A Visit to Museo de Sta. Ana
by: Andrea Denise M. Salcedo
by: Andrea Denise M. Salcedo
- A museum at the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Anne.
- A repository of artifacts detailing the rich religious culture and history.
My group was assigned Taguig for our class project. I had to muffle a sigh and keep myself from making my complaint heard – but that’s so far! I confess, I was a biased visitor to Taguig…
Our long haul to Taguig was slow (traffic) and wet, it was pouring rain. But finally, after what seemed like forever, the jeepney reached the poblacion. I saw the church, the Archdiocese of St Anne – which houses my destination, the Museo de Sta. Ana.
My heart almost sank when we found out that the museum has already closed. I could have died standing as I saw disappointment on the faces of my dad and mom. What? Did we go through all that for nothing?!
An angel has smiled on my luck – the curator volunteered to re-open the museum for us. Now, I call that Taguig warmth and hospitality.
Museo de Sta. Ana is a welcome presence within the grounds of the parish church. It is quite small, but very well put together. It houses whatever relics there are that survived countless, numerous robberies of precious statues, chalices, vestments, etc. and the massive damages the church suffered after a big fire. Today, some of the treasures in the museum are on loan by private citizens of Taguig.
Surprisingly, the Books of Registry of Births, Deaths and Baptisms are intact . . . so too are the chandeliers/candelabras lighting the museum – they are all originally from the burned church. Some other rare finds are: a statue of St. Anne holding a manuscript, the Santo Entierro, guitar-shaped chaucibles that were used until the 1950’s.
If the museum is anything to go by, I say that it very much articulates what Taguig City was, and is now – Taguig is built on the foundations of a rich and often overlooked past. It tells of a rich religious culture and history, a people’s triumph over nature’s unpredictable wrath and adversities.
I left Taguig that night carrying with me a new understanding of Taguig City and its people. I got home at 9pm, tired and spent, but full of insights.