Stained Glass Masquerade

A group of gringitas (international students) and I explored the Historic District of Quito or El Centro on our first full weekend in Ecuador. We ate at a fabulous heladería and café called San Augustín which had the most delicious sabores of ice cream. I highly recommend Guanabana (a well known fruit in Ecuador which has a peach, coconut, pineapple flavor going on) and Mora (blackberry) together. Muy rico! We ventured the streets snapping photos of the ancient architecture and mounding rooftops and gawking at the pirated DVDs for a $1.50 and cute $5 flats.

One of the first things you notice in Ecuador’s historic Old Town is that, just like Starbucks’ in New York City, there’s a cathedral on every corner. So, we toured La Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus which was constructed over the span of 160 years (1605 – 1765) embodying the Baroque style of art and architecture. There are two massive original canvases in the entry hall which are attributed to Hernando de la Cruz and date back to 1620. The one at the north end is called, The Last Judgment, and the one at the south is called, Hell, utilizing polarity as additional symbolism for conveying meaning. As I stood beneath the looming image of Lucifer enthroned on a fiery pedestal with dark demons creepily encroaching on all sides, I shuddered. It was grotesque and tortuous; man, woman, and child were being consumed giving vivid illustration to ¨the outer darkness; where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.¨ The aspect of the artistry that spoke to me the most was the fact that with each person was scratched a pecado or a sin that branded them. Some were asesino (murderer), ladrón (thief), mentiroso (liar); but, the cast majority were things like murmurado (one who murmurs/gossips), espectador (onlooker), and descriptions like desagradecido (ungrateful), injusto (unjust), and despilfarrador (wasteful). The painting just highlighted the fact that somewhere along the line we started putting sins on a Richter Scale labeling some more violent than others when in fact omission and failure to act and reach out to our brothers and sisters can be just as entombing.

As we continued to meander into the heart of the cathedral, we were blinded by the glimmer of the refraction of the sunlight penetrating the skylight windows and bouncing off the 23 carat gold leaf, which gilds the entire church. The Church of the Company of Jesus in Quito has been catalogued by UNESCO as one of the hundred most important World Heritage Site Monuments in the world. After a 12 year restoration at a cost of 4.5 million dollars, the temple was reopened to the public so it could be viewed in all its adorned and magnificent splendor. As I knelt down on what was most likely a Persian rug lining the altar rail, I got chills; the sickening, disturbing kind of chills. I tried to pray, but just felt so disconnected and so very far away from God. I couldn’t help but feel repulsed and jaded by the disenchantingly (yes, I did in fact make that word up) ornate architecture of the cathedral. As I took in the golden image of Jesus hanging on the cross, I couldn’t help but think, this is so ridiculously ostentatious for a vow of poverty. I guess it was my Shane Claiborne/Casting Crowns moment, you know, the one where you just want to shout, “Jesus is not in that stained glass window” and question, have we traded our altar for a stage? If so, is the performance convincing and when will we close the curtain on our stained glass masquerade?

God’s church is authenticated on the streets and in the slums, amidst the stray dogs and polluted air. I felt liberated when I stepped outside and breathed it all in. God lives in us; may we be God´s children and build God´s church in the streets, in Ecuador, Brazil, Mozambique, and the United States, stretching as far as the east is to the west.