CHINA MACAO - CHURCHES ( PART 3)

11. ST ANTHONY ( SANTO ANTONIO) RUO DE SANTO ANTONIO

This church stands on the site of a chapel founded in 1558, the first to be built in Macau. The history of the present building is told briefly on a plaque by the door: Built in 1638. Burnt in 1809. Rebuilt in 1810. 

Burnt again in 1874. Repaired in 1875”. However, there is a cross in the churchyard bearing the date of 1636. Another fire necessitated another restoration in 1930 and further work was done on the façade and tower in 1940.Previously members of the Portuguese community would hold wedding ceremonies there, so giving rise to the Chinese name of Fa Vong Tong (Church of Flowers)

  12.  ST AUGUSTINE’S ( SANTO AGOSTINHO) LARGO DE SANTO AGSTINHO

The original church was built by Spanish Augustinian friars in 1586 and taken over by the Portuguese three years later. The present building dates from 1814 and has a spacious interior with 3 aisles separated by colonnades. The marble clad high altar contains a statue of Christs carrying the cross.

It is said that when this statue was taken to the Cathedral by Church authorities it would mysteriously return to the altar of the church. In commemoration the procession of Our Lord of the Passion ( Nosso Senhor dos Passos) is held every year on the first Sunday of Lent. The statue is taken to the Cathedral for a night and next day is carried through the streets where the Stations of the Cross are set up and attended by the clergy and hundreds of citizens are restored to St Augustine’s.

              When the Augustinians were expelled in 1712, the Passos procession was cancelled. It was a time of food shortage and the local Chinese associated the 2 events. They asked that “the man with the cross” walk the streets again and when the church agreed the shortage ended.

Among the people buried in the church in Maria de Moura, a romantic heroine who in year 1710 married Captain Antonio Albuquerque Coelho, in spite of this, having lost an arm when attacked by one of her unsuccessful suitors. She died in childbirth and is buried with her baby and Antonio’s arm.

13. ST DOMINIC’S  ( SAO DOMINGOS) LARGO DE S. DOMINGOS

Standing on the site of a chapel and convent built by the Dominicans in the 1590’s St Dominic’s dates from the early 17^th century. It has an imposing façade of cream coloured stone with white stucco mouldings and green shuttled windows. Inside, white pillars support a flat ceiling and apron balconies trim the walls. The great baroque alter contains a cream and white statue of the Virgin and Child and a painting of Christ. The church has a fine collection of exquisitely carved ivory and wood saints.

St Dominic’s has a violently dramatic past. In 1644 a military officer who supported the Spanish against the Portuguese was murdered at the alter during Mass. In 1707 the Dominicians sided with the Pope against Macau’s bishop in the Rites Controvesy. 

When local soldiers tried to enforce an excommunication order on them, the friars locked themselves in the church for 3 days and pelted the soldiers with stones. In 1834m the monastic order were suppressed and for a time the church was used by the government as barracks, stable and public works office.

St Dominic’s church was renovated in 1997 and opened to the public with a museum, on the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd floor. The museum shows paintings, sculptures and liturgical ornaments that illustrates the history of the Roman Catholic Church in Asia.

14. ST FRANCIS XAVIER ( SAO FRANCISCO XAVIER) ,

RUA DE FRANCISCO XAVIER

Built in 1907 and rebuilt in 1938. This small attractive church is attached to an old people’s home, near the hill of Mong- Ha. The interior is simple and tranquil with a black marble altar. High louvred shutters along the walls open onto pleasant courtyards and gardens.