Our attention was called by a repost made by our friend Salve Asis of a picture of an altar of a church in Makati. They say it is a 17th. Century church, and someone was asking where he can find it. The church is the Parish of Sts. Peter and Paul, located on DM Sevilla St. Poblacion, Makati. It is near Makati Avenue. The place is called Poblacion, because it was where the first mission was established in 1600 when the Franciscans, meaning the Order of Friars Minor, came to the place and started a mission. The place used to be part of Santa Ana de Sapa, which is a mission territory of the Franciscans and where they built the first church outside Manila, meaning outside the walls of Intramuros, the church of Santa Ana, now known as the national shrire and parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned. It was said the first Spanish Governor General was asking the natives what they call the place, because of the language barrier and thinking that the governor general was pointing at a nearby swamp, they said it was “Makati” meaning low tide because the river is at its ebb. Legaspi thinking that what he heard was right called the place Macati. In 1620, the place was turned over to the Compania de Jesus, meaning the Jesuits, and the small Camarin(meaning sa chapel) that was built by the Franciscan missionaries was made into a church by Rev.Fr. Pedro delos Montes SJ, on the land donated by Captain Pedro Britto, then the “regidor” of Manila. So to honor the priest who built the church, and the donor of the land, it was placed under the patronage of St.Peter the Apostle. The Jesuits administered the parish until 1768. Even the place where it stands was called Culi culi de San Pedro Macati. When the Americans came, a law was passed to shorten the name of the place to be just Makati. The church was also rededicated to Sts.Peter and Paul. You might be interested to know who the saints are that you will see in the retablo. On top is the image of St.Michael the Archangel. Just below is the Crucifix at the center planked by the images of St.Peter on the left and St.Paul on the right. On the lower level just above the high altar, we have the image of the Santo Nino de Passion,on the left, holding the symbols of passion and not the globe as we traditionally know of the images of the infant Jesus. On the right is the image of St.Joseph. On the center is the image of the Nuestra Senora dela Rosa, or Our Lady of the Rose. So this is what we know of the church in Makati.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 08:04:39 +0000
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