Bolivia. Sacaca is celebrating for many reasons… One is worth emphasizing. The Parish of Saint Luis has opened its gates again after a long process of remodelling that has lasted one and a half years. On 17 May 2008 we have celebrated the second birthday of this temple. It has been born again because its walls, its façades, its altars, its coffered ceiling presented before all the signs of a sad end and now they have recovered their joy.
On the eve, on the 16th, we have celebrated a close, familiar Eucharist, in spite of the fact that many people filled the temple. It was the appropriate time to remember the company, its workers, all the people who have participated in this revival. It is a colonial temple that was born for the first time in the second half of the XVI century; a one-nave, Renaissance, Latin-cross temple.
The work done has fulfilled two fundamental objectives: it has solved the serious humidity problems that have been gradually deteriorating the structure of the temple and, in addition, it has restored its earlier splendour to the church. The walls have recovered their verticality and cover up beams and joists that give them greater consistency. The base of soft stone of Sacaca goes along the walls of the nave and chapels. Undoubtedly, what is most surprising is the Mudejar coffered ceiling, partly recovered but mostly newly made. The main and the lateral brick façades have recovered their original gracefulness. And the finishing touch, the light cream tone of the internal walls that blends with the warmth of the light and immerses us in an atmosphere of peace and recollection. The past and the present in a religious embrace…
At about ten thirty we began the Eucharist presided over by Monsignor Ricardo Centellas, with the presence of the Claretian Fathers of the Northern Mission of Potosí. The students of the Hogar Campesino, the authorities and the people of Sacaca fill up the central nave. The song, the joy of the faces, the “jula julas” of the offertory and the final participation of some Sacaca people gave the festive note of this religious encounter. The warm and appropriate words of Monsignor Ricardo invited those present to renew the life of the church of Sacaca on a par with the restoration of the temple. We are all called to be missionaries so that the people may have life… In the eve of the feast of Corpus Christi, a massive participation in the communion announces a new future for the Sacaca parish.
A special plaque celebrates the II Centenary of the birth of Fr. Claret, founder of the Missionaries that currently attend to the Northern Mission of Potosí and, concretely, this parish of Sacaca(photo ). Concluye con la bendición del templo, una procesión alrededor del edificio recién restaurado, acompañada por laA procession around the newly restored temple, accompanied by the band of the Alonso de Ibáñez School ends the blessing of the temple.
17 May 2008. Only five centuries have passed…
Fr. Jesús María Oset, cmf
