San Beda Abbey Chapel (of Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat) was our last stop last Holy Thursday, probably an unexpected one since we thought that there are no other churches beyond Mendiola. Then we followed the crowd entering San Beda College, at the heart of the Benedictine Monks’ hub of education. The San Beda Abbey Chapel as locally called, is located in Mendiola Street, right within its campus. Its façade is covered with trees, which its architectural design is predominantly neo-Gothic, with two belfries that remind me of those old universities in UK.
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The present campus of San Beda College was said to have been established in the 1920s since the Benedictine monks want to have a bigger campus for its school. Along with the establishment of the school was the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat. In different occasions of World War II and afterwards, the college became a Japanese concentration camp and a hospital.
As we enter, the people crammed inside while a group of devotees do their Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) outside. Yes, it was my first time entering the Abbey Chapel, and boy I was surprised with its interior! The ceiling is adorned with paintings that are very reminiscent of that of baroque period obra maestra. Detailed, gracious and the European influence was predominant in its interior.
As the priests hold their 6pm mass that time, I couldn’t help but awed with the beauty of its interior. What it lacks outside, is well compensated with its magnificent pastel coloured paintings on the ceiling.
As twilight deepens, we left the San Beda Abbey Chapel (Our Lady of Montserrat)-A welcome surprise, especially for me who went here for the first time in the bailiwick of the Red Lions. Animo San Beda!
