Church of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
The sixth pilgrim church we visited in our visita iglesia was the Church of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in the town of Orani. The town’s present church and convent is one of the best in the province. Both were repaired by Dominican friars in 1792.
The right side of the church
Badly damaged during the September 16, 1852 earthquake, both were improved by Dominican Frs. Bartolome Alvarez del Manzano, O.P., in 1868 and Fermin Perez San Julian in 1891.
The left side of the church
Repaired in 1936, both were destroyed by the fire of March 16, 1938 and reconstructed on September 1938. In 1939, a historical marker at the façade of the church was installed by the Philippines Historical Committee, classifying it as a House of Worship with Level II status.
PHC Historical Marker
On August 15, 1945, the church was rehabilitated by Fr. Elias Calimbas. Its construction was finished in 1982 by Fr. Simplicio Fernandez and Msgr. Emilano Santos. On April 18, 1959, the image of the Nuestra Señora del Rosario was canonically crowned in a solemn ceremony headed by the Archbishop of San Fernando and the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.
The four-storey bell tower on the right
From 1987 to October 6, 1991, the church was renovated Frs. Antonio Dumaual and Camilo Pacanza and, on October 6, 1991, the new altar ( which replaced the former Neoclassic altar which was demolished in the late 1980s) was blessed by Bishop Celso N. Guevarra.
A right side entrance doorway
In 2002, the church and convent were repaired and improved and, on August 22, 2004, it was declared as a Pilgrimage Shrine (Shrines to the Virgin Mary or “Dambana ng Paglalakbay”) by then Bishop of Balanga and later Archbishop of Lingayen Socrates B. Villegas.
The church interior
On April 18, 2009, the 50th Golden Anniversary of the Virgin’s Canonical Coronation was celebrated with the presence of Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales.On September 25, 2012, the church was granted a perpetual spiritual affinity bond by Pope Benedict XVI with the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
The church’s three-level Baroque and Neoclassical facade has regularly spaced paired columns alternating with pedimented windows at the second level and topped by a pediment decorated with huge flowing scrolls.
The main altar
It is separated from the second level by a triglyph-decorated horizontal cornice. On the church’s right is its four-storey bell tower. Its old 1806 bell was installed in front of the church on June 7, 1998. The Church has four portals – the Gate of Heaven, the Gate of Saints, the Gate of Angels and the Gate of Paradise.
The dome above the altar
Beside the church is the Museo ng Mahal na Birheng Maria, a repository of Marian relics and artifacts such as the numerous vestments and crowns of the Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.
Museo ng Mahal na Birhen Maria
In front of the church is the historic bell of the church, dedicated and first used during the tenure of Frs. Juan José de Acuña and Esteban de Sta. María in 1806 and installed on June 7, 1998.
The Bell of Orani
Church of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary: National Highway, Poblacion. Tel: (047) 481-1095 and (047) 333-7252. Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary: Second Sunday of October.
How to Get There: Orani is located 104.9 kms. (a 2.5-hr. drive) from Manila and 16.6 kms. (a 15-min. drive) north of Balanga City.