Visiting the Saint James the Apostle Parish Church in Paete, Laguna

The Saint James the Apostle Parish Church also known as The Roman Catholic Church of Saint James the Apostle or commonly known as Church of Paete is the only Roman Catholic church in Paete, Laguna, Philippines. Its patron saint is Saint James the Apostle and his feast is celebrated every 25 July. The church is known for its huge and exquisite collection of images depicting the Passion of Christ, its century-old paintings and wooden images of saints (or poon).
History.
Paete was established as town in 1580 by Franciscan priest, Fray Juan Plasencia under the patronage of Saint Lawrence. Due to the scarcity of religious men, it was annexed to the visita of Lumban until October 20, 1600 and to Pangil until 1602. The first parish priest of Paete, Fray Pedro de Buenaventura was appointed in 1602. The first stone church and convent were built by Paete natives under the supervision of Fray Andres de Puertellanoin 1646 but it was later destroyed by an earthquake in 1717. A new stone church was started the same year under Fray Francisco de la Fuente. It was completed in 1840 under the term of Fray Luis de Nambroca. The church and convent was again destroyed by the 1880 Luzon earthquake. Father Gregorio Martin built a temporary small church of 33 m (108 ft) by 13.2 m (43 ft) by 8.6 m (28 ft). In 1884, the church was rebuilt under Father Pedro Galiano, now facing the Laguna lake but this was again destroyed by another earthquake on August 20, 1937. The church served as a dungeon and torture house to the people of Paete during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II.
Façade.
The church's facade is divided by a frieze that continues around the adjoining belltower. It has bas reliefs of leaves and flowers and a sculpted image of St. James depicted as a Santiago Matamoros (Saint James the Moor-slayer) in a central niche of the upper story. The relief of Saint James is no longer the original image. The present relief which replaced the original one was installed in 1804. The triangular stepped pediment has a circular aperture directly above the image of St. James. Several arched windows decorate the belltower.
Luciano Dans Murals.
The large wall paintings on wood panels inside the church were executed by another notable son of Paete, Luciano Dans. These depict Langit, Lupa, Impiyerno - Heaven, Earth, Hell - and large murals of Saint Christopher. Dans used natural color pigments mixed with volcanic ash and brushes made from cats' hair to create the murals. The large painting of San Cristobal on wood was purchased during the time of Father Francisco de Santa Gonzaleza for ₱22 in October 1852. Unfortunately, the two St. Christopher paintings currently need immediate conservation.: a lot of wood panels inside the church, including the painted wood panels, are infested by termites.
Another mural created by another unknown artist and the oldest among all murals inside the church is the Last Judgment or Juicio Final painted around 1720. It is located near the church altar.