IN THE Diocese of Bacolod, we take pride of San Sebastian Cathedral, San Diego Pro-Cathedral, Birhen sang Barangay Church, Church of St. Joseph the Worker (with Christ sporting a craggy face) and many other churches. If we are visited by tourists, we always bring them to our churches.
We guide tourists there to let them know that the house of worship is more important than a government center. The church is not just a place for sinners, faithful, lovers, beggars and politicians. It is a place for people from all walks of life who want to go to heaven (later, not now). In our churches, we find the symbols of our faith. We also discover what we do not know yet. I am not referring to your parish priest.
The cathedral is the home of a bishop. The pro-cathedral is his chosen second home church. (San Diego Pro-Cathedral in Silay is Bishop Gregorio’s choice.) The rectory is the residence of a priest. The convent is a nunnery or for the community of nuns. Anyway, we call the priest’s house now a “convent.” We don’t expect nuns and priests living together in one house. They live in separate houses.
If the church is having the obelisk or spire in the tower, we call it as the “aguilla.” That tall structure in the church that contains a bell is a bell tower and a gable of roof that shelters a bell is the bell canopy. A bell in a turret over the chancel to call people to service is a “sanctus” bell. The bells there are useful … wedding bells, death bells, emergency bells, fiesta bells, and sometimes the bells are stolen to become scrap iron bells.
The main focus inside the church is the high altar or “mensa.” It is the elevated table or structure used for religious offering or rites. We find also the altar frontal, an ornamental or panel hanging in front of the altar. Above and behind the altar, there is the ornamental painting or screen or sculpture known as altarpiece. A stone forming the top of an altar is the altar slab. The semi-domed space or room housing the altar is the apse.
At the center of the altar is the box for holding the consecrated host and wine for the Eucharist. There is also a receptacle there for sacred relics. It is known as sepulcher. The sanctuary of the church, or the space near the altar reserved for the choir and the clergy, is the chancel.
My favorite artwork inside the church representing a lamb that is emblematic of Christ is the “agnus dei.” The glory or radiance surrounding the head of a sacred figure is called the aureole. The tourists would be interested also to see your lancet windows. They are narrow windows with a pointed arch, commonly found in many churches. In my high school days at St. Joseph Academy, my friends and I used to play hide and seek in the almariol. It is a storage room for ecclesiastical vestments.
What are the other things worth mentioning to your visitors? Point where the aspersorium is. It is a font for holy water. The central portion of the church, flanked by the aisles, and intended for the congregation is the nave. A bench for seating the congregation is the pew. Near the altar is the lectern. It is a stand with a slanting top for convenient reading from the Scriptures.
Near the chancel is a room, sacristy, for storing the altar vessel and vestments. As a kid knight of the altar, I used to sleep here with other knights. We also kept mass wine for curious drinking. Choir members sing at the “cantoria,” a choir gallery. In Silay choir members sing at the choir loft during Sunday masses. It is a balcony right after the church entrance.
In some churches (like San Sebastian Cathedral), there are chapels. They are rooms set aside for private worship. Other churches have church stile, an old term for pulpit. In Vatican I, priests used to deliver their sermons in the pulpit. Vatican II does not make use of it anymore. The priest delivers his homily in front of the altar facing the people.
One interesting area is the confessional. It is a private booth where a priest sits and listens to confession from the penitent. To a young and handsome priest, town ladies make confession and admiration. A good old priest is the idol of town folks. “To err is human, to forgive is divine.”
Church tour is wonderful. Tour guides need to develop some skills to make their tour entertaining, amusing, interesting, and gratifying while remaining holy. Make Christ your main tour guide. He will show you the way. Make your church proud of you!
