Photos capture facets of a religious shrine and National Cultural Treasure

"La Naval de Manila--Sailing on with Faith," FoTOMASINO

ON THE OCCASION of the formal installation of the National Cultural Treasure marker at Sto. Domingo Church, a group of young photographers is mounting “La Naval, Mother of Faith” at the Museo de Sto. Domingo, which runs Dec. 14-Jan. 31.

Composed of 54 frames capturing the various facets of devotion to the Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario, La Naval de Manila, and of her shrine at the Quezon City church, it is the first exhibition of Fotomasino, the official guild of photogaphers of the University of Santo Tomas founded by award-winning lensman Paul Allyson Quiambao.

Collection of Mass songs wins CMMA best inspirational album

Album cover by artist Aris Bagtas

The winner of Best Inspirational Album in the 34th Catholic Mass Media Awards(CMMA) is a collection of Mass songs, proof of how liturgical music could become mainstream.

The album, “Umawit at Magpuri sa Panginoon” (2011), also won Best Inspirational Song.

Composer is Fr. Allan Antonio, a priest of the Diocese of Malolos and a student at the Conservatory of Music of the University of Santo Tomas.

Unang Daloy pays tribute to the arts of Central Luzon

Abstraction techniques by Eghai Roxas

Philippine Art—as defined by art critics, historians, connoisseurs and collectors from Metro Manila—has had to rely largely on the talents, subjects and styles that have emerged in Central Luzon, said an award-winning arts scholar in Unang Daloy, the first Central Luzon Visual Arts Congress, held Oct. 3-4 at SM City and La Jardin Resort in Baliwag, Bulacan.

With this observation, Reuben Cañete, a recipient of the Leo Benesa Award for Art Criticism from the Art Association of the Philippines, mapped out the regional arts history of Luzon’s vast plain in his lecture, “Reflections on the State of the Visual Arts in Central Luzon.”

Santo Domingo Church, La Naval de Manila shrine to be declared National Cultural Treasures

Sto. Domingo Church.
Photo by Lester Babiera

The Philippine government, through the National Museum, will declare this week the Santo Domingo Church, with its Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary-La Naval de Manila, in Quezon City as a National Cultural Treasure.

The declaration, according to the National Museum, recognizes Santo Domingo-La Naval both as an institution and a structure, as well as a repository of modern art.

The declaration will be formally announced on Oct. 4 at 5 p.m. during the traditional enthronement of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario, La Naval de Manila, to be led by shrine rector Fr. Giuseppe Arciwals, OP. To formally accept the declaration is Fr. Gert Timoner, OP, the prior provincial of the Philippine Dominican Province.

October is the Rosary Month on the Catholic calendar. It is devoted to the Blessed Mother under the title Our Lady of the Rosary in reference to the Rosary devotion promoted by the Dominicans, one of the most influential religious orders in the history of the Church.

After the deluge, now what?

Photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer

Last week’s heavy monsoon rains revived memories of “Ondoy” in 2009, which had broken records, with a month’s worth of rain falling in just six hours.

Although not a typhoon, the monsoon rains affected and displaced some two million people. The death toll was not as bad as “Ondoy’”s, but the humanitarian disaster it caused was just as grave.

Lifestyle interviewed urban planners, architects and other experts on the factors that could have caused the calamity and the measures needed to solve them so as to stave off its repeat in the near future.

Did government listen?

University of San Agustin safeguards Filipino heritage in Western Visayas

Urdaneta Hall, structure that survived World War II

With a sturdy commitment of preserving Filipino culture in the island of Panay in Western Visayas, the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City has become a proponent of heritage conservation, fostering appreciation of historical landmarks and the rich Ilonggo literary and performance arts. It has also led in conserving various repositories and archives of important historical and cultural records.

The university hosted the lecture series of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ (NCCA) Angat Kabataan Camp, a major cultural event during the Heritage Month of May. The youth camp drew almost a hundred youth delegates from regions across the country.

Siete Palabras, showcase of Filipino culture and faith, on April 6

A Filipino Dominican leading the faithful in prayer during Siete Palabras

The annual Siete Palabras at the historic Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City, which has become a key Lenten broadcast on Philippine TV, will be on Good Friday, April 6.

2-volume UST history charts evolution of higher education in the Philippines

Published by the UST Publishing House, the two-volume “A History of the University of Santo Tomas: Four Centuries of Higher Education in the Philippines (1611-2011)” by the highly respected Spanish Dominican historian Fr. Fidel Villarroel, OP promise to become the most comprehensive and most definitive yet of UST, Asia’s oldest university.

Because of their scope and exhaustiveness, the history books are also a veritable history of education in the Philippines.

In the book, Father Villarroel, who systematized the UST Archives and is mentor to several historians and researchers, corrects a number of “faulty” items of history.

UST collection of ancient scripts in ‘baybayin’ syllabary shown to public

Photos of some historical treasures of the University of Santo Tomas

“DOCTRINA Christiana,” printed by the Dominicans in 1593, contains the ancient Philippine alphabet. At left, a sample of the baybayin syllabary from an ancient legal document at the UST Archives.