Free tours of cultural treasure during Visita Iglesia
CATHOLICS have an opportunity to inject some culture and art during Holy Week’s traditional Visita Iglesia by including the San Sebastian Basilica in their itinerary.
On Maundy Thursday, March 24, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., a member of the basilica’s conservation foundation will be giving free guided tours to everyone who wants to discover San Sebastian beyond its alleged Eiffel connection.
San Sebastian is the country’s oldest basilica and the first National Shrine for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. It is a declared National Historical Landmark and National Cultural Treasure, which are the two highest distinctions that can be bestowed on a Philippine historic building. Inside this famous Belgian steel structure are original wall and ceiling paintings of angels, saints, martyrs and faux stone finishes, and stained glass windows that have remained authentic since 1891. The free tours are a 10-munite oportunity to learn more about the beauty — and the deterioration — of the Philippines’ first and only all-metal building.
“Just as Visita Iglesia is an expression of our devotion, our penitence and our faith, so too is the Minor Basilica of St. Sebastian,” said Fr. Antonio Zabala, Jr., OSA, San Sebastian’s parish priest and the rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
While paid tours are available all year round, these will be made free to all visitors and pilgrims on March 24.
“We rally the faithful to help us in its restoration project so that we can truly affirm the strength of our faith,” says Fr. Zabala.
Visita Iglesia is a Catholic Lenten tradition in which the faithful visit several churches on the evening of Holy Thursday on Holy Week — sometimes seven, sometimes 14, sometimes no set number — to pray before the Blessed Sacrament in each church.
A suggested route for the Visita Iglesia in the Quiapo area of Manila starts with the twin churches of Our Lady of Loreto and Saint Anthony, on J. Figueras St. (old Bustillos), then on to the Our Lady of Montserrat chapel at San Beda on Mendiola St., then to Saint Jude Church and San Miguel Church along J.P. Laurel, Sr. St. in Malacañang, then to Quiapo Church, and finally, to San Sebastian church on Plaza del Carmen, R. Hidalgo St. in Quiapo, Manila, as the seventh and final church.
The tours are managed by the San Sebastian Basilica Conservation and Development Foundation, Inc., which also offers guided tours of the basilica and its spires during the rest of the year. For more information, contact the foundation through e-mail (savesansebastian.org@gmail.com) and landline (708-5122).
