Seventy years ago, in February of 1945, the 337-year old history of Saint Nicholas Intramuros in Manila was crushed under the weight of bombs. It was the mother house of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, the missionary province of the Order of Augustinian Recollects.
From the Revolution onwards and in the measure that the American ministries gained strength, the Philippines and the Mother House in Intramuros gradually relinquished the main role such that, during the first third of the 20th century, the provincial curia was transferred to Spain in two distinct periods: from 1902 through 1913, it was established in the convent of Marcilla (Navarra) and from 1931 through 1934, it settled in the city of Zaragoza. In 1935, it returned to Intramuros, until the convent’s final destruction a decade later. From 1946 onwards, the curia has already been in Spain.
5.1. The mirage of the 33rd Eucharistic Congress of Manila
But Intramuros would still hold on to some moments of glory. The principal ones occurred in 1937. The first was on the occasion of the 33rd International Eucharistic Congress, which was held in Manila from 3 to 7 February. It was the first to be celebrated in Asia, and the venue was Luneta park, just right next to the Recollect convent.
The group picture taken as remembrance at the convent doors is quite eloquent: 50 Augustinian Recollect friars who were working in the Philippines and China posed for the camera displaying their insignias. It was not a good time to travel, since both Spain and China were at war, but the Order did not pass the occasion to have a sizable representation, as well as a more than honorable intervention in the activities.
In relation to the convent, and above all to the Intramuros church, the Eucharistic Congress provided an opportunity for a makeover “with modern sets of paintings and sculptures that placed it at the forefront of Manila’s principal churches”, in the words of a chronicler in the missionary magazine Todos Misioneros.
The principal changes affected the main reredos, which received a complete re-gilding, and the central body of the church. The six altars of the nave were replaced by beautiful confessional boxes, and six new windows were opened, enhancing the church’s elegance and illumination.
Across the nave and the transept a concrete baluster was added that supported ten svelte angels bearing the new lighting system. Furthermore, a marble floor was added both in the nave and in the presbytery, and the whole church was painted in appropriate colors.
This renovated church was venue of some acts of the Eucharistic Congress. But surely, there was one act that was especially touching for the attending Recollects: the moment of singing the official hymn, composed by a confrere, Domingo Carceller.
5.2. The latest offshoots of Intramuros: Asian lifeblood for the Order
But it was months later that the church displayed its full splendor, on the occasion of the episcopal ordination of Francisco Javier Ochoa.
When Ochoa headed the group of Recollects attending the Congress, he was only the apostolic prefect of the mission of Kweiteh, in the Chinese province of Henan. That mission territory was entrusted to the Order in 1924, and already it had merited being raised to the rank of Apostolic Vicariate, with right to have a bishop.
Ochoa was elected as such, and he would be ordained in a memorable ceremony in Intramuros, that same year of 1937, on October 31.
History’s final curtain was about to fall on the Mother House of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, but not before serving as stage where the whole Church is introduced to a new territory whose early stage transpired in close reliance on this see: that of China.
Through Intramuros every missionary assigned to the Chinese mission had passed; and from there they would come to rest or receive instructions and encouragement. Indeed, from Intramuros issued instructions on personnel and lines of action.
China is not the only door that Intramuros opened. There is a second, that of the Philippines, or, better, of the Filipinos. As incredible as it may seem today, despite more than three centuries of history, the religious orders did not yet allow the natives of the islands to don their religious habit; many locals were admitted, but as long as they were of Spanish ancestry.
The novelty, which seemed unprecedented then, took place at the church of San Nicolas on 21 May 1941. It involved three young Filipinos, who were receiving formation there since the year before. To highlight the ceremony, it was the prior provincial himself who gave them the Augustinian Recollect habit. Privileged witnesses were all the religious of Manila, of both San Nicolas and San Sebastian communities.
That would be Intramuros’ swan song. It was at the brink of disappearing from the map, but not before thoroughly accepting two currents of Augustinian Recollect life, the Chinese and the Filipino, which today are abundant.
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