THE CHRISTMAS season conjures a flurry of bright images. And if you are a Roman Catholic, you expect your parish church, no matter how small, or even your community chapels, to be well-lighted. 

And as the birth of Jesus Christ nears, churches are all aglow--from the historic Basilica del Santo Niño in Cebu City and the San Sebastian Cathedral in the heart of Bacolod City with their multitude of tiny electric bulbs, to the kerosene-fired lanterns in makeshift chapel-cum-classroom in a hinterland village of Antique. 

In key Visayan cities like Cebu, Iloilo, Tacloban, Tagbilaran, Bacolod or Dumaguete, the glowing churches complement the lights and decorations strung on trees lining the streets, the parks, the malls and capitol and city or municipal halls. 

But in Bacolod, one church does not just glow. The St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Barangay Ilijis, dazzles with hundreds upon hundreds of tiny lights outlining every inch of the church. 

Just recently completed with a generous personal donation from President Estrada (made when he was still vice president), the St. Jude Thaddeus Church can make even the most jaded stop and stare. 

Bacolod Bishop Camilo Gregorio, himself glowing with pride over the generosity of parishioners who donated the lights (despite the economic crunch), says there is symbolism there: 

''The lights tell us Christ is piercing through our darkness. 

''The lights,'' Gregorio adds, ''are symbolic because all around us is physical and material darkness. 

''The lights remind us of Christ presence,'' he says. ''Through our darkness he leads us to the end of the tunnel where there is light.''