The Stunning St Gregory the Great Parish Church in Indang Cavite
After attending the wake, we decided to have a long road trip to visit some churches in Cavite. Our first stop, the Saint Gregory the Great Parish Church in Indang Cavite. Interestingly, Indang Church was originally a chapel established in 1611 but later became a full pledged parish in 1625. The church was burned during the Philippine revolution against the Spaniards and restored in 1953 and 1987.
The church was impressively restored capturing the 18th century atmosphere. Indang was dedicated under the chaplaincy of Pope St. Gregory the Great (also San Gregorio Magno). In one incident, the local parish priest found a big rolled picture at the back of the church together with burnt trash. It was found out to be a painting of the seven archangels. Since then, the devotion to the archangels also grew in the town together with the intercession of St. Gregory the Great making the parish of Indang with eight patrons. [Source] The facade of the church is somehow identical to their retablo or main altar. It has a replica of St Gregory The Great along with St Michael and the Archangels. Unfortunately, we were not able to have a chance to get a closer look to their altar because the church is being locked. There is a steel gate preventing us to go inside the church. According to them, the church established such policy after their Blessed Sacrament was stolen. The church has a remarkable architecture, it has an impressive rose-colored trompe l’oil paintings on its ceiling. Several commemorative gravestones can also be seen in the walls and pillars of the church.
Interestingly, this is also the first ever church I have seen with Pulpito or Pulpit, an elevated platform that aims to give prominence to the priest during his preaching. It carries the Jesuit monogram surmounted by the image of the child Christ as a sign of being a parish under the Jesuits before the suppression of 1768. After embracing the church’s stunning view, we went to our next destination, the St Augustine Parish Church in Mendez Cavite