Churches I long to visit

Every Maundy Thursday, I do my Visita Iglesia. I would make a list of my favorite churches around Metro Manila and there I would pray the rosary. I would visit my first church destination in the afternoon and finish in the evening or until I have completed my list of seven churches to visit. Manila Cathedral is tops on my list followed by the San Agustin Church, Quiapo Church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baclaran, St. Jude in J.P. Laurel St., Our Lady of Remedies in Malate and Ermita Church. I love visiting churches. Until today that my days have become nights and nights have become days, I still do my regular visits to the church specially Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baclaran. Here are the churches I dream to visit one day:

Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral, the Former Abbey of Saint-Remi. The cathedral is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Reims was the site of 25 coronations of the kings of France, from Louis VIII in 1223 to Charles X in 1825, including the crowning of Charles VII in 1429 in the presence of Joan of Arc. Construction of the cathedral began in 1211 under the auspices of Archbishop Aubry de Humbert and designer Jean d’Orbais. Main construction was overseen by four different architects and lasted some 80 years while expansion and decorative work continued on the church for centuries. The Abbey of Saint-Rémi contains the remains of the 5th–6th century archbishop St. Remigius. The façade is the finest portion of the building, and one of the great masterpieces of the Middle Ages. Several paintings hung in the cathedral including works by Tintoretto, and Nicolas Poussin. Famous Russian artist Marc Chagall’s work can also be admired in the cathedral through the stained glass installed in 1974.

Notre Dame de Paris. The more than seven hundred years old Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral is considered as the "World Ambassador of Gothic Cathedrals." Constructed in three stages, the cathedral was completed in 1250. It is the site of the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte in Dec. 2, 1804, who after being anointed by Pope Pius V11, seized the crown from the pontiff’s hands and put it on his head crowning himself emperor and then Josephine, as empress. Victor Hugo wrote of the indignities the cathedral went through over the centuries in his book Notre Dame (later to be called The Hunchback of Notre Dame). For Victor who was 28 when he wrote the book, cathedrals were books in stone. The cathedral hosted the beatification of Joan of Arc in 1909.

Canterbury Cathedral. One of the darkest moments in the history of Canterbury Cathedral is the assassination of Thomas Becket by Knights of King Henry 11. He was the second of four Canterbury archbishops murdered inside the church. Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest, most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the Cathedral of the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of All England and religious leader of the Church of England. The Cathedral’s first archbishop was St. Augustine, previously abbot of St. Andrew’s Benedictine Abbey in Rome, who was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great. It is also the subject of a book by Geoffrey Chaucer entitled Canterbury Tales.

The Aachen Cathedral. It is also called the "Imperial Cathedral" in German Kaiserdom. Located in Aachen, Western Germany, it’s the oldest cathedral in northern Europe. Construction started under the reign of Charlemagne starting with the Palatine Chapel in 786. The emperor’s bones are interred in the church in a special shrine. For 600 years, from 936 to 1531, the Aachen cathedral was the church of coronation for 30 emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The Cathedral Treasury is regarded as one of the most important ecclesiastical treasuries in northern Europe. It’s on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Cathedral of Seville. It is the largest of all Roman Catholic cathedrals and the largest Medieval Gothic religious building in terms of both area and volume. Its main altarpiece is considered the largest in the Christian world. The Capilla Mayor, dominated by a vast Gothic retablo comprised of 45 carved scenes from the life of Christ done by Pierre Dancart, is the ultimate masterpiece of the cathedral. It’s the largest and richest altarpiece in the world and one of the finest examples of Gothic woodcarving. The Cathedral also has a large collection of religious jewelry items, paintings and sculptures, along with the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

Winchester Cathedral. It was started in 1079 by Bishop Walkelin. The earliest part of the present building is the crypt, which dates from that time. William II of England (son of William I "The Conqueror") was buried in the cathedral on Aug. 11, 1100, after he was killed in a hunting accident. Some important royal events took place at the cathedral like the coronation of Henry the Young King and his queen, Marguerite (1172), second coronation of Richard I of England (1194), marriage of King Henry IV of England and Joanna of Navarre (1403), marriage of Queen Mary I of England and King Philip II of Spain (1554). Tourists also flock to the cathedral to pay homage to novelist Jane Austen who is buried in the north aisle of the nave.

Cathedral of St. Paul. St. Paul’s is home to other plaques, carvings, statues, memorials and tombs of famous British figures including John Donne, The Duke of Wellington, Henry Moore, Sir Winston Churchill, T.E. Lawrence, Sir Arthur Sullivan and Florence Nightingale. It is also the site of many famous funerals, including those of Wellington and Churchill. Christopher Wren was the first person to be interred in 1723. The Royal Family holds most of its important marriages, christenings and funerals at Westminster Abbey. St Paul’s was used for the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer.