Our Church - Parish of St Philip and St James, Palma
The architect
who designed our church was Sr. Carlos Sobron. When he
presented his plans the Church Committee spontaneously
rose and applauded him, because the plans were just what
they had hoped for. To their amazement and delight, Sr
Sobron told them he would not charge for the plans as he
never expected to be asked to design a church again.
Not everything in our church is new. The golden
candlesticks on the altar, along with the communion or
sanctuary rails, the pulpit and pews of
northern pine all came from the old church (a former
soda water factory) in El Terreno. The candlesticks were
bought by the old congregation in memory of Sir Winston
Churchill. The altar had been intended by the architect
to be constructed in beautiful wood to contrast with the
stone of the walls but eventually it was decided to have
a traditional stone altar.
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The lovely wall behind the altar was built by a local Mallorcan stonemason, Miguel, from nearby
Genova. He told us that he built it with love and care
because he felt it might serve as his memorial. He also
said that he had placed the darker stones in a
meaningful way. Miguel stood at its consecration with
tears in his eyes. A few days later he died, taking the
solution to the mystery of the dark stones with him....
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The Triptych is
traditional in style and contrasts pleasantly with the
very simple and modern interior of our church. It shows
'Our Lady of Peace' with an 'aureole' of the heads of
nine children, representing all the ethnic groups of
mankind.
On either side of this
central painting are our saints of title: St Philip and
St James. The triptych was painted by the Croatian-born
Peruvian artist Kristian Krekovic and was commissioned
and donated to our church in 1973 by a
faithful member and sidesman of our congregation, the
late Mr Eric Beeby.
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At the top of this page you
see our large stained glass window. The APOSTLES
(from the Greek `apostolos'
- person sent) were the
twelve disciples chosen by Christ to be sent on special
missions of preaching and healing. They were in
continuous attendance on Christ and were the recipients
of his special teaching and training. The Apostles St.
Peter, St. James the greater and St. John formed the
inner circle who alone were permitted to witness such
events as :
- The Raising of Jairus' daughter.
(MARK 5:37, LUKE 8:51)
- The Transfiguration. (MARK 9,
MATT 17, LUKE 9)
- The Agony
of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. (MARK 14:33,
MATT 26:37)
Special importance seems to have been
attached to the number twelve, which some scholars
interpret as a reference to the twelve tribes of Israel.
When a gap had been left by the defection and death of
the traitor Judas Iscariot, immediate steps were taken
to fill it by the election of the Apostle St. Matthias.
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Vertical Window 1
BAPTISMAL Window donated by Mr. Elliott
Showing a much loved former priest baptising the donor's
son. Above is the beautiful dove, quickly adopted as a
symbol of our church.
Vertical Window 2
MEMORIAL Window donated
by Mrs. C. Galloway
This window engages the eye with full vibrancy of the
many hues of red - poppies indeed being symbolical for
remembrance. Abstractions of elongated leaves lead the
eye into a dense and variegated whirl of yellow flowers,
predominantly mimosa. ...
Vertical Window 3
MARINE Window donated by Mrs. E. Kinnear
The foremost request of the donor
runs as a theme throughout the window. The marine theme
reminds us of Mr. Kinnear’s profession at of captain in
the Merchant navy. The coat of arms of his Oxford
college and the flag of his company which has the
Scottish St. Andrews cross in the background ...
After the busy long horizontal
composition of the 12 Apostles I needed a visual break,
a sort of rest for the eye. Here we find a lot of
horizontal lines, from the sturdy bollard at the
quayside where the ships berth the eye travels across
the harbour to the signal tower of Pelaires, a vessel in
full sail on the horizon, the seagulls moving overhead
into a cloud formation.
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A member of our
congregation donated our baptismal stained glass window
in memory of a much loved former priest. It depicts
Father Angel Rubio baptizing the donor's son.
The font is carved
from local Santanyi stone and the font cover was carved
by one of our parish assistants, Dr George Giri.
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