This Chapel was the heart and soul of my days at UP, Diliman Both as a Student and a Teacherđź’š
Today, we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the blessing of the UP Chapel of the Holy Sacrifice.
It was on this day in 1955 that Archbishop Rufino Santos blessed the peculiar and novel church-in-the-round designed by Leandro Locsin. That it was called Holy Sacrifice was very apt as it was the fruit of the countless sacrifices of the UP Catholic Community and their chaplain, Fr. John P. Delaney, SJ.
But it was not their sacrifices that was honored in this new edifice. It was a greater and nobler sacrifice. It was the oblation of the Son of God on Calvary and renewed daily on the altar. It was the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that was the center of the community since its infancy in 1949.
And when Providence willed the building of a more permanent chapel, it was, now more literally, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that was in its center.
However, amidst the joy of this anniversary, we also remember that the UP Chapel of the Holy Sacrifice would turn out to cap to the life's work of Fr. Delaney. He would die 23 days later, never having returned to his beloved chapel.
Now, as we look back on the long history of our chapel, we cannot help but be grateful. The spiritual nourishment that we enjoy today is a treasure that was won for us by our predecessors in the UP Catholic Community, students, faculty, and workers who dreamed of a place where God would be honored, a concrete testament to the faith that they held dearly against the backdrop of this secular university; a place where from the rising of the sun to its setting, a pure sacrifice may be offered to God's name.
Truly, for 68 years, the prayer uttered by Archbishop Santos from the Ritual has been a constant reality. "That all who here invoke Thee, may experience thy assistance."
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"And our prayer, my dear friends, our prayer for all who are gathered here this evening, our prayer for the Diliman community is only one: That as the years go by, this Chapel will always draw people closer to the altar, closer to Calvary, closer to God. That as the years go by, people will come more and more to realize that the altar and the Cross must be the center of their lives. That people will realize more and more that when they come to offer themselves at the altar, they are offering themselves to Christ who is King-King of our individual lives, King of our family lives, King of our vocational lives, King of our business life, King of our industrial life, King of our political life, King of our international living."
—Fr. John P. Delaney. 25 December 1955
My Student Days at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Can you guess where am I in the photo below? Hint: I am in the Front Row..
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Finally, here's some photos during My Birthday Lunch Today at FOB Kitchen, Temescal District, Oakland
My Family: Left to Right: Dinah, Ditas, Carenna(youngest grand daughter), Me, Ruth( my daughter-in-law) and Dodie.
We had Pancit ( for long life), adobo, lechon, lumpia and sinigang. For Dessert, we have suman, Turon, ube ice cream and mango slices with Steam White rice. For Drink, we have mango and calamansi lemonade.
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