An evening of music, in a
lovely church
By Rina Jimenez-David
 Philippine Daily Inquirer
 02/01/2009
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San Beda College Benedictine Church, designed by Swedish architect George Asp, who also designed the buildings of the nearby College of the Holy Spirit and of St. Theresa's College on San Marcelino.

   EMBARRASSING as it may be to admit, the first time I set foot in the Abbey Church of Our Lady of Montserrat (also known as the College Chapel of San Beda College) was last Friday, during a concert of sacred music called "Gaudete in Domino!" (Rejoice in the Lord!), sponsored by the San Beda golden and silver jubilee classes.
   It was Mon Pasicolan, a former boss of my husband at San Miguel Corp., who invited us to the concert. We accepted his invitation with alacrity, first because we were curious how the Benedictine monks would measure up as "singers," and second because we'd never been inside the church before.
   I imagined what it would have been like if we had entered the church at another time, when, from the din and bustle of Mendiola Street in downtown Manila, one entered through the arched portals of the Gothic façade and was transported to a world of serenity and quiet, in a space bathed in the rich, jewel-like hues of paintings and frescoes on the walls and the domed vault. But even amid the bustle of the concert, with the church filled with concert-goers and ushers standing about, sound equipment wires snaking through the tiled floors, I fell helplessly in thrall to the charms of this small church.
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The paintings are the work of Fr. Lesmes Lopez, OSB, a Spanish monk, who had done murals for monasteries in Spain and Australia.
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  ..A write-up by Fr. Bernardo Ma. Perez, OSB in the sou-venir program informs us that the church was designed by Swedish architect George Asp, who also designed the buildings of the nearby Holy Ghost College (now known as the College of the Holy Spirit) and of St. Theresa's College on San Marcelino. The paintings are the work of Fr. Lesmes Lopez, OSB, a Spanish monk, who had done murals for monasteries in Spain and Australia, the last perhaps explaining the presence of an aborigine and a kangaroo in the mural depicting "the various nations of the world." The decorations around the  paintings were done by Bro. Salvador Alberich, OSB, also a Spanish monk.
....While Dom Alberich returned to Spain after his work was completed, Fr. Lopez chose to remain in Manila, passing away in 1943, his remains interred in the cemetery beside the apse of the church.
 .."THROUGH his paintings in the church, he continues to sing praise to the Lord together with the generations of monks who treasure his legacy," writes Fr. Perez about Lopez. This could ........

have been written as well of the generations of Bedans, young men who in all probability take for granted the church, which was completed in 1925, the monastery, and their own historic campus, established in 1901. Maybe this is why the concert was conceived to raise funds for the Pamanang Bedista: The San Beda College Heritage Center, to make this and coming generations of students appreciate the history of the institution that  formed them, as well as the legacy they will bring with them as they go out in the world.
   They couldn't have chosen a better locale for this significant event. As the church filled with music, I looked around at my surroundings, marveling at how the audience seemed to be transformed by the melding of sacred hymns and soaring orchestral pieces in a setting as lovely, calming and uplifting as this little abbey church....THE HIGH point of "Gaudete in Domino!" was supposed to be the finale, the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah," and the recessional, Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," both performed eloquently by the UST Liturgikon and the UST  Brass Ensemble. (What a joyful jolt it was to suddenly hear the stirring tones of trumpeters emerging from the lateral choir lofts that run the length of the church, during the "Ode to Joy.") m
   But my favorite part of the brief evening program was the community singing, when the audience was asked to join the performers in reviving old, beloved hymns. As we raised our voices in "No Mas Amor que el Tuyo," a hymn in Spanish composed, if I'm not mistaken, for the International Eucharistic Congress held here before the war, I was brought back to my childhood, when this was still sung at the end of important Church occasions, and which still evokes powerful feelings many years after.
    "This is my mother's song!" marveled a friend, who was referring perhaps to memories of his mother singing the hymn in church or even by herself at home. What, I wondered, would the next generation remember of the songs that stirred their souls? I love the folk songs and "easy listening" songs that now punctuate our Masses, but the old lofty, solemn hymns have a power like no other.
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Fr. Mateo de Jesus, OSB, Rector/President San Beda College.
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....AND the monks? How did they acquit themselves as concert performers? Fr. Mateo de Jesus, OSB, rector-president of San Beda, sounded a mite embarrassed when he mentioned in his welcome remarks that he and his confreres had been induced by Paul Aquino, Tito Catindig and Pasicolan—the three members of the Class of '59 mainly responsible for the project—to contribute their own vocal talents to the concert. But he had little reason to rue their performance. Gregorian Chants, after all, make up part of the Divine Office, which Benedictine Monks are expected to sing or recite several times a day. They may not have had the power of some singing monks who've released CDs, but they exuded solemnity and authenticity.
   Toward the close of the concert, Abbot-chancellor Fr. Tarcisio Narciso blessed the Benedictine Medals which were then conferred on the jubilarians by members of their families. Medals were then conferred on honorary members of the jubilee classes, among them Fr. Benildus Maramba, OSB, who was the organist at the concert.
   Perhaps it's true that the entire endeavor was, as the alumni put it, "our gesture of repentance for the 'sins of the past,'" but it was also a gesture of loving remem-brance and generous sharing of the Bedan spirit.