The University of Santo Tomas

You can't miss it.  Along España Boulevard (on your left going north) is a big campus that looks like it has been there for ages.  The school itself was founded in the 1611 but the campus was originally in Intramuros. The move to this place took place in 1927.

What catches the eye is the landmark, the Arch of the Centuries. When the UST moved to España, the arch was dismantled and carried piece by piece from Intramuros.  It was put together in what used to be the main entrance of the University (when I was little, the road going through the arch was the main entrance to the University). The original arch was destroyed during WWII so this one is a reproduction.

The Arch of the Centuries

The arch is flanked by the Fountain of Divine Wisdom (the one below) and the Fountain of  Knowledge.

The Fountain of Divine Wisdom

The UST chapel (actually a parish now - the Santissimo Rosario Parish) is part of the Father's Residence and the building that houses the UST Central Seminary, and the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties.  It was built in 1933, in the art deco style (in the 20's to the 30's, this must have been the "in" thing in architecture).  The Metropolitan theater near the Liwasang Bonifacio is an example (a more illustrative one) of this form of architecture.

The UST Chapel

The chapel has traditional plan, The north transept (the Lady Chapel)  is where Our Lady of the Rosary is enshrined.  St Dominic stands solemnly on the South transept.  

The Chapel is air conditioned during Mass.  I  find the traditional layout very solemn and prayerful.  My own parish is a circular church and it is very airy and comfortable.  But it gives the impression of being a place where people can move around a lot - and people do! Hmmm.

Um, I didn't find an image of St. Thomas Aquinas inside.  Can anybody tell me why!

The interior of the UST Chapel

The Main Building was built in 1927 in the Renaissance Revival Style.  It has a wide staircase leading to the rooms and offices upstairs.  When I was a student, I remember going to the UST for seminars and competitions in this building.  Somewhere in it are bottles where biological specimens were preserved. I've always felt that there was something about his building - a life that started way back....and it was not in the bottles. It was used by the Japanese during World war II as an Internment camp. But seeing students walking around it today, you wouldn't guess that it was a place of much suffering in the past.

 

The Main Building

Rizal (Jose Rizal, the national hero) studied medicine in this university beginning in 1878.  I had the luck to visit the archives twice and at both times, we asked to see Rizal's copy of grades.  The grades were lower towards the end of his studies. 

None of the buildings or landmarks  were named after Rizal.  Probably because of what he said about his life at the UST.  The Ateneo library, meanwhile, is called the Rizal library.  But that's another story.. 

Some Churches in Bulacan

The recent flooding in coastal towns of Bulacan reminded me of a trip we once took to see the Hagonoy, Calumpit and Pulilan churches.  The streets got flooded during the day and the place had a fishy smell.  But the people looked well-off and the welcome we received was warm. 

The province of Bulacan covers a large area.  The southern portion has marshlands and coastal waters that  make good fish pens.

We took two big motorized bancas to a fish pen in the bay.  On the way, we passed by boat garages.  This is a one-boat garage.

This one houses several boats.  The fish pens wre protected by dikes (sadly, made of plastic bags filled with debris).   After a sumptuous lunch in the middle of the fish pens, we visited several churches.

The National Shrine of St. Anne (Hagonoy Church) was established in 1581 has undergone a lot of reconstruction.  (Another sad note: the more prosperous the place, the more reconstructions.)

The entrance retains the original carved door.

 

Detail of the door.

The altar of St. Anne's Shrine is in pink!

The church has museum. A Liber Confirmatorum (Book of Confirmations) on display.

A book where names of those previously baptized in Aglipayan and Protestant churches and who converted to the Catholic Church were listed.

The St. John the Baptist Church is older (built in 1572) and has undergone less reconstruction of the facade.  It is a little out of the way and is rumored to have a tunnel under the floor where the Spanish priests kept gold and other treasures.

This is the town where farmers bring their carabaos during the town fiesta to kneel in front of the church.

Younger (and smaller) carabaos being trained to kneel.

Welcome to my blog!

This is my first post in my blog on life in the Philippines.  I was born in it and have lived in it for almost 50 years!