PASTORES: Completing the Nativity Collection of LRH-SACA

This Christmas 2026, the Loyola Retreat House – Spirituality and Arts Center of Angono (LRH-SACA) proudly presents PASTORES, the concluding set of our Nativity Collection that began with Pesebres (2023) and Magi (2024).

The word pastores comes from Spanish, meaning herders—the humble shepherds who kept watch over their flocks on the night when the angels announced the birth of the Promised One. Guided by the heavenly message, they went to Bethlehem to find the Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, as narrated by St. Luke.

This year’s exhibit highlights five figures: three shepherds, symbolizing humility, readiness, and faith; and a donkey and a cow, traditionally included in Nativity iconography as an echo of Isaiah 1:3: “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib…”

As with our previous exhibits, the figures have been meticulously hand-painted by artists from Angono and the lakeshore art communities, as well as Jesuit artists from the Jesuit Residence, Ateneo de Manila University.

PASTORES is an offering of faith, culture, and Filipino devotion—a tribute to the first witnesses of Christ’s birth and to the enduring artistry of our community.

Join us as we open this year’s Christmas exhibit and continue celebrating the story of the Nativity through art.