 Kraków was already featured in the works of Albrecht Dürer as well as in those of Hartmann Schedel (Nuremberg Chronicle) and Georg Braun (Civitates orbis terrarum).
During the 15th century extremist clergymen advocated violence towards the Jews, who in a gradual process lost their positions. In 1469 Jews were expelled from their old settlement to Spiglarska Street. In 1485 Jewish elders were forced into a renunciation of trade in Kraków, which led many Jews to leave for Kazimierz that did not fall under the restrictions due to its status as a royal town. Following the 1494 fire in Kraków, a wave of anti-Jewish attacks took place. In 1495, King John I Albert expelled the Jews from the city walls of Kraków; they moved to Kazimierz (now a district of Kraków).
Renaissance
The Renaissance, whose influence originated in Italy, arrived in Kraków in the late 15th century, along with numerous Italian artists including Francesco Fiorentino, Bartolommeo Berrecci, Santi Gucci, Mateo Gucci, Bernardo Morando, and Giovanni Baptista di Quadro. The period, which elevated the intellectual pursuits, produced many outstanding artists and scientists such as Nicolaus Copernicus who studied at the local Academy. In 1468 the Italian humanist Filip Callimachus came to Kraków, where he worked as the teacher of the children of Casimir IV Jagiellon. In 1488 the imperial Poet Laureate and humanist Conrad Celtes founded the Sodalitas Litterarum Vistulana ("Literary Society on the Vistula"), a learned society based on the Roman Academies. In 1489, sculptor Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz) of Nuremberg finished his work on the high altar of St. Mary's Church. He later made a marble sarcophagus for his benefactor Casimir IV Jagiellon. By 1500, Johann Haller had established a printing press in the city. Many works of the Renaissance movement were printed there during that time.
Art and architecture flourished under the watchful eye of King Sigismund I the Old, who ascended to the throne in 1507. He married Bona Sforza of a leading Milan family and using his new Italian connections began the major project (under Florentine architect Berrecci) of remaking the ancient residence of the Polish kings, the Wawel Castle, into a modern Renaissance palace. In 1520, Hans Behem made the largest church bell, named the Sigismund Bell after King Sigismund I. At the same time Hans Dürer, younger brother of Albrecht Dürer, was Sigismund's court painter. Around 1511 Hans von Kulmbach painted a series of panels for the Church of the Pauline Fathers at Skałka and the Church of St. Mary. Sigismund I also brought in Italian chefs who introduced Italian cuisine.
In 1558, a permanent postal connection between Kraków and Venice, the capitals of the Kingdom of Poland and the Republic of Venice respectively, was established and Poczta Polska was founded. In 1572, King Sigismund II died childless, and the throne passed briefly to Henry of Valois, then to Sigismund II's sister Anna Jagiellon and her husband Stephen Báthory, and then to Sigismund III of the Swedish House of Vasa. His reign changed Kraków dramatically, as he moved the government to Warsaw in 1596. A series of wars ensued between Sweden and Poland.
After the partitions of Poland
In the late 18th century, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned three times by its expansionist neighbors: Imperial Russia, the Austrian Empire, and the Kingdom of Prussia. After the first two partitions (1772 and 1793), Kraków was still part of the substantially reduced Polish nation. In 1794 Tadeusz Kościuszko initiated a revolt against the partitioning powers, the Kościuszko Uprising, in Kraków's market square. The Polish army, including many peasants, fought against the Russian and Prussian armies, but the larger forces ultimately put down the revolt. The Prussian army specifically took Kraków on 15 June 1794, and looted the Polish royal treasure kept at Wawel Castle. The stolen regalia, valued at 525,259 thalers, was secretly melted down in March 1809, while precious stones and pearls were appropriated in Berlin. Poland was partitioned for the third time in 1795, and Kraków became part of the Austrian province of Galicia.
When Napoleon Bonaparte of the French Empire captured part of what had once been Poland, he established the Duchy of Warsaw (1807) as an independent but subordinate state. West Galicia, including Kraków, was taken from the Austrian Empire and added to the Duchy of Warsaw in 1809 by the Treaty of Schönbrunn, which ended the War of the Fifth Coalition. The Congress of Vienna (1815) restored the partition of Poland, but gave Kraków partial independence as the Free City of Cracow.
