Santa Monica Church
This church is dedicated to St. Mary. It has a nave and aisles and is joined to the monastery on the southern side. It was blessed on December 19,1627 by the Archbishop Frei Dom Sebastiao de S. Pedro celebrated Pontifical Mass. The church has four altars. The middle altar is dedicated to St. Monica. The two on the gospel side are dedicated to Jesus and to the crucified saviour, and those on the epistle side to the Immaculate Conception. In front of this altar is placed the miraculous crucifix, which originally stood on the higher choir. The belfry of the church contains three bells; the largest of them is called the bell of Holy Christ, which rings the note corresponding to “la” the second “do” and the third “La”. The process, organised by Bishop Dom Frei Miguel Rangel, records the miracles attributed to this crucifix. On February 8, 1636, many people together saw the image of Christ crucified opening its eyes many times and its mouth as one who desired to speak. They also saw blood pouring down from the marks and the crown quivering. This vision or supernatural apparition repeated itself on February 12, in the presence of the Bishop, the viceroy Don Pedro de silve, aristocrats and a vast multitude of people. The length of the image is 9 palms and half an inch.
