A 50-year-old dream

When the Ateneo de Manila University moved from its old campus in Padre Faura, Manila to Loyola Heights, Quezon City in the 1950s, the Jesuits dreamed of having a church built on the highest point of the campus. It wasn't until fifty years later that that dream was realized. In 2001 the Church of the Gesù was built and dedicated during the Feastday of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It is named after the Il Gesù, the mother church of the Society of Jesus in Rome, Italy. The design of the Ateneo Church of the Gesù, though very modern, is also very Filipino. Its pyramidal roof is reminiscent of the roof of the nipa hut, the Philippines' traditional house, now only found in rural areas. The statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the left stood alone for many years on that highest point. In commemoration of this fact, the area where the church stands is now called the Sacred Heart Hill.

Seeing stars

One of the events counting down to the Ateneo de Manila's sesquicentennial was a Festival of Ateneo Music last weekend. Like last year, all the music groups of the university gathered together for a concert in the Church of the Gesù. The star-shaped lights inside the church were cycling through all the colors of the rainbow, though I only caught a few.

The season of waiting

A Catholic priest friend once told us that if there is only one piece of Christmas decoration we could put up, it should be the nativity scene. Owing to the fact that Christianity was brought to the Philippines by the Spaniards, we call the nativity scene by the Spanish name for Bethlehem, where Jesus was born: the belen. This is the nativity scene in the Ateneo Church of the Gesù. Since Jesus hasn't been born yet, the crib is still empty. The image of the infant Jesus will only be installed during the Christmas Eve Mass. In contrast to the modern and simple architecture of the Gesù, the nativity scene is very Filipino—at least during the Spanish colonial period. The clothes of Mary and Joseph are typical of the era and so is the building reproduced on the screen. The parol (Christmas star) is made of capiz shell, used extensively in handcrafted, decorative Filipino products from jewelry to home accessories.

Maria

Today is the feastday of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. All Jesuit institutions in the Philippines (and maybe worldwide for all I know) are on holiday today. Today is also the anniversary of the dedication of the Ateneo Church of the Gesù. This image is just above the altar of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, one of the two side chapels of the Gesù. Sculpted by Justino "Paloy" A. Cagayat Jr. of Paete, Laguna (a town known for its highly-skilled wood craftsmen), this is a very unusual Immaculate Conception because of her Filipina features and dress. Some people find it hard to get used to since most images of Mary here are very European, but I like it.

Baja de las campanas

The 25-meter triangular belfry of the Ateneo de Manila University's Church of the Gesù has an 18-bell carillon and one Angelus bell. It stands several meters to the right of the church, built in 2005 (the church was built in 2001), and dedicated during the Feastday of St. Ignatius of Loyola on July 31. The bells were made by the Royal Bell Foundry Petit & Fritsen B.V. of Holland and are inscribed with the names of Catholic Saints, both Jesuits and others. The Angelus bell is inscribed with the phrase "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One."

No mass

Good Friday is a holiday observed by most Christians, commemorating the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. Unlike during other holy days, there will be no masses in Roman Catholic churches anywhere (nor tomorrow, Holy Saturday). Services will still gather people together in churches; however, the focus will be on mourning Jesus' death and contemplating his sacrifice. Here in the Philippines, quite a few people still recite the Pasyon, a poetic narrative of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection, in a custom which dates back to the 18th century; and many more will go through the Stations of the Cross. Though it is a school church and not a parish church, the Ateneo Church of the Gesù will also have its own Good Friday service. This is my view of the church everyday when I leave work in the early evening—though the color of the sky isn't always this odd but pretty shade.

A sea of green

The three tallest structures in the Ateneo de Manila University right now are the Church of the Gesù and its bell tower, the two-tower student dormitory, and the Ricardo & Dr. Rosita Leong Hall—the home of the School of Social Sciences which you can't see here because I took this photo from its roof deck. The scale of the church and the dorm is deceiving because the terrain is hidden by the trees. The church stands on the highest point of the campus. Behind it, the land begins to slope downward until it ends on a cliff which overlooks Marikina valley. The dorm is at the very edge of the property and probably has a wonderful view of the City of Marikina and the Sierra Madre mountains.

Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page and tour the skies of our beautiful world.

The sacred and the profane

A sight that we see at the Ateneo de Manila University at least four times a year. One of our trustees comes to attend the quarterly board meetings in his blue helicopter, landing it in the field in front of the Church of the Gesù.