The city again became the focus of a struggle for national sovereignty in 1846, during the Kraków Uprising. The uprising failed to spread outside the city to other Polish lands, and was put down. This resulted in the annexation of the city state to the Austrian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Cracow, once again part of the Galician lands of the empire.
In 1850 10% of the city was destroyed in the large fire.
After the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Austria granted partial autonomy to Galicia, making Polish a language of government and establishing a provincial Diet. As this form of Austrian rule was more benevolent than that exercised by Russia and Prussia, Kraków became a Polish national symbol and a center of culture and art, known frequently as the "Polish Athens" (Polskie Ateny) or "Polish Mecca" to which Poles would flock to revere the symbols and monuments of Kraków's (and Poland's) great past. Several important commemorations took place in Kraków during the period from 1866–1914, including the 500th Anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald in 1910, in which world-renowned pianist Ignacy Paderewski unveiled a monument. Famous painters, poets and writers of this period, living and working in the city include Jan Matejko, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Jan Kasprowicz, Juliusz Kossak, Wojciech Kossak, Stanisław Wyspiański and Stanisław Przybyszewski. The latter two were leaders of Polish modernism.
The Fin de siècle Kraków, even under the partitions, was famously the center of Polish national revival and culture, but the city was also becoming a modern metropolis during this period. In 1901 the city installed running water and witnessed the introduction of its first electric streetcars. (Warsaw's first electric streetcars came in 1907.) The most significant political and economic development of the first decade of the 20th century in Kraków was the creation of Greater Kraków (Wielki Kraków), the incorporation of the surrounding suburban communities into a single administrative unit. The incorporation was overseen by Juliusz Leo, the city's energetic mayor from 1904 to his death in 1918 (see also: the Mayors of Kraków).
Thanks to migration from the countryside and the fruits of incorporation from 1910 to 1915, Kraków's population doubled in just fifteen years, from approx. 91,000 to 183,000 in 1915. Russian troops besieged Kraków during the first winter of the First World War, and thousands of residents left the city for Moravia and other safer locales, generally returning in the spring and summer of 1915. During the war Polish Legions led by Józef Piłsudski set out to fight for the liberation of Poland, in alliance with Austrian and German troops. With the fall of Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poles liberated the city and it was included with the newly reborn Polish state (1918). Between the two World Wars Kraków was also a major Jewish cultural and religious center (see: Synagogues of Kraków), with the Zionist movement relatively strong among the city's Jewish population.
World War II
Poland was partitioned again at the onset of the Second World War. The Nazi German forces entered Kraków on September 6, 1939. The residents of the city were saved from German attack by the courageous Mayor Stanisław Klimecki who went to meet the invading Wehrmacht troops. He approached them with the call to stop shooting because the city was defenseless: "Feuer einstellen!" and offered himself as a hostage. He was killed by the Gestapo three years later in the Niepołomice Forest. The German Einsatzgruppen I and zbV entered the city to commit atrocities against Poles. On September 12, the Germans carried out a massacre of 10 Jews. On November 4, Kraków became the capital of the General Government, a colonial authority under the leadership of Hans Frank. The occupation took a heavy toll, particularly on the city's cultural heritage. On November 6, during the infamous Sonderaktion Krakau 184 professors and academics of the Jagiellonian University (including Rector Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński among others) were arrested at the Collegium Novum during a meeting ordered by the Gestapo chief SS-Obersturmbannführer Bruno Müller. President of Kraków, Klimecki was apprehended at his home the same evening. After two weeks, they were sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and in March 1940 further to Dachau. Those who survived were released only after international protest involving the Vatican. On November 9–10, during the Intelligenzaktion, the Germans carried out further mass arrests of 120 Poles, including teachers, students and judges. The Sicherheitspolizei took over the Montelupich Prison, which became one of the most infamous in German-occupied Poland. Many Poles arrested in Kraków, and various other places in the region, and even more distant cities such as Rzeszów and Przemyśl, were imprisoned there. Over 1,700 Polish prisoners were eventually massacred at Fort 49 of the Kraków Fortress and its adjacent forest, and deportations of Polish prisoners to concentration camps, incl. Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, were also carried out. The prison also contained a cell for kidnapped Polish children under the age of 10, with an average capacity of about 70 children, who were then sent to concentration camps and executed. From September to December 1939, the occupiers also operated a Dulag transit camp for Polish prisoners of war.
