6 days before christmas

whew... christmas is so near and yet i still cant feel the christmas spirit :(
i have to post more christmas stuff from today, maybe it'll help.

how about you? do you feel the christmas spirit or you're feeling a bit like Mr. Scrooge?

looking back

Still inside the Sto. Niño de Tondo church, and the church is already empty as i take one last look before leaving. After uploading the photo from my computer, i realized that priests do have a nice view from the altar and i thought they are missing the beauty and grandeur of the altar, but looking at this photo again i guess not. Anyways, from here i bet they can see those who are yawning and sleeping during mass... are you one of those guilty person who feel sleepy while attending the mass?

the altar

This is what the altar of the Sto. Niño de Tondo look. Isn't it impressive? I can't really remember if they have this intricate design before or this was just newly added. You would notice that there's a lot of people in front, they are having their picture taken (this is just right after the baptismal rights)... I've told you from yesterday post that we just got in time, right after we walk in the caretaker closed the main door and were just waiting for these people to finish the photo session. i am the last one who left and right after i get out i heard the loud thud of the side door closing behind me.

Maybe they are just closing the door for lunch break or whatever and have opened it again for an afternoon mass, didnt stay long enough to check.


Anyways, here's the closer look at the altar.

sto. niño de tondo

This is my first time to visit this church again (can't remember the last time, could be a decade ago) but I can still remember when my mother used to bring us here on it's feast day which is every third sunday of january. We would wait in the long line of devotees of Sto. Nino to climb the stairs and have our turn to touch the antique image of the Sto. Nino. Though, this time when i visited the stairs to the image is close and we just got in time before the caretakers closed the church. I wonder why churches are always closed...

By the way, did you know that the Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia (about 94% of Filipinos are Catholic) and that we have lots of old churches which can be considered as a museum of sort, and one of them is this church. To know more about the history of the Sto. Niño de Tondo church click here.