April 10, 2009

Into your hands I commend my spirit

Being mostly a Catholic country, the Philippines has been on holiday since yesterday, Maundy Thursday, the first day of the Easter Triduum. Yesterday, the mass, which commemorates the last supper, included a re-enactment of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples and ended with the body of Christ (the consecrated hosts) being placed in the altar of repose, where they will stay until the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. There are no masses today, Good Friday. Instead, other prayer services commemorating the passion and death of Jesus are held: the recitation of and sermons about his seven last words, the way of the cross, and the chanting of the pasyon (the paschal narrative in poetry). There will be no masses tomorrow, Black Saturday, either. But vigils will be held in most churches, which will culminate early Sunday morning in the salubong (meeting), a celebration of the first meeting of the resurrected Christ with his mother Mary. This is a portion of the arched ceiling of the Binondo Church, which is covered with paintings depicting scenes from the life of Jesus. The rectangular paintings at the bottom are the guides for the way of the cross, half of which are on the other side of the church. In most churches, one just goes around the periphery. Here, it seems that one is meant to cross from one side of the church to the other as one prays and remembers the suffering and death that Jesus Christ had to go through.

paintings of scenes in the life of Jesus on the ceiling of the Binondo Church

21 comments:

GreensboroDailyPhoto said...

Love your post Hilda: If you are looking for Good Friday posts, try the following Skywatch Friday posts today # 78, 116, 140, and ours, 210.

Haven't been through all of the Skywatch posts...... but trying!!!

penny said...

Hilda, your post is a wonderful reminder of why Easter is such an important holiday.
Thanks for visiting, have a Happy Easter...

Olivier said...

belle architecture, on dirait des voiles.
nice architecture, they would say sails.

Unknown said...

So different from the catholic churches around here!

Clueless in Boston said...

Very pretty church interior. Happy Easter!

nobu said...

Fascinating!!

Lowell said...

Most impressive and very beautiful.

George said...

Thank you for a wonderful Good Friday post and for the picture of the beautiful church.

VP said...

Thank you for this beautiful post and for this image of a church so different (but not so much) from ours. Our paintings of the Stations of the Cross are usually smaller and churches usually darker: the Binondo Church seems so full of light...

James said...

Beautiful post and photo.

Lois said...

A wonderful post Hilda. The picture is beautiful!

Cezar and Léia said...

Beautiful ceiling ! Great post Hilda!
Happy Easter!
God bless you
Léia

abc said...

It's a lovely picture, but I really had to bend my head to enjoy those paintings on the ceiling. The story of Easter is intriguing, I'm watching a television drama about it right now.

Debbie Courson Smith said...

A great relevant post.

Dan said...

Super post and wonderful picture today. The lighting is first rate.

GreensboroDailyPhoto said...

Hilda: Glad you liked our post. If you EVER find the set(s) of crosses by Rev. Coffindaffer in the Phillipines, please photograph them and share them. Found another Good Friday Skywatch Friday #293. You'll love it!

Jan

D said...

A lovely Easter post.
Happy Easter!

Angel.Pearls said...

So beautiful ceiling!//Eva

Juergen Kuehn said...

I am very impressed by this beautiful formed ceiling.

Anonymous said...

Easter happy holidays.

Joe Narvaez said...

Fantastic picture. I really like it.