The Manila Cathedral

Stained Glass Window

The artistic designs of the stained glass windows of the Manila Cathedral are mostly products of the creative genius of Galo Ocampo, one of the most versatile contemporary Filipino artists during his time and a recipient of the 1964 Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the city government of Manila . Rich in story and symbolism, the stained glass windows represent varied sights and scenes that broaden one’s appreciation of faith, its victories and vicissitudes.

All the said stained glass windows prove profoundly meaningful. They give a pictorial history of Christianity and help accomplish the duty of educating the faithful, favoring devotion and pity, that is, in accordance with the teaching of Pope Urban VIII the Great. They also comply with formal modernity, which the most remote Christian art tradition demands. The fineness of the stained glass windows of the Manila Cathedral is entrusted particularly to the magic of their colors. While they are so well matched according to the graduated exposure to the sunlight, their brilliant colors pour in the dim interior to give a dramatic lighting effect. In solitude, this favors prayer and solemnity. Here, devotion and art are fused into one – ad majorem gloriam dei.

Ocampo distinguished himself for being then the only Filipino who studied heraldry abroad and who became a member of the International Institute of Genealogy and Heraldry in Madrid . For the stained glass windows of the Manila Cathedral, he was sent by Archbishop Rufino Santos to Rome to undergo training in stained glass design.

In working on the cathedral window projects, Ocampo entrusted his detailed cardboard sketches of the panels to the Instituto de Arte Liturgica, which undertook the task of transferring them in the form of stained glass. While the various chapels at the cathedral are dedicated to special saints, Ocampo’s designs are mainly along a Marian theme, the Immaculate Conception of Mary being the patroness of the Archdiocese of Manila and the Manila Cathedral. Thus, the general splendor of the ornaments for the entire edifice revolve around the traditional motives of the ineffably rich iconography of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God.

Manila Cathedral’s stained glass windows are not only lovely decorative features of the edifice but truly symbolic media that set religious fervor and a deep understanding of the Faith. They fill the Cathedral with light and beauty, symbolically like Jesus, our Lord and Savior, the Divine Light born of Mary, who has come into the world to fill and heal our souls with His light and love.

A total of 134 stained glass windows are found at the Manila Cathedral, specifically:

The 30 Windows of Central Nave

The 14 windows of the lateral aisle and choir

The 18 windows of the apsis

The 4 windows of the transept

The 2 windows of the presbytery

The 2 windows of the deambulatories

The 12 windows at the end of the transep

The 16 windows of the lantern of the dome

The 33 windows of the chapels

The 3 windows of the façade

Stained Glass Window

Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception Manila Metropolitan Cathedral

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