Many relics and monuments of national culture were looted and destroyed (yet again), including the bronze statue of Adam Mickiewicz stolen for scrap. The Jewish population was first ghettoized, and later murdered. Two major concentration camps near Kraków included Płaszów and the extermination camp of Auschwitz, to which many local Poles and Polish Jews were sent. Specific events surrounding the Jewish ghetto in Kraków and the nearby concentration camps were famously portrayed in the film Schindler's List, itself based on a book by Thomas Keneally entitled Schindler's Ark. The Polish Red Cross was also aware of over 2,000 Polish Jews from Kraków, who escaped from the Germans to Soviet-occupied eastern Poland, and then were deported by the Soviets to the USSR.
The Polish resistance movement was active in the city. Already in September 1939, the Organizacja Orła Białego resistance organization was founded. Kraków became the seat of one of the six main commands of the Union of Armed Struggle in occupied Poland (alongside Warsaw, Poznań, Toruń, Białystok and Lwów). A local branch of the Żegota underground Polish resistance organization was established to rescue Jews from the Holocaust.
The Germans operated several forced labour camps in the city, and in 1942–1944, they also operated the Stalag 369 prisoner-of-war camp for Dutch, Belgian and French POWs. In 1944, during and following the Warsaw Uprising, the Germans deported many captured Poles frow Warsaw to Kraków.
A common account popularized in the Soviet-controlled communist People's Republic of Poland, held that due to a rapid advance of the Soviet armies, Kraków allegedly escaped planned destruction during the German withdrawal. There are several different versions of that account. According to a version based on self-written Soviet statements, Marshal Ivan Konev claimed to have been informed by the Polish patriots of the German plan, and took an effort to preserve Kraków from destruction by ordering a lightning attack on the city while deliberately not cutting the Germans from the only withdrawal path, and by not aiding the attack with aviation and artillery. The credibility of those accounts has been questioned by Polish historian Andrzej Chwalba who finds no physical evidence of the German master plan for demolition and no written proof showing that Konev ordered the attack with the intention of preserving the city. He portrays Konev's strategy as ordinary – only accidentally resulting in little damage to Kraków – exaggerated later into a myth of "Konev, savior of Kraków" by Soviet propaganda. The Red Army entry into the city was accompanied by a wave of rapes of women and girls resulting in official protests.
Post-war period
After the war, the government of the People's Republic of Poland ordered the construction of the country's largest steel mill in the suburb of Nowa Huta. This was regarded by some as an attempt to diminish the influence of Kraków's intellectual and artistic heritage by industrialization of the city and by attracting to it the new working class. In the 1950s some Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, settled in Nowa Huta.
The city is regarded by many to be the cultural capital of Poland. In 1978, UNESCO placed Kraków on the list of World Heritage Sites. In the same year, on October 16, 1978, Kraków's archbishop, Karol Wojtyła, was elevated to the papacy as John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
Kraków's population has quadrupled since the end of World War II. After the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the subsequent joining of the European Union, Offshoring of IT work from other nations has become important to the economy of Kraków and Poland in general in recent years. The city is the key center for this kind of business activity. There are about 20 large multinational companies in Kraków, including centers serving IBM, General Electric, Motorola, and Sabre Holdings, along with British and German-based firms.
In recent history, Kraków has co-hosted various international sports competitions, including the 2016 European Men's Handball Championship, 2017 Men's European Volleyball Championship, 2021 Men's European Volleyball Championship and 2023 World Men's Handball Championship.
"Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit".
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation, incorporate us more firmly into Christ, strengthen our bond with the Church, associate us more closely with her mission, and help us bear witness to the Christian faith in words accompanied by deeds".
On 8 May, Bishop William Kenney, CP, who is area bishop of Oxford confirmed students from Magdalen College School who had been prepared to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation by the Dominican friars.
