Churches are our Castles

     Here is the less-than-a-year old Church of St. Benedict at the nearby Westgrove Heights.  The interior is very unique and awesome, conducive to praise and worship. However, I can't post the photos I took inside as my offspring posed in the foreground. (and I do not want to post offspring's pics). 

    Now WESTGROVE is the first place that came to former neighbor's minds when I announced our move to Sta. Rosa.  Technically, Westgrove is in Barangay Inchican, Silang, Cavite. I first heard the name bgy. Inchican from a receptionist at the beauty salon at Paseo. She said she was from that bgy. I also heard it from the carpenter who needed to buy from "the many hardware shops" at  Inchican. I had since wondered about what "Inchican" means. Imagining it spelled as Instikan, I had wondered if it meant something like a Chinese quarter of town.  Silly idea? Let me know if you know.  I haven't asked the barangay folk (whose barangay hall's design looks like it belongs in Westgrove hehe. nice.).

    This  church has no parish priest as of this writing.  They've got guest priests for the Holy Week, and the weekend masses are said by priests from the parish in Silang.  It is right next to St. Scholastica's Westgrove. 

     St. Benedict's is really elegant-looking, inside and out. It is sure to be A popular wedding venue. But of course our old Spanish churches are still our "castles", which, sayang, could serve as more important tourist attractions than they currently are.

     The church of St. John Bosco in Sta. Rosa near this church, is celebrating it's 10th anniversary this year. I promise photos next time.  Its design is reminiscent of the Sanctuario de San Antonio's in Makati, or the many other similarly designed '80s-'90s churches in Manila.  It is thus cozy, familiar, and just late last year, now airconditioned for everyone's comfort.  The cool (no pun intended) thing about this area is that the airconditioner is hardly used except for the summer months.  Don Bosco's addition of aircons is going to keep the flock coming I'm sure.  I mean, going to Sunday mass had always been difficult in the heat. No matter what a priest lectures about it being part of the sacrifice.  I just cannot focus on the Lord, blessings and prayers while fanning myself like crazy.

     Here is the Sta. Rosa de Lima parish, which is at the heart of the bayan  ng Sta. Rosa. Sta. Rosa is not just the area surrounding Greenfield, Ayala and the Paseo de Sta. Rosa!  Sta. Rosa does have a real, colorful history...which I have been failing to learn more of...until I get to talk to Ms. Nonia Tiongco, the historian of Sta. Rosa whose "Sta. Rosa Studies Center" eludes me. (more on this later).

     On the day of our visit, the Poong Nazareno (black Nazarene) was in the church. Vendors of replicas, holy oil, handkerchiefs with the novena printed on them, scapulars and miscellaneous Nazarene trinkets were outside in the heat of the church plaza/parking lot.  INSIDE the church, mobile versions of those vendors approached us every two minutes or so to sell their stuff.  Some of them were lying on the pews, some milling about, barking at each other. Well, talking, and it seemed they came all the way from Quiapo, the black nazarene's home.

      Here are photos of that church, built in 1796.  For those who have also recently moved to the "new" side of Sta. Rosa, know that here is the "old" town, ready for you to explore (in a later post, the museum and environs).

     The statue of Sta. Rosa de Lima was given by Peru in 1999.
There was nobody to talk to about the trompe l'óeil downstairs. This painting, not trompe l'oeil, looks like a typical 1920's rendition found in other churches.  Well, I hope we get to contact the Santa Rosa Studies group soon.  We missed their exhibition at My SM, My City two years ago. That series is where information could be gathered.