"O res mirabilis!" (O what a great wonder!)

During the Faithful's Communion inside the Church of San Roque de Manila Parish
Santa Cruz, Manila
circa 1950

This is a photo taken during the (probably) 5:00 A.M. Holy Mass in the humble Parish of San Roque de Manila in Blumentritt, Santa Cruz, Manila. In the photo, the people receives our Lord in the Holy Communion; with bent knees in the communion rail, praying that they may welcome Jesus in their hearts, in their lives. 

For further information, the Mass in the photo (approximately in the 50s) is the now-known as Traditional Latin Mass -- the extraordinary form of Roman Catholic worship where the Liturgy is in Latin, the universal language of the Church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ. 

And I quote the angelic doctor Saint Thomas Aquinas in regards of the photo's deeper meaning and message: 

"O res mirabilis, manducat Dominum: pauper, servus et humilis."

And yes! Aquinas is clearly right. It is but a great wonder to see who "eat" and partake in the Lord's Body and Blood in this divine mystery: the poor, the slaves and humble-of-hearts. It is also but a great and inestimable gift of God to His Church -- to receive Him as He is, wholly present and tangible in the Bread and Wine offered and shared in the wondrous altar. 

Really "a heaven on earth" . . . 

(The Traditional Latin Mass in the present times)

DOMINE, NON SUM DIGNUS. A Traditional Latin Mass (Sunday Mass "Laetare") said by Msgr. Seamus Patrick Horgan, 1st Secretary of the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto, D.D., in the altar patronato of the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, La Naval de Manila, inside the Santo Domingo Parish Church. 5th of April, 2013.
Photo by: CUStoS pro Mitra
Edited by: S. M. Amamangpang