Lupit Church - Bacolod City

it is said that most catholics go to church at the very least, twice in their lifetime: christening and internment; everything in the middle is optional, even weddings.

i got the chance to visit Lupit Church in Bacolod City for a wedding ceremony. i met the groom-to-be the previous day and got my first and last hello with the bride during the required ritual of having each table go up the stage where the couple sat for a photo op. i ignored the bride's blank look that said : uh, who is this again?

which means that i am exempted from guilty feelings of walking out the ceremony and having a look around the lot.

Lupit church is uncommon as it features a belfry that sits on top of the entrance to the church, it's massive pointed tower stretching to the skies in what you can probably imagine to be a direct antenna to heaven. it was hard crouching low and getting a perspective shot to get the whole front fit in the camera lens. (click on read.more) stepping back would have meant unwanted leaves ruining a shot of gloriously blue skies and cottony clouds.

the interiors of the church is rather interesting. the only way you can look out the tall narrow windows of stained glass lining the side of the church would be if you're twelve feet tall or wearing elevators shoes, really tall elevator shoes.

the stained glass windows lend a strong reddish, orange cast to everything inside the complex - perfect for faking a tan, bad news for people who spent a small fortune equal to the GNP of a small country to sustain a gluthathione addiction.

featuring extraordinarily high ceilings, the series of curved arches are broken by the geometric square pattern that is painted all over the ceiling. if you have vertigo, i suggest you keep your eyes on the altar. don't, look, up.


the church has three main access points: the main entrance and the two wing entrance compared to usual church designs with doors along the side. claustrophobics are well advised not to attend services here - unless you're part of the service, inside a coffin.


the side of the church, the smaller chapel partly hidden from view.

the smaller chapel

the bride.

Comments

Anonymous said…
i love churches! great photos. keep 'em coming.
8:25 PM
chino said…
i love churches too. hopefully i can visit some of the beautiful churches in bacolod ths december ...thanks for sharing .
1:45 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

the sign

"Lord, give me a sign..." no, i haven't fallen victim to overly melodramatic movie lines. on the other hand, i actually did use these words while attending mass last sunday (Redemptorist, Cebu City). you see, i have been increasingly dissatisfied with matters regarding the church but not necessarily my faith. to a point that i am debating whether i should even attend mass. i was asking myself if i wanted to attend mass given the fact that the church is getting more political. sure, i understand liberation theology and standing up for what is morally right. but that is exactly the same thing that has been bothering me, the moral thingy. the local church is proclaiming that the current administration has no moral leadership. i am not refuting that claim, on the other hand, the church could have said the same thing about itself. except that they rather not comment on anything when it comes to issues facing the institutional church. and there are tons of dirt, make that hun...
Read more

cebuanas.com

"most of the foreigners are middle-aged men with young women hanging on to their arms." that is part of the preface by lonely planet when describing cebu city as a tourist destination. for USD 299 dollars "yanski" will meet you at the airport, and for 7 days, have a personal assistant arrange for 5 ladies to be brought up to your hotel for a get to know each other session. oh, they also provide you with a cell phone. if you're on a quick turnaround flight, USD 99 will have someone meet you at the airport and arrange for 5 ladies to be brought up to your hotel room for a "get to know each other session". and yeah, the cell phone comes along as well. i seriously doubt that "get to know each other session" will last long before someone starts to strip, and that is definitely another type of conversation i don't want to go into. and if you probably ask for it, the "escort" can also provide you with viagra supply. but like any other ...
Read more

a most unusual saint

Image
the title Black Magic Mary is enough to conjur images of a witch draped in black robes similar to that of the Virgin Mary albeit with a more sinister aura. in Sta. Maria Church in Siquijor, a saint wearing a black habit holds a skull in one hand and an "inverted cross" in another is fast gaining a reputation that is probably influenced by the mystic history of the island itself. locals have speculated that the skull is actually her husband's and that she murdered her husband for reasons that seems to have been lost in history. a bit of research show that the locals refer to the saint as Santa Rita de Siquijor, probably a Filipino convention where we name the Virgin Mary with annexes related to places (e.g. Our Lady of Guadalupe). my own research led me to discover this particular "myth" in an effort to know more about Santa Rita de Cascia who is the patron saint of a church and town named after her in Pampanga. The first thing that caught my attenti...
Read more