By Korea.net Honorary Reporter John Paul Vergonia
Photos = John Paul Vergonia
Who would remove hold taught that a serenity house hither inwards the Philippines was in ane trial occupied past times a Roman Catholic Korean saint?
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| The Shrine of St. Andrew Kim Taegon is inwards Bocaue, Bulacan, inwards the Philippines. |
In the municipal town of Bocaue, inwards Bulacan Province inwards the Philippines, simply due north of Manila, a captivating shrine was built to award St. Andrew Kim Taegon (김대건 안드레아), the kickoff Roman Catholic priest together with patron saint of Korea who in ane trial lived in that location inwards the Philippines every bit a seminarian to report the Dominican sacrament inwards the early on mid-1800s. However, who is Kim Taegon?
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| Mural paintings of St. Andrew Kim Taegon tin endure seen within the shrine's chief hall. |
Born every bit a fellow member of the upper degree yangban (양반) elite, Kim Taegon was a seminarian during Joseon times when in that location was strict persecution of all types of Christians together with when the administering of Roman Catholic rites was non allowed.
St. Andrew Kim Taegon is believed to remove hold stayed inwards Bocaue from 1830 to 1840. He afterward left for Macau where he was ordained every bit a priest inwards the yr 1845. Destined to endure the kickoff Korea-born Roman Catholic priest, together with prompted past times his rigid faith inwards God, Kim Taegon succeeded inwards returning to Joseon Korea the same yr inwards which he led a grouping of missionaries there. Because of his priestly practice, together with because the Joseon nation was based primarily on Confucianism together with prohibited other religions, he was arrested for xiii months after his ordination together with was imprisoned inwards Seoul close the Han River, where he was condemned every bit a traitor to Korea together with was sentenced to decease past times the sword.
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| There is a statue of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon inwards Bocaue, simply due north of Manila. |
Accused of beingness the leader of a sacrilegious cult, Kim Taegon was beheaded on Sept. 6, 1846, at the historic current of 26. Nearly lxxx years after his death, Pope Pius XI beatified Kim Taegon inwards 1925. Later, inwards May 1984, he was canonized into a saint, along with 102 other Joseon martyrs, past times Pope John Paul II.
It is alone this yr that I got to know nearly the shrine. It has been admired on diverse social media sites since it’s considered past times many to endure a slice of Korea inwards the Philippines. It was too featured on national TV quite a few times, most of late just a few months ago. I similar a shot laid upward a appointment to pay a catch to this shrine together with to run into the house for myself.
Less than ane hr from Manila, I was equipped with alone a map app together with online references. I went to the shrine every bit early on every bit possible, every bit it was my kickoff fourth dimension in that location together with it was alone opened upward to the populace on scheduled hours.
It was a beautiful Th morning, simply a few minutes left until the shrine opened, when I arrived at the town of Lolomboy, purpose of Bocaue, just where the Shrine of St. Andrew Kim Taegon is humbly located. It was a different feeling when I kickoff stepped through the shrine’s front end gate. Finally, I got to run into the house where in ane trial lived a Roman Catholic saint who is at nowadays recognized every bit the patron saint of Korea.
Upon entering the shrine, which is genuinely a complex of buildings, y'all volition run into the similarity of pattern to traditional Korean architecture. The structures are made of concrete, dissimilar inwards Korea where most traditional buildings utilization large amounts of woods together with where alone the foundation is made of a type of concrete blocks. You tin even thus run into a touching on of the unique Koreanness inwards the construction together with architecture.
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| The opened upward pavilion that houses a statue of St. Andrew Kim Taegon stands amongst a fruiting mango tree. The 15-tier pagoda is inwards the background. |
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| The mango tree plays a meaning purpose inwards the life of Kim Taegon, peculiarly when he was even thus a seminarian at the Dominican convent inwards the Philippines. |
After the entrance, an opened upward pavilion welcomes visitors to a bronze statue of St. Andrew Kim Taegon, beautifully enshrined amongst a tall fruiting mango tree together with a 15-tier pagoda.
Next to the pavilion is where the St. Andrew Kim Taegon Church is located, which has a elementary altar that houses the mango tree woods cross together with sacred relics that belonged to the saint. As a Roman Catholic, the kickoff affair I did was to remove hold the chance to pray earnestly within the church, every bit this was my agency of paying my honour to the house together with to give thank y'all for allowing me to catch the blessed shrine.
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| The solemn altar at the St. Andrew Kim Taegon Church is where a mango tree woods cross together with sacred relics of the saint are beautifully enshrined. |
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| A bamboo shaded pathway connects the St. Andrew Kim Taegon Church to the towering pagoda together with to the shrine’s inviting chapel. |
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| The beautiful pyramid-shaped pagoda is made of carefully arranged Korean roof tiles with a holy cross on top. |
The church building is surrounded past times a concrete span that works every bit an accent to the garden, where the dwarf bamboos shade the pathways connecting it to an inviting minor chapel. The towering pagoda together with pyramid-like construction is made of stacked Korean roof tiles.
The interior of the St. Andrew Kim Chapel, next to the chief church, is quite similar to sometime churches inwards Rome where the interior is ornamented with religious images together with mural paintings based on characters together with scenes from the Bible, such every bit flocks of angels, apostles, martyrs, Mary, Jesus, together with including images of the Korean saint. Moreover, the chapel too features an altar enclosing a wooden picture of a holy cross together with a rectangular dome adorned with a chandelier. Most prominently, within the shrine is a holy cross inwards a higher house the dome, which Roman Catholic churches ever have.
