Abbey Church of Our Lady of Montserrat

Aside from the schools you will find along Mendiola Street, you will find a beautiful church, the Abbey Church of Our Lady of Montserrat. The Benedictine monks call it the Abbey Church while the community of San Beda College calls it the College Chapel. You will find the church between the monastery of the Benedictine monks and St. Bede's building. The church serves both the Abbey and the college.

Students, professors, staff, alumni and other pilgrims are regular visitors of this beautiful chapel. The silence inside the chapel makes you forget you are in the middle of the city of Manila.

If you want to have a glimpse and an experience of the monastic life, you may join the monks in singing the Divine Office and celebrate the Conventual Mass daily in the sanctuary. The following prayer services and masses are open to the public:

Regular Sunday Masses

7:00 am

8:30 am

10:00 am

11:00 am

Weekday Masses

6:30 am

7:00 am

Weekday Morning Prayer(Lauds) 6:00 am

Saturday and Sunday Morning Prayer (Lauds) 6:30 am

Weekday Evening Prayer (Vespers) 6:00 pm

Saturday Evening Prayer (Vespers) 6:00 pm

Sunday Evening Prayer (Vespers) 6:00 pm

With Benediction

This is the side of the church as viewed
from within the school campus.

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CATHOLIC CHURCH Liliw, Laguna

Last June 2009, my fellow teachers and I went to Liliw, Laguna to look for materials for the Filipiniana attire of our school's choir. From Taft Avenue, we took a bus going to Sta. Cruz, Laguna. All of us are first time visitors of Liliw. We were told that from Sta. Cruz we could take a jeepney going to Liliw. That was exactly what we did. It was a 30-minute commute from Sta. Cruz to Liliw.

Upon arrival, we discovered that we came to the wrong place! What they have in Liliw are footwear products. We should have gone to Lucban for the materials we were looking for. Anyway, we could not proceed to Lucban anymore since it's already 6 pm so we have to look for a place where we could stay for the night.

Surprisingly, they don't have such accommodations in the place. I have to say the people in Liliw are very kind and hospitable. One woman offered her parlor for us to spend the night. It has a bathroom but no beds nor mattresses. The couple who are the owners of the restaurant where we took our dinner are offering their place. But luckily, we were referred to another couple who are renting a unit on the third floor of one of the buildings in the area.

The following morning, we explored the long street lined on both sides with footwear stores. I have never seen so many shoes and slippers in one area. At the end of the long road, we turned to the right and visited this beautiful church of Liliw - St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

The church has a very elegant facade and a bricked baroque style architecture. According to a resident the mountain that is the backdrop of the church is Mt. Banahaw.

In front of the church are statues of saints, Mary and Jesus which seem to be guarding and are in eternal praise of God.

We visited the Adoration Chapel on the right

side of the Church before we left. It was a religious experience, so simple but so deep.