My favorite model

The geometric lines and shapes of the Ateneo Church of the Gesù make for some interesting and fun photos. This is the exterior corridor with skylights running the entire length of its facade.

Heavenly sky-watching

The corridor in front of the Ateneo Church of the Gesù is also roofed with glass, like its cupola and much of its pyramidal roof.

Something old for something new

THEME DAY: GLASS • During the 1930s, the campus of the Ateneo de Manila University was along Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila. All of its buildings were destroyed during WWII. When the Jesuits rebuilt the campus, they also built a circular chapel on the grounds. In Germany, Fr. Raymond Annable, S.J. found a set of stained glass windows depicting the Stations of the Cross and the walls of the chapel were designed specifically for them. In the 1950s, the university's main campus was moved to its current location in Loyola Heights, Quezon City and the Padre Faura land was sold to John L. Gokongwei, one of the Philippines' wealthiest businessmen. Fifty years passed before the light of the sun shone through those stained glass windows again, when they were installed in the Church of the Gesù in 2002. They provide a beautiful backdrop to the church's unique holy water font, made out of a single piece of volcanic rock with a water circulating system built inside it. Reflected on the stained glass panels is the crucifix over the altar and the windows of the two other sides of the pyramid-shaped church.



Rough, smooth, faceted, colored, smoky, translucent, transparent, mirrored—look at or look through glass with the City Daily Photo bloggers. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Today

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, 

which is Christ the Lord.

~Luke 2:11

  The Nativity scene at the Ateneo Church of the Gesù

Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed 

and grace-filled Christmas.

Exie & Hilda

White wafers

The decorations hanging from the cupola of the Ateneo Church of the Gesù this Christmas season are called Neules de Mallorca, a traditional craft from the island of Mallorca or Majorca in Spain. They are cut-out paper disks with delicate designs which originally were edible wafers made of the same unleavened bread that Roman Catholic communion wafers are made of.

White

I posted a photo of the Ateneo de Manila Church of the Gesù last month, but one taken at night. This is what the church looks like at high noon on a very sunny day. The glare from all that white can be tremendous. The statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus stands on a little plaza with stone benches in front of the church. It is not uncommon for the students of the university to sit there, chatting with their friends, in the early evenings.

Beacon

When the sun has completely set, the Church of the Gesù is a beacon of light in the Ateneo de Manila University campus. Especially for the students who live in the dormitories beside it.

For your white and blue

Blue and white parol hanging from the cupola of the Ateneo Church of the Gesù. The title is a line from the alma mater song of the Ateneo de Manila University, whose school color is blue.

A symphony in blue

The Ateneo de Manila University officially opened its celebrations and events for the Advent and Christmas season last night, and we were treated to a lovely performance by the Blue Symphony at the Sacred Heart Plaza of the Church of the Gesù.

The student symphony orchestra is the youngest performing arts organization in the university, and they still need a lot of support from the community. None of the students are music majors (since the Ateneo does not have a music program) and there are too many instruments that are not represented; the organization does not have production or marketing teams yet; they are trained by a conductor gratis; and the kids need a formation program set up to help them deal with the challenges of combining their love of music with the demands of their academics, not to mention the emotional drama that is inevitable in any group of artists. Despite all these, however, the young and youthful orchestra has garnered much praise from those who have heard them perform, and I really hope that the university and its benefactors can give Blue Symphony the assistance that it needs to become a full orchestra that everyone can be proud of.

Monstrance

The Ateneo Church of the Gesù has two side chapels. One chapel is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and the other is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Sacred Heart Chapel is also known as the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament because it is the one used for the exposition of the consecrated Eucharistic Host—note the monstrance built into the base of the crucifix.

White and blue

THEME DAY: THE TENIN TECHNIQUE • I've posted quite a lot of photos of the Ateneo Church of the Gesù but, until today, never of its side—with air vents rather than regular windows. The angled passageway leads to the corridor just outside the front of the church. Kneeling on a tree root under a large acacia tree to take this photo, you also get a bonus: seeing how dry and brown the crabgrass of our campus gets during the summer months.



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Sacred Heart

The crucifix and monstrance which I featured yesterday belongs to one of the side chapels of the Church of the Gesù. It is called the Sacred Heart Chapel, and a stylized image of Jesus showing his pierced heart and hands is displayed prominently near the front entrance of the chapel though lit artificially because there is a small room behind it. This is a very modern representation of the traditional image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for which there is a strong religious devotion in the Philippines. The text on the image is from the Gospel of Saint John, chapter 19 verse 37: They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced.