Sta. Cruz, Laguna Church

* a first view of the church

* the entrance

* a side chapel found just as you enter the church

* a black angel that holds water for blessing

Other than knowing that the Sta. Cruz Church in Laguna is dedicated to Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion and that it was destroyed during the Second World War, nothing informative can be said here for now as our pictures failed to capture the details displayed on the marker outside. This was similar to the marker placed at the Bay (Ba’i), Laguna Church, which was too high to be read. A revisit to Sta. Cruz, at least, would not be difficult.

The whole of the church is certainly recently constructed. But the outside features are an attempt to put back in what could have been its former appearance. A design outside even has a carving with the year 1745, a year most probably significant to the place. Now I am regretting for relying too much on pictures for data.

* a view of the altar and some pews; in front are elders holding a meeting

* Trailer Pransis below the Cross

* a lone beggar on the patio

* a closer look at a design on the church’s exterior

Like other churches around the Laguna area, it is strategically located, with the mansions of the rich in the past erected around it. Indeed, religion was beautifully and cleverly entrenched in the Filipino communities. Thinking about it just now, religion (especially the Catholicism brought by the Spaniards) sets itself architecturally to give the devotees the serenity needed for their beliefs, and also gives them an accessible place (the center of the town as always) so that many can come and open their hearts to God. This is not all new; this fact may have been taught to us at some point in our history classes. But it feels good to be reminded of some details of our past and get reconnected to them again.