Category Archives: Churches

National Shrine of St. Anne (Hagonoy, Bulacan)

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National Shrine of St. Anne

First built of stone and brick from 1731 to 1734 by Fr. Juan Albarran, this church was burned down on August 12, 1748. In 1749, it was rebuilt on its present site by Fr. Eusebio Polo  and completed in 1752 by Fr. Buenaventura Roldan. 

It was replaced with a stone church by Fr. Juan Coronado from 1815 to 1836, damaged by fire (which also damaged 30 houses in the town center) in 1856 and enlarged in 1862 by Fr. Manuel Alvarez.  The church was again damaged by during the 1871 earthquake and was repaired in 1872 by Fr. Ignacio Manzanares who strengthened the choir loft’s supporting arches.

Historical plaque installed by the National Historical Institute in 1981

It was intermittently restored in 1936, 1961 (a monumental porte-cochere was added by Fr. Celestino Rodriguez) and from 1968 to 1970 (under Monsignor Jose B. Aguinaldo) which changed much of the design of the façade (the wood trusses and galvanized iron roofing were replaced, roof and main altar painted and the facade coated white and decorated with images placed above pilasters).

Statue of St. Anne

In 1981, a marker bearing a brief history of the church was installed on the church by the National Historical Institute (precursor of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines). In 1991, it was declared a National Shrine.

Statues of Augustinian saints

The church’s Baroque façade, bare of ornamentation (save for volutes founds on the end of the imaginary triangular pediment, circular reliefs and buttress-like pilasters capped with roof tiles), is pierced with 5 windows: three semicircular arched ones and two rectangular ones on the first level.

Main wooden entrance door carved with bas reliefs

A porte-cochere, with a balustraded top, mars the view of the bottom part of the façade. . The façade also sports three semicircular arched entrances (one main and two smaller flanking ones), all featuring antique hardwood doors carved with bas-reliefs.

One of two smaller wooden doors

Four sets of superimposed pilasters, incorporated with Tuscan capitals, divide the facade into two levels (the first smaller than the second) and ending up in a triangular pediment with huge contemporary statues of Augustinian saints flanking that of St. Anne.

Cross with two cherubs

The second level, dominated by a rose window and a tableau of St. Anne and the Virgin Mary in the center, has windows corresponding to the choir loft and partly hidden by the portico.  The entire façade is capped off with a cross held by two cherubs.

The six storey bell tower

The convent beside the church is now the main building of St. Anne’s Catholic School.  The six-storey rectangular  bell tower (originally with five levels , a sixth level and a cupola was added during the latest reconstruction of the church) is also bare of detailed ornamentation except for the balustraded semicircular arch openings and buttresses placed at the corners of the tower.

St. Anne Catholic School

National Shrine of St. Anne: Brgy. Sto. Niño, Hagonoy, Bulacan. Tel: (044) 793-2829. Feast of St. Anne: July 26.

How to Get There: Hagonoy is located 55.6 kms. (a 1.5-hour drive) from Manila an 15.5 kms. (a 40-min. drive) from Malolos City.

San Diego de Alcala Pro-Cathedral (Silay City, Negros Occidental)

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During a break in the Locsin Reunion proceedings, Jandy, Cheska and I took time out to visit a beautiful Silay landmark – the  San Diego de Alcala Pro-Cathedral.  Designed by Italian architect Lucio Verasconi (he also designed the Silay Wharf, destroyed during World War II), he was commissioned by wealthy Silay resident and sugar baron Don Jose R. Ledesma, Sr. who also donated 75% of the funds needed to build the new church. The rest of the funds needed was raised through popular contribution, including fund-raising by schoolchildren.

San Diego Pro-Cathedral

This Romanesque-style church was formerly called the San Diego Parish Church or St. Didacus of Alcala (locally called San Diego de Alcala) Parish Church before its elevation to Pro-Cathedral on December 1994, the second in the country to be declared so and the only one outside Metro Manila.  Behind the cathedral are the ruins of the city’s original church, started by Fr. Eusebio Locsin in 1841 but never finished and left in disrepair.  It is now a grotto with a mini-chapel that serves as a prayer room.

The cathedral’s interior
The beautiful dome above the nave

The church was laid out in the shape of a Latin cross, with a cupola or dome rising 40 m. above the nave, the only church in the province to have one.  Groundbreaking was started in 1925 and the church was completed and inaugurated in 1927.  Freddie Ledesma, Don Jose’s grandson, did the paintings, of the Four Evangelists with their respective beasts, at the foot of the dome.  In 1938, upon the initiative of Mr. Vicente Montelibano, a clock costing PhP7,000 was installed on one of the church’s twin, domed bell towers (the one on the right).

The old church ruins

San Diego Pro-Cathedral: Rizal St., Silay City  6116, Negros Occidental.

Cathedral of the Epiphany of Our Lord (Lingayen, Pangasinan)

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This church, built in 1712, was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1892.  The dome was built by parish priest (1826-1834) Fr. Miguel Aparicio.  On January 9, 1945, the bishop’s residence was greatly damaged and the church was partially destroyed when American forces dropped bombs on the Poblacion.