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| The St. Andrew Kim Chapel features a unique architectural pattern with features from both Korean together with Italian architecture. |
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| The gold-accented altar inwards the shrine's chapel stands amongst an artistic mural that depicts characters together with scenes from the Bible. |
Aside from the structures’ similarity to traditional Korean buildings, considering the tropical climate inwards the Philippines together with the Roman Catholicism of the shrine, the structural agency is noticeably a combination of Asian together with sometime Roman architecture. The blending of the different architectural designs has indeed resulted inwards a beautiful construction together with showcases the ways inwards which combining varied styles tin cast a unique novel cast of art.
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| Visitors tin run into first-hand the architectural prowess of the grand chief hall of the Shrine of St. Andrew Kim Taegon. |
Furthermore, the Shrine of St. Andrew Kim Taegon too has a chief hall that is to a greater extent than violet than all the structures within the shrine complex, where a drinking glass rectangular dome brings illumination to the minor span along with a H2O outflow simply below it. Also, the grand hall, which has a 2nd bird composed of a set out of quarters, is decorated with wall paintings, every bit the chapel includes a praying Mary picture to the side of the entrance. Besides the interior, it was thus enriching to run into the outer trappings of the hall, every bit it shows how grand it was with 2 different architectural designs combined into one.
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| Inside the St. Andrew Kim Taegon chief hall in that location is a drinking glass dome that sheds illumination onto the span below. |
According to ane of the caretakers, a Korean architect led the construction of the entire shrine together with it’s genuinely even thus beingness completed, similar a nearly finished pavilion together with a grand hall that's form of similar to that at Gyeongbokgung Palace, which overlooks a minor lake. Every at nowadays together with then, the architect returns to the Philippines to maintain together with to destination the construction.
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| Nuns from the Sisters of St. Andrew oversee the shrine together with its beautification past times planting ornamental plants all over the compound. |
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| The two-level octagon pavilion gives visitors the remove chances to bask the beautiful sentiment of the complex facing the shrine’s chief hall together with the nearby lake. |
In add-on to these structures, facing the shrine is an opened upward two-level octagon pavilion where visitors tin bask the beautiful sentiment of the complex, including the nearby lake. There's too a convent of the Sisters of St. Andrew where nuns scout over together with hit out the beautification of the shrine past times planting diverse ornamental together with flowering plants. Apple mango trees tin endure seen all over the complex, every bit that tree played an of import purpose when Saint Andrew Kim was studying at the together with then Dominican convent built on the site itself.
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| An unearthed torso of a mango tree is where Kim Taegon prayed every fourth dimension he missed his household unit of measurement dorsum inwards Joseon Korea. |
As the fruit trees are mutual inwards the Philippines, whenever St. Andrew Kim Taegon missed his household unit of measurement dorsum inwards Korea, he embraced a mango tree close the convent. Although the mango tree died due to lightning, in that location is even thus a delineate of the roots of that tree. Crosses were made from this tree's woods together with they are at nowadays placed on the altars at the shrine, church building together with chapel. When I kickoff saw the root cluster, I felt the saint’s love, every bit he longed for his household unit of measurement dorsum inwards Joseon together with it was a feeling of solemn approving every bit I touched the root for the kickoff time.
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| A statue of Thomas Choi Yang-eob, boy to St. Francis Choi Kyeong-hwan together with Yi Seong-rye, stands inwards the Philippines. All 3 of them died amongst the 10,000 martyrs of Korea. |
While familiarizing myself with the place, I learned that inwards add-on to the donated statues of St. Andrew Kim Taegon, in that location are too sculptures of other renowned Korean martyrs together with priests inwards the shrine, such every bit the statue of Thomas Choi Yang-eob, the kickoff boy of St. Francis Choi Kyeong-hwan together with Yi Seong-rye, who inherited the Roman Catholic faith together with told biblical stories to his children. Choi Yang-eob, a seminarian candidate sent to Macau to report theology during Joseon times, was persecuted amongst the 10,000 Korean martyrs, where the vast bulk were simply elementary lay people.
There is too a bust of Father Joseph Oh Gi-seon. He is a Yongin native who rendered his services past times caring for around 3,000 orphans during the Korean War together with who, after his retirement inwards 1971, devoted himself to setting upward commemorative statues of St. Andrew Kim Taegon inwards both Macau together with inwards Lolomboy inwards the Philippines. At present, Korea has the quaternary largest set out of saints inwards the Roman Catholic world.
The shrine's edifice inwards award of St. Andrew Kim Taegon inwards Lolomboy inwards Bocaue, Bulacan Province, simply due north of Manila, hopes to help encourage a wider next of the Korean saint inwards the Philippines, inwards which he is too the secondary patron saint of the local parish. Every July 5, the Feast of St. Andrew Kim Taegon is celebrated inwards the town with diverse church building activities inwards award of the saint.
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| Korea.net visits the Shrine of St. Kim Taegon inwards the Philippines. |
In my half-day at the shrine, I learned much nearly early on Roman Catholicism inwards Korea, which was introduced generally past times lay people until the severe persecutions of Roman Catholics, together with I learned how the Roman Catholic community suffered during Joseon times. Through such learning, it made me believe to a greater extent than strongly inwards my religious faith.
I tin tell that this is ane of the most beautiful shrines together with blessed experiences I remove hold ever had inwards my entire life. I await frontward to visiting in ane trial to a greater extent than when construction has been completed together with hopefully with my whole household unit of measurement next time.
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