The decoration of the temple, as we know traditionally, is almost non-existent. It is mainly based on the natural light that escapes from between the superimposed and overlapping planes. These create rays of light that play in the interior depending on their intensity, illuminating the walls on the top, bottom and sides, achieving the union of the interior space with the exterior. The few elements present have a sense that is only understandable on walking through the Church.
When entering the temple, the ascending ramp invites the visitor to walk in and leads towards the niche of the Virgin. Such niche, differently from the traditional ones is convex and a sculpture of the Virgin with the legend «I hold your Cross» is sustained in an overhang. The sculpture is by the national art award winner Marta Colvin, along with Francisco Gacitúa, one of her students. The work measures two point thirty meters high and is made from wood. Its foundation in the precepts of the artist’s style is to carry out a reposition of constructivism and dates from 1970.
The image of the Virgin guides the spectators’ glance towards the Cross that presides the altar. The Cross, made from wood and formed by a Greek cross presents two faces: one, with Christ on the cross, and the other with an appliqué in embossed metal, with the image of the Lamb of God. Similarly, the altar, built in structured concrete, works as a link between the faithful and the monks.
The design of the units furnishing the choir is the work of the architect Raúl Irarrázaval. It is worth noting, that the organ was built by Oreste Carlini in 1919. This beautiful instrument, at one time belonged to the Monastery of the Clarisa Nuns, from the Recoleta neighborhood and between 1975 and 1976, it was brought to the Church of the Benediction Monastery. The psalter is located on its side. The psalter is a small harp played with a pick that is also used to accompany religious services.
There are some light entrances in the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament that are sieved by pieces that stain the space with amber colored lights, evidencing the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament from the nave of the faithful through an opening and, thus producing, a contrast between the amber of the chapel with the white of the walls. In this place, we can appreciate the image of “Christ on the Cross” and a structured concrete altar, a common space between the faithful and the monks that is extremely solemn.
Finally, in another space that comes off from the nave of the faithful, an altar dedicated to the Sacred Family is found, a polychrome wood sculptural ensemble, corresponding to the Quito School, dating from 1750.
The rest of the decoration is carried out by the light coming in through the different spaces deliberately formed in the work. The light is in charge of disassembling the construction cubes and making each one of the planes independent, thus forming the asceticism and union of the interior with the exterior and with the higher divinity, both in its architecture as well as in the faithful and monks.