Cathedral of the Epiphany of Our Lord

Cathedral of the Epiphany of Our Lord

The renovated church reopened in 1965 but it was damaged again during the July 16, 1990 earthquake and later repaired.  This massive adobe church, formerly the Three Kings Parish Church, is now the seat of the Lingayen Diocese which was created in 1932 with Msgr. Cesar Ma. Guerrero as its first bishop.

The 5-storey, octagonal bell tower

The 5-storey, octagonal bell tower

Its interiors have fine specimens of religious art in wood and metal and its imposing, Oriental pagoda-like (supposedly an architectural influence of the town’s Christianized Chinese inhabitants during the Spanish colonial period) , 45 yard high, 5-storey bell tower is said to be the tallest in the country.  Its centuries-old church bells dating back to the 1800’s, which fell during the American bombardment, are displayed in the Kampana Museum within the cathedral grounds.

Check out “Kampana Museum“

Cathedral of the Epiphany of Our Lord: Poblacion, Lingayen, 2401 Pangasinan.  Tel: 542-6235.  Feast of the Three Kings: January 4-6.

How to Get There: Lingayen is located 200 kms. from Manila and 15 kms. west of Dagupan City.

Church of St. Anthony of Padua (Macau)

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From the Protestant Cemetery, Jandy, Cheska and I walked over to the nearby Church of St. Anthony of Padua (Igreja de Santo António) at Sto. Antonio Square.  Consider to be the very first church of Macau, the original church, which marks the site where the Jesuits set up their earliest headquarters in the city, was first built of bamboo and wood before 1560. A stone church was erected in 1638, burned down in 1809 and rebuilt in 1810 and again in 1875. The present Neo-Classical church was a reconstruction carried out again in 1930.  Further construction and repair works were done on the facade and tower in 1940.

Church of St. Anthony of Padua

Previously, members of the Portuguese community would hold wedding ceremonies there, so giving rise to the Chinese name of Fa Vong Tong (Church of Flowers). The 2-storey church has a simple asymmetrical Neo-Classical facade, a 3-storey high bell tower and is topped by a boldly ornamented classical pediment. Decorative window architraves on the second level stretch the width of the building, providing additional architectural interest to the design.

Church of St. Anthony of Padua – Interior

St. Michael Cemetery and Chapel (Macau)

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From Macau Cathedral, Jandy, Cheska and I then proceeded to St. Michael Cemetery, Macau’s largest Catholic cemetery.  This cemetery, located northeast of Mount Fortress, along a small and quiet street  between Ruins of St. Paul’s and Guia Hill, contains lavishly decorated tombstones and sepulchers that can only be described as Baroque ecclesiastical works of art, combining Chinese and European motifs, an interesting example of Macau’s cultural diversity.

St. Michael's Cemetery and Chapel

Near the cemetery’s main entrance is the doll-sized and charming Church of St. Michael.  Dating back to 1875, tt has a tiny choir loft, pretty porticoes,   pastel pea green and white walls and beautiful stain glass windows.

The Chapel's Interior

St. Michael Cemetery and Chapel: 2A Estrada do Cemitério, Northern Macau Peninsula. Open 8 AM-6 PM.

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Macau Cathedral (Macau)

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From St. Lawrence Church, Jandy Cheska and I walked over to Cathedral Square where the Macau Cathedral, Paco Episcopal Bishop’s House and Cartorio da Se and a fountain (added in the place of a car park when the courtyard was beautified from 2005-2006) are located.

Cathedral Square

Macau Cathedral (also called Se Cathedral or, simply Se) is the mother church of the Catholic Diocese of Macau, which once included the Catholic parishes in China, Japan and Korea. It was built around 1622 and repaired in 1743 and 1780. The cathedral was originally constructed with taipa (compound material consisting soil and straw).

Macau Cathedral and its Fountain

During the restoration of 1780, the religious services of the Cathedral were temporarily transferred to the old chapel of the Holy House of Mercy. The cathedral was damaged by a typhoon in 1836 and its services were then transferred to St. Dominic’s Church, until repairs were completed in 1850, following the design of local architect Tomas d’Aquino.

Macau Cathedral – Interior

The facade is characterized by a massive front entrance with pilasters and the twin bell towers in front that stand out on the streetscape. The exterior is clad in Shanghai plaster, giving the church a monolithic subdued grey appearance.  Compared to the other churches I saw in Macau, the cathedral is somewhat plain. The cathedral holds sacred relics of Japanese martyrs from the persecution of Christians in the 17th century.

Paco Episcopal Bishop’s House

To the left of the cathedral (or right, if you’re looking out from it) is the Paço Episcopal Bishop’s House.  Finished in stucco and painted cream, with white trimmings, it more like the other churches I saw in Macau. Right in front of the Cathedral is the Cartório da Sé (Cathedral Registrar) where marriage registrations, births and deaths are recorded.

