Visita Iglesia 2015

Friends joined me and my family members, Ate Beth, Josh, Bujoy, Marc and Matthew

1st Church: Immaculate Concepcion Shrine, Cubao Q.C

2nd Church: Mt. Carmel Parish New Manila, Q.C

3rd Church: St. Joseph's Convent of Perpetual Adoration, New Manila, Q.C

4th Church: Shrine of Jesus the Divine Word: Christ the King Church, New Manila, Q.C

5th Church: Sacred Heart Parish, Kamuning Q.C

6th Church: Holy Family Parish, Kamias, Q.C

7th Church: Nativity of the Lord Parish, Cubao, Q.C

8th Church: St. Joseph Shrine, Project 2, Q. C

9th Church: Our Lady of Miraculous Medal Parish, Project 4, Q.C

10th Church: Monasterio de Santa Clara, Katipunan, Q.C

11th Church: Nativity of our Lord Parish, Industrial Valley, Q.C

12th Church: The Church of the Gesu, Ateneo de Manila, Loyola Heights, Q.C

13th Church:  Our Lady of Pentecost Parish, Loyola Heights, Q.C

14th Church: Sta. Maria dela Strada Parish, Loyola Heights Q.C

VISITA IGLESIA 2014: Part 3 of 5

MINOR BASILICA OF ST. LORENZO RUIZ

BINONDO CHURCH

Binondo Church, also known as Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and Our Lady of the most holy Rosary Parish , is located in the District of Binondo, Manila  fronting Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz. This church was founded by Dominican priests in 1596 to serve their Chinese converts to Christianity.  The original building was destroyed in 1762 by British bombardment. A new granite church was completed on the same site in 1852 however it was greatly damaged during the Second World War, with only the western facade and the octagonal bell tower surviving.

San Lorenzo, who was born of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, trained in this church and afterwards went as a missionary to Japan and was executed there for refusing to renounce his religion. San Lorenzo Ruiz was to be the Philippines' first saint and he was canonized in 1987. A large statue of the martyr stands in front of the church.

Masses are held in Filipino, in Chinese dialects (Mandarin, Hokkien), and in English.

Even before the arrival of the Spanish to the Philippines there was already a community of Chinese traders living in Manila. The population of Chinese traders increased with the advent of Spanish colonization of the Philippines, due to increased trade between the islands.The upsurge in their population prompted the Catholic Missionaries to manage the conversion of the Chinese population to the Christian faith.

In 1596, Dominican priests founded Binondo church to serve their Chinese converts to Christianity as well as to the native Filipinos.

The original structure has sustained damages during wars and various natural disasters. The current granite church was completed on the same site in 1852 and features an octagonal bell tower which suggests the Chinese culture of the parishioners. The church was burned during the British invasion of 1872. Another one was quickly built following the occupation. Improvements were made in the 18th century but the edifice was again destroyed in the 1863 earthquake. It was rebuilt in the grandeur the remains on which we see today. Before the war, it was considered as one of the most beautiful churches in the country. Its bell tower was composed of five stories, octagonal in shape. At its top was a mirador (viewing window). This roof was destroyed during the 1863 earthquake.

American bombing on September 22, 1944 destroyed the structure. Everything including the archives of the parish were burned. Nothing was left behind except the stone walls of the church and the fire-tiered octagonal belltower. After the war, Binondo parishioners had to make do with a roofless church for several years until it was rebuilt in the 1950s.

The present church and convent was renovated between 1946 and 1971.

source: wikipedia

This church was built and administered by the Jesuits up to 1768.  Adjoining was the Jesuit College of San Ildefonso, founded by Governor Alfonso Fajardo dela Tenza on Jan 9, 1724.  The titular patroness of the church is Nuestra Señora del Pilar, whose statue was  brought from Spain prior to 1765. The confraternity of Nuestra Señora del Pilar was canonically founded in this church in 1743. On the surrounding plaza the british returned the city of Manila to Simon de Anda Y Salazar in 1764.

 This is the written on a stone marker in front of the Church.

VISITA IGLESIA 2014: Part 2 of 5

BASILICA MINORE DE SAN SEBASTIAN

(SAN SEBASTIAN CHURCH)

Basilica Minor de San Sebastian better known as the San Sebastian Church is a Roman Catholic Basilica in Metro Manila. It is the seat of the Parish of San Sebastian and the National Shrine of our Lady of Mount Carmel.  Designed by Genabo Palacios, the structural metal of which is uniquely built was manufactured in Belgium and erected here by the Belgian Engineers. The church was solemly blessed August 16, 1891. Earlier churches built on this site  by Recollect friars since 1611  were destroyed by earthquake in 1859, 1863, and 1880.

