18th Century
Silver
weight: 12 kilos
60” x 36” (152 cm x 91 cm)

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED COUPLE

A sanctuary lamp (also called a chancel lamp, altar lamp, everal sting light, or eternal flame) is a light that shines before the altar of sanctuaries in many Christian places of worship.

Such a light was originally prescribed in Exodus 27:20-21 of the Jewish bible, the Torah. The passage instructing Moses reads: “And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. In the tabernacle of the congregation…Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the Lord: it shall be a statute forever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.”

This is the precedent for the Catholic Church's custom of burning a candle at all times before the tabernacle — the safe lined with gold where the Eucharistic Body of Christ is kept under lock and key.

Christian churches often have at least one lamp continually burning before the tabernacle, not only as an ornament of the altar, but for the purpose of worship. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal in the Catholic Church states, "In accordance with traditional custom, near the tabernacle a special lamp, fueled by oil or wax, should be kept alight to indicate and honor the presence of Christ."

The sanctuary lamp found in Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches to indicate the presence of Christ in the sanctuary, as well as to express belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

The sanctuary lamp may also be seen in Eastern Orthodox Churches. Other Christian denominations burn the lamp to show that the light of Christalways burns in a world darkened by sin.

In colonial Philippines, the lamp may be suspended by a rope or chain over the tabernacle or near the entry of the sanctuary, or it may hang from a bracket affixed to a wall.

Small churches which were only chaplaincies and visitas, they did not require elaborate tabernacles and light, since consecrated wafers were not stored there. It was the large parish churches where there were large sanctuaries, which required impressive lamps matching the scale of the church and the wealth of the devotees.

The sanctuary lamp in these pages came from a very large church, surely the cabicera of a prosperous province. It weighs 12,000 grams (12 kilos) which is equivalent to around 444 ochoreales or Spanish pieces of eight. That represented the annual head tax of 444 tributos or households; assuming a nuclear family of even only five, that represents the government’s share of the sustenance for 2,220 souls.

The lamp is latter 18th century, with the period’s typical baldaquin edging and ysot work. The latter refers to the shallow gravure of swag and ribbon design popularized with the ascent of the Bourbons, inspired by Flemish and French embroidery work.

A similar lamp is in the Intramuros Administration collection (see Martin I Tinio, Sanctuary Silver. Manila: Intramuros Administration, 1980) This is the first time in decades that such a rare piece of Philippine silver will be available for acquisition.

-Ramon N. Villegas