Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Visitation of Piat Postcard

Our Lady of Piat is a 400-year old image of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. The itinerary of the Blessed Image of Our Lady of Piat started in Macao (China) from where it was brought to Manila. From Manila she was taken to Lallo and from there to Piat. Spearheaded by the archbishop Diosdado Talamayan and said to be partly built of the old bricks from the original ermita, the new shrine broke ground in 1988, blessed by the Cardinal Sin in 1995 and was regarded as a minor basilica in 1999.

Our Lady of Piat Postcard

No description of the image is given by any of the historians, though it is often mentioned that is "of talla" (a sculpture or statue, as opposed to a painting or canvass).Perhaps the greatest attraction is the miracles. Famous is the early story about the drought. In 1624, the region was suffering from a terrible one. Facing famine, the people turned to their priest, who advised them to “make their peace with God by going to the Sacrament and making a novena to the Blessed Mother.” The people did, going to confession, receiving Holy Communion and reciting a novena to Our Lady of Piat. In the middle of their novena, rain fell.

SOURCES:Our Lady of Piat Homepage
A Short Heritage Tour of Cagayan

Basilica of St Lorenzo Ruiz Postcards

Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz (Binondo Church) was founded by Dominican priests in 1596 to serve their Chinese converts to Christianity. The original building was destroyed by a bombardment by the British in 1762 during their brief occupation of Manila at that time.

Binondo Church Postcard 1

Binondo Church was greatly damaged during the Second World War, although fortunately the western facade and the octagonal bell tower survived. The current granite church was completed on the same site in 1852 and features an octagonal bell tower which suggests the Chinese culture of the parishioners.

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Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz was named after the sacristan, San Lorenzo Ruiz. Saint Lorenzo Ruiz (c.1600 - Sept. 29, 1637), served at the convent of Binondo church as an altar boy. After a few years he earned the title of escribano and soon became a member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary.

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He was working as a clerk at the Binondo Church when he was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard in 1636. He sought asylum on board a ship with three Dominican priests. The boat landed at Okinawa and the group was arrested on basis of their Christian religion. They were tortured, but they did not denounce their faith and died as martyrs.

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Lorenzo Ruiz was beatified in Manila on Feb 18, 1981 by Pope John Paul II. He was canonized on Oct 18, 1987, becoming Philippines' first saint. A large statue of the martyr stands in front of the church.

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SOURCE:
Binondo Church, Manila

Basilica of San Sebastián Postcards

The Basilica Minore de San Sebastian (San Sebastian Church) is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in Manila. It is the seat of the Parish of San Sebastian and the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. The Church of San Sebastian was raised to the status of a minor basilica by Pope Leo XIII on June 24, 1890.

San Sebastian Church Postcard 1

Completed in 1891, San Sebastian Church has been recognized by the UNESCO as the only all-steel church or basilica in Asia. It has also been implausibly reputed to be the first prefabricated building in the world, and more plausibly claimed as the only prefabricated steel church in the world. In 2006, San Sebastian Church was included in the Tentative List for possible designation as a World Heritage Site.

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The prefabricated steel sections that would compose San Sebastian Church were manufactured in Binche, Belgium. In all, 52 tons of prefabricated steel sections were transported in eight separate shipments from Belgium to the Philippines. The walls were filled with mixed sand, gravel and cement.

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The connection between Gustave Eiffel (the French engineer behind the Eiffel Tower) and San Sebastian Church was reportedly confirmed by historian Ambeth Ocampo while doing research in Paris. Ocampo likewise published a report that in the 1970s, the famed architect I. M. Pei had visited Manila to confirm reports he had heard that Eiffel had designed an all-steel church in Asia. When Pei inspected San Sebastian Church, he reportedly pronounced that the metal fixtures and overall structure were indeed designed by Eiffel.

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San Sebastian Church has two openwork towers and steel vaulting. The basilica's central nave is twelve meters from the floor to the dome, and thirty-two meters to the tip of the spires. The interior of the church displays groined vaults in the Gothic architecture style. The steel columns, walls and ceiling were painted by Filipino artist Lorenzo Rocha and his students to give off a faux-marble and jasper appearance.

SOURCE:
Basilica of San Sebastian, Manila Wikipedia Entry

Manila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica Postcards

The Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Manila Cathedral) was the seat of the Archbishop of Manila during the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines, and still remains the ecclesiastical seat of the Archdiocese of Manila.

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Fernando Ocampo came up with a new and modern cathedral with an appearance similar to its predecessor but with a more functional use of space. Ocampo’s cathedral was made more spatially and visually interesting by its striking Neo-Romanesque façade, Byzantine motifs, bronze doors, pineapple finials, and many other artistic ornamentations.

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The Manila Cathedral covers an area of almost 3,000 square meters. The present structure has a Latin-cross plan which closely follows the distribution of spaces of the previous cathedral—aisles are separated from the nave by arcaded colonnades, and several chapels flank the nave.

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Chapels are paved by highly polished Carrara marble prefabricated in Italy. The main altar, which has a two-meter high statue of the Immaculate Conception, is featured with lovely columns built out of green Carrara marble.

Manila Cathedral Postcard 4

Paving the rest of the cathedral floor are cream slabs of marble. Marble also found its way in the altars of the side chapels where reliefs and mosaic panels add further decorative accents. Likewise, the pulpit and the Episcopal throne are made out of Italian marble.

Manila Cathedral Postcard 5

SOURCE:
Manila Cathedral Wikipedia Entry

Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene Postcards

Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church) is a Roman Catholic church located in Quiapo, Manila. It is home to the Black Nazarene, a much venerated statue of Jesus Christ which many people believe has miraculous attributes; because of this the church is sometimes referred to as the "Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene".

Quiapo Church Postcard 1

The foundations of the church was built in 1582 and survived the devastation of World War II despite surrounding buildings being completely destroyed. The church was painted cream after the original Mexican Baroque edifice was burned down in 1928.

Quiapo Church Postcard 2

Brought to the country by the Recollect Friars in the early 1600s, the Señor, the endearing name for the Black Nazarene, finally found permanent residence at the Quiapo Church, relegating its patron saint, St. John de Baptist to a permanent status of obscurity and lessened reverence.

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Black Nazarene is a 400-year-old, darkened, wooden life-size image of Christ, clad in a maroon robe and semi-kneeling from carrying a large wooden cross. This image sits high above the altar.

Quiapo Church Postcard 4

On Fridays thousands of Catholic devotees may be seen inside the church edging forward on their knees towards the crucifix. The image is said to have special powers to grant favors and miracles to its devotees.

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SOURCE:
Quiapo Church Wikipedia Entry