Completed in 1891, the San Sebastian Church is noted for its architectural features. An example of the revival of Gothic - Architecture in the Philippines, it is the only all-steel church or Basilica in Asia and claimed as the only pre-fabricated steel church in the world. It was designated as a National Heritage landmark by the Philippine Government in 1973.  In 2006, San Sebastian Church was included in the tentative list for possible designation as a World Heritage site.   San Sebastian Church is under the care of the Order of Augustinian Recollects who also operate a college adjacent to the Basilica.

Source from Wikipedia

ST. MICHAEL AND THE ARCHANGELS

Also called Villa de San Miguel Church and Malacañang Chruch (due to its proximity to the Palace), the Shrine was first built in the 1630s as an ex-voto by a Spanish Governor-General who miraculously escaped death while on a military campaign. This church also once ministered to Japanese Christians fleeing persecution by the Tokugawa Shogunate, and since many of the exiles had belonged to the Samurai class, the church was dedicated to Saint Michael (who is a heavenly general and angelic warrior). Saint Michael's acquired its presidential association when several Presidents began frequently worshipping there, most notably President Carlos P. García and his consort, First Lady Leonila. 

St. Michael's today is more popular with betrothed couples, as Shrine priests are authorized by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila to bestow the Sacraments of Confirmation and, if necessary, Baptism.  This pre-wedding requirement of the Catholic Church is performed on baptized faithful in an hour-long service the same day it is requested.

Built by the Jesuits and the first Church that was made of stone near the Tripa de Gallina in 1603.  Became a parish church in 1611. This was the center of the Japanese mission in 1615. The administration of the church was then given to secular priests in 1768.  The church was then transferred to where it is  now and under the Parish of Quiapo in 1783. It was then returned to the Franciscan order in 1797. It was then administered by Secular Priests in 1899.  The present church was built in 1913 and was chosen as Pro - Cathedral by Manila from 1946 – 1958.  Was made as the National Altar of St. Michael and the Archangels in 1986.

Lifted from the Church marker

VISITA IGLESIA 2014 - Part 1 of 5

SANTO DOMINGO CHURCH

This year’s  Visita Iglesia is the first time that some of my friends joined me. Besides having my sister Elaiza, and her sons Joshua and Marc and my other nephew Matthew join us,  my friends RJ Marasigan, Krisvi Barrios and Ian Songco joined us for our visita Iglesia this year.  Having done this thing the past three years, I think I became wiser in chosing the day and the routes to take to be able to finish the 14 Churches by dinner time. Here are the churches we went to and some things about the church which I looked up either in the net or through the markers found in the churches.

The church of Sto Domingo was formerly made of wood which was made by the Dominicans with the help of Bishop Domingo de Salazar OP in Intramuros, Manila in Jan 1, 1588.  The church was left to ruins in 1589, eventually built again but this time in stone together with the convention of Father Alonso Jimenez O.P in  1592. An altar was made on the miraclous Our Lady of the Rosary because on the occassion of the Battle of La Naval in 1593. 

There was a fire that destroyed the church once again in 1603 and was rebuilt in 1613. It was then slightly destroyed by an earthquake in 1645 but was renovated that same year.  Another earthquake destroyed it again in 1863 and was rebuilt by reknowned neo-gothic architect Felix Roxas in 1867. The last time it was destroyed was when the Japanese bombed Manila in 1941. It was eventually transferred to where it is now and the the first stone was laid in 1952. It was inaugurated by Rufino Cardinal Santos in 1954  and was declared National Shrine of our Lady of the Holy Rosary of the same year. 

Translated Filipino Marker 

OUR LADY OF LORETO CHURCH

 This site was donated  to the Franciscans in 1613 by Pedro de Chaves.  First chapel built in honor of our lady of Loreto in 1613 and set on fire in the chinese uprising in 1639. 

Second chapel built under the supervision of Andres de Puertellano O.F.M. Present church built in 1666 under  the direction of the Francisco de Santa Catalina O.F.M. Associated with the convent of Sampaloc . There functioned here from 1692 to 1808 one of the best printing presses in Manila.

From a 1935 building marker 

SAINT ANTHONY SHRINE

Saint Anthony’s feast is celebrated every June 13. He is well-known as the saint from Padua, in honor of the city he loved, where he spent most of his final days  and where his remains  are buried and his incorrupt tongue venerated.  IN the Philippines the devotion to St. Anthony dates back to the arrival of the Franciscans in July 2,1578.  Since then, it would be exceptional for a church to be without a statue or image of the famous miracle –worker. 

The present St. Anthony Shrine in Sampaloc Manila was build in 1947 through the efforts of Fr. Mariano Montero OFM, where the devotion to ST. Antony in Intramuros Manila was transferred. Originally, in this same location a chapel was constructed in 1794 for the use of the Secular Franciscans under our lady of the Piligrims statue. ( A statue now enshrined at the right side of the shrine santuary.)