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)
www.sriyantras.com/christian-symbols.html
Hundreds Of High Resolution Christian Symbols in Mandala Form. The Symbols Of The Cross and The Star Of Bethlehem Drawn In Mandala Formation With Influence From Tibetan BUddhist Concepts.
www.sriyantras.com/christian-symbols.html
www.sriyantras.com/christian-symbols.html
Hundreds Of High Resolution Christian Symbols in Mandala Form. The Symbols Of The Cross and The Star Of Bethlehem Drawn In Mandala Formation With Influence From Tibetan BUddhist Concepts.
www.sriyantras.com/christian-symbols.html
Hundreds Of High Resolution Christian Symbols in Mandala Form. The Symbols Of The Cross and The Star Of Bethlehem Drawn In Mandala Formation
List of names of children enrolled in catechism classes. The teacher is named overleaf as John Gorman.
Item held by the Delany Archive: www.delanyarchive.ie. Code: DAS/905-1.
Our images are copyright. Please contact us in advance for permission if you wish to reproduce images (including on other websites): delanyarchive@carlowcollege.ie.
www.sriyantras.com/christian-symbols.html
Hundreds Of High Resolution Christian Symbols in Mandala Form. The Symbols Of The Cross and The Star Of Bethlehem Drawn In Mandala Formation
The town of Morong traces its origins to the pioneering work of the Franciscans Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa. Both were responsible for starting most of the lake town mission in 1578. Fr. Plasencia was well known for his mastery of Tagalog and is credited with compiling a dictionary of the vernacular and writing a draft of a catechism which is later used for composing the Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book printed in the Philippines.
It was not until 1586, that Morong had a friar permanently assigned to attend to the people. The church, dedicated to St. Jerome, stood on the opposite bank of Morong River where the church stands presently. But in 1612 a conflagration consumed the town and with it the church. The townsite was transferred to its present position in 1617. A new church was completed in 1620. The church had remained substantially unchanged until 1850-53, when Fr. Maximo Rico commissioned Bartolome Palatino, a native of Paete, to renovate the facade and build a bell tower. In 1962, the church interior was renovated and facade coated with Portland cement. During the renovation, the dimensions of the windows along the nave were increased and other openings added to the wall adjacent to the convento. The convento is presently a school, although a room on the ground floor adjacent to the church has been set aside for a Blessed Sacrament room.
The Morong facade and bell tower is easily the most striking of all church facades along Laguna de Bay. Frequently photographed and described as baroque, the facade/bell tower is more properly described as neo-baroque because the baroque period ended in the Philippines before 1780. The central portion of the facade surges outward and the catenated balustrade above give the whole a dynamic felling. Various decorative elements, some Mexican in origin, give the facade a richness characteristic of Baroque. Four angels, representing the cardinal virtues, stand at the corners of the bell tower. Fr. Felix Huerta, writing in 1852, states that the facade had finials shaped as jars and shells used for illuminating it.
It is said that it was built by Chinese craftsmen as evidence: two Chinese lion sculptures ( a boy and a girl lion ) at the entrance to the steep driveway. Unfortunately one lion, said to be the girl lion was stolen early year 2000- 2005. Local folklore said that the female lion has a hidden treasure inside it. While the other lion; the Male lion, is safe guarded at the St. Jerome school vicinity.
The stone and mortar church which has a three-story facade, and an octagonal bell tower whose cross is illuminated at night and can be seen from the surrounding countryside. The bell tower of the church is used by local fisher man in the nearby towns as a light house when fishing at night and during the storm. Its Frontispiece and the belfry were renovated by Bartolome Palatino of Paete, between 1850-1853.
Although the church interior was damaged by war, a few elements are worth noting, namely, the crocodile motif carved on the supporting brackets of the choir loft; the bas relief of the Baptism of Jesus in the baptistery, and the image of Saint Jerome on a side altar.
I was dropping off my son to catechism school every Tuesday night. I decided to bring my camera and stop by the Mission first so I can capture the remaining light after the sun finally sets. This gives a nice blue color to the sky instead of black.
SANCTUS: Celebrating A Decade of Catechism & Renewed Faith Through Newly Commissioned Religious Images
(The 1st Primera Salida Exhibit)
Museo ng Makati
Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City
November 4-15, 2011
1st Regular Exhibit Day
November 8, 2011
* Exhibit open everyday (except weekends and holidays), 8 AM thru 5 PM.
**Pictures in set unedited due to bulk and time constraints.
***Attention all exhibitors: Feel free to grab any of the pictures for your personal use. Please cite the source whenever and wherever applicable. Thanks.
The most unique image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines is the "Sto. Niño Dela O".
Dancing, singing in “Simbang Gabi”
SIMBANG gabi in the town of Pangil in Laguna is not just plain misa de gallo, the evening or dawn novena Masses that start Dec. 16 to usher in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an occasion for dancing, singing and offering of infants.
About a thousand mothers wearing bandanas usually flock to the Our Lady of Nativity Parish Church with their babies, to dance and chant praises to God.
They recite the rosary and sing exaltations to the “Nuestra Señora de La O” (Our Lady of the “O” or Our Lady of Nativity). Holding the “Santo Niño de La O” (Holy Child of the “O” or Holy Child of the Nativity), they dance to the children’s Latin song “Dic Mihi” of the basic Christian catechism amid the beating of the drums.
Every Pangileño knows the tune by heart. The song enumerates the 12 important teachings of the Church.
The ritual is locally called “OO”, which many people believe has been derived from the Latin devotional verses and exaltations that start with “O”, such as: “O Maria! O Virgines Pulcra! O Mater Nostra!”
Long life…
For the elderly, the singing and dancing start immediately after the dawn Mass. For infants and children, the activities take place at 4-5 p.m.
As early as 3 p.m., women and their toddlers troop to the church for the ritual. Residents say the event ensures good health for the young ones and long life, success and prosperity for the families.
The ceremony lasts more than an hour.
The daily ritual runs until Dec. 24, in time for the Pregnant Madonna’s birth of Jesus on Christmas.
The “Santo Niño de La O” is hoisted by a chosen person who dances back and forth along the aisle as the churchgoers sing the “Dic Mihi”.
It is said that bearing the image during the annual feast day procession is a privileged task, for which people line up for years. For instance, someone who has his name listed in 2000 will have to wait until 2015 to carry the Santo Niño. If one has sinned, he or she would find the statue heavy; if guiltless, the statue would be light.
The religious devotion was transformed into a Grand Pa-OO Festival or the Bandana Festival in January 1999, when parishioners started dancing the Santo Niño in the streets, waving pine leaves while dancing.
The date of the festival, now on its sixth year, was changed to Dec. 18 in later years.
Pregnant Madonna…
A church document describes the pregnant Madonna as the life-sized statue of the “Nuestra Señora de La O”, which symbolizes the Blessed Mother heavy with the Child Jesus.
When one views the image closely, the Virgin’s hand expresses amazement while her beautiful face looks intently beyond.
The “Santo Niño de La O”, on the other hand, depicts the Child Jesus inside the womb. Thus, it is hoisted on a wooden pole with a silver circle representing the womb.
The two images are also considered miraculous. The “Nuestra Señora de La O”, in particular, is known to help women who have difficulty in child-bearing.
Four centuries…
The municipality of Pangil is as old as the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish. It is now 430 years old.
Church documents showed that the first church was built by missionaries Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa in Barangay Sulib in 1579. Made of bamboo, the church was destroyed by an earthquake and storms.
In 1611, a stone church and a convent were built under Fray Gonzalo del Robles. At that time, the church was the biggest in Laguna.
Today, the convent of Pangil remains a historic place for one memorable reason: it was host to Prince Carlos III of Spain in 1743. The prince stayed in Pangil and spent time hunting in the forest and swimming in the river, which is now called the “Bambang Hari” by natives.
He stayed in the town for three or four years, church records show, and returned to Spain in 1759. Five years later, in 1764, he was crowned King Carlos III after the death of King Fernando VI, his stepbrother to his father, King Felipe V.
Upon his ascension to the throne of Spain as King Charles III, he sent the statues of “Santo Niño de La O” and “Nuestra Señora de La O” to Pangil as a sign of his gratitude and appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.
The bandanas used by the festival participants, according to old Pangileños, seek to recall their ancestors who covered their heads as they received the two gifts from King Carlos III along the Laguna Lake on a rainy day of December 1764.
They sang and danced in extreme joy along the streets, carrying the images on their way to the parish church. (INQ7)