In the Gospel Chapel formed by the left transept are two richly carved and gilded altars. The larger one at the end, somewhat resembling the high altar, is dedicated to the Passion of Our Lord, the other, on the right, to St. Joseph. The frescoes on the left wall of this chapel symbolize _The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple_ (upper) and _Our Lady of the Pillar_ (lower). Here also is the confessional. The apse, containing the elaborately encrusted high altar, is framed by a wide and stilted chancel arch. On the piers of the arch (left and right) are figures of St. James, St. John, St. Thomas and St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. On the corners of the piers are hung the figures of angels, life-size, said to be the likenesses of the two daughters of the artist who decorated the interior. The apse is separated from the rest of the church by a low spindled chancel rail. The central gate of the hand-carved railing is flanked by two grotesque carvings of lions on the escutcheon of Castile and Leon. In their paws were candlesticks—long since carried away by vandals. The high altar is dedicated to St. Francis Xavier. A figure of the saint occupies a central niche above the altar table. Around it are carved cherubs and arabesques. Still higher is a brilliantly painted figure of the Holy Virgin. On each side of this central motif the corners of the octagonal apse are lined with elaborately carved and gilded columns and between them the niched figures of St. Peter and St. Paul. Surmounting the altar is the figure of God the Creator. The domed ceiling of the apse is embellished with a shell—a motif frequently used in the decoration of the church. The side walls of the apse are painted with colorful frescoes: _The Adoration of the Wise Men_ and _The Flight Into Egypt_ (right wall) and the _Adoration of the Shepherds_ and the _Annunciation_ (left wall). A small door in the right wall of the apse leads into the Sacristy, a high square domical chamber containing the sacred vessels and reliquaries. The delicate floral decorations on the sacristy ceiling are especially notable. On the north wall is the _Crucifixion_, the largest and best preserved of any of the frescoes in the church. A small door in the east wall gives access to the arched cloisters of the patio. In the east transept is the Epistle Chapel containing, like the Gospel Chapel on the left, two altars—the large altar at the end, dedicated to the Mother of Sorrows, containing a statue of Mary, clothed in a bridal gown donated by an Indian girl in appreciation of an answered prayer. Imbedded in the wall above is an antique wooden cross which formerly bore a “life-size” statue of the crucifixion, though nothing remains now but one arm. It is thought the statue was carried away by vandals. The altar at the left is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.