proudly present: TheThe old,old, historichistoric ChurchChurch ofof OurOur LadyLady ofof Candles,Candles, TheThe MetropolitanMetropolitan CathedralCathedral ofof Jaro,Jaro, IloiloIloilo City,City, IloiloIloilo photographed and written by: Fergus Ducharme, assisted by: Joemarie Acallar and Nilo Jimeno. 1 The driving distance from our jumping off point at the SM City parking lot in Iloilo to Our Lady of Candles Church in Iloilo City is approximately 5 kilometres. Which translates into a driving time of between 15 to 20 minutes in City traffic. 2 3 Jaro Church Belfry and Plaza 1890 from Pedro Gallende’s Angels in Stone Manila San Agustin Museum 1996 4 5 Jaro Cathedral 1900 Elm Depatillo 6 Jaro Cathedral 1894-1895. The Eiffle Tower Replica was built of bamboo for the fiesta in 1894-1895 & stood for 3 months before being removed from Jaro Plaza. 7 Our Lady of the Candles, formally known as Nuestra Señora de la Purificacion y Candelaria, also known as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria is a Marian title depicted by a 16th-century lime stone image of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by Catholics in the Western Visayas region. The statue is prominently known for carrying a candle and is locally known as the patron of Jaro, Iloilo. It is enshrined at the Jaro Cathedral, recently named the National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles, atop the balcony-facade of the church which is accessible by balcony stairs outside the church. The National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles celebrates its Marian feast annually on the 2nd of February. 8 Our Lady of Candles – Metropolitan Cathedral, Jaro, Iloilo 9 The shrine is constructed in the Romanesque Revival style of Architecture. The Cathedral has several distinctive features, namely: • similar to St Anne’s Church in Molo, which is sometimes referred to as the “ Feminist Church” because all the statues in the Church are representations of female Saints. The Cathedral is noteworthy because all of the statues are depictions of male Saints. • the bell tower is located across a busy street, on Jaro Plaza. Normally, belfries are built next to their churches. In this case, the original tower had been built next to the original church, which was destroyed in the Lady CayCay Earthquake of January 1948. • the stairs attached to the front facade of the cathedral, over the main entrance, lead up to the actual shrine of Our Lady of Candles. • there is a reliquary containing relics of St Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei. 10.