Cartorio Da Se

Macau Cathedral: 1 Cathedral Square, Macau

St. Lawrence Church (Macau)

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From St. Augustine Square, Jandy, Cheska and I walked next to Rua de Sao Lourenco to visit St. Lawrence’s Church (Igreja do Sao Lourenco), one of the oldest churches of Macau. It was originally built with wood by the Jesuits in 1560, with clay in 1618 and reconstructed in stone around 1803. The present church was the result of the works carried out in 1846.

St. Lawrence’s Church

Located on a hilly part on the southern coastline of Macau, overlooking the sea, we approached the church via a beautiful stone staircase and entered it via an ornamental double swing, wrought iron gate decorated by a simple Greek cross symbol.  Also here, on the front steps leading to the church, families of Portuguese sailors used to gather to pray and wait for the return of their loved ones, hence it was given the name Feng Shun Tang (Hall of the Soothing Winds).

The Beautiful Stone Staircase

The church has a Neo-Classical facade divided into 3 sections, with the center flanked by the 2 square bell towers, each measuring around 21 m. high. The facade is filled with classical features like the pilasters and volutes over the windows and is topped by an iron cross and the symbol of Mary consisting of the intertwined letters A and M (Auspice Mari’a, a monogram of the Virgin Mary).

Facade of St. Lawrence’s Church

The central section of the main facade is characterized by a pediment interrupted in the middle by an oval emblem. The ground plan of the church is in the shape of a Latin cross, measuring 37 m. by 29 m.. The shorter arms of the building form two interior chapels. The longer extension of the building corresponds to the main nave inside.

St. Lawrence’s Church – Interior

Ornamented pillars and exquisite chandeliers create an elegant church interior, heightening its ambiance. The main altar separated by a vaulted arch and the nave is covered with Chinese tiles.

St. Augustine’s Church (Macau)

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From Dom Pedro V Theater, we walked further up the square to St. Augustine’s Church, part of a monastery founded in 1586 by Spanish Augustinians, was rebuilt in 1828. The facade was originally of the Baroque style but the existing facade, dating from 1814, is more Neo-Classic. This church maintains the tradition of organizing one of the most popular processions through the city, the Easter Procession, with thousands of devotees..

St. Augustine’s Church

Its normal (10:30 AM in Tagalog and 4:30 PM in English) Sunday religious service takes into account an especially strong participation from Macau’s large Filipino community. The church has a simple, Neo-Classical facade which contrasts with the elaborate decoration of the interior nave, chancel and service area. The main entrance, flanked by 2 pairs of granite Doric columns, has windows framed with simple white relief plasterwork and a triangular pediment, on the top, with a centrally located niche with statue of the Virgin Mary.

St. Augustine’s Church – Interior

The nave is divided into 3 sections by 2 rows of archways supported on Corinthian-inspired columns. The wooden ceiling over the nave is decorated with paintings, mostly over the main altar area. There are small side altars and niches following up to the main altar, with some decorative details that display a Baroque influence. Over the main entrance there is a choir that extends to the side walls, forming a narrow balcony, a design similar to that of the Church of St. Dominic’s.

St. Augustine’s Church – High Altar

St Augustine Church’s marble-clad high altar contains a statue of Christ carrying the cross, Our Lord of the Passion (Nosso Senhor dos Passos)

St. Dominic Church and Treasures of Sacred Heart Museum (Macau)

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When we were in Largo do Leal Senado, my kids and I visited the Church of St. Dominic, situated right in the middle of the  square.  Built in 1587 by 3 Spanish Dominican priests, it is one of the most beautiful churches in Macau.   Originally built in wood, it was, in 1828, rebuilt in stone and was restored in 1994.

St. Dominic Church

The first Portuguese newspaper, A Abelha da China (The China Bee), was published here in 1822.   The church’s basic layout is influenced by both Portuguese and Spanish styles and its architecture is Jesuit Mannerist. The church is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Macau.

St. Dominic Church – Interior

We also dropped by bell tower at the back which was modified into the small Treasure of Sacred Art Museum. On the right side of the church is the sacristy (dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary), the only surviving part of the old monastery/convent that was built with the church.  Here, we went up the stairs that lead to the museum located at second and third floors.

Treasure of Sacred Art Museum – Exhibit

When the Religious Orders were abolished in Portugal in 1834, the museum received many articles of sacred art that are now presently displayed. The museum, opened to visitors in 1997, occupies what is left of the ancient cloister and also the other rooms that are still connected to the church.

Treasure of Sacred Art Museum – Exhibit

There are approximately 300 pieces of excellent quality artifacts, many of which are also from Macau. that date back from the 17th to the 19th centuries.  The rich collection includes gold objects, statues, richly ornamented canonicals, religious paintings and other liturgical vessels.

Ruins of St. Paul’s (Macau)

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The last destination in our city tour is St. Paul’s (Rua de Sao Paolo), the greatest of Macau’s churches and the major landmark of Macau. Built from 1582 to 1602 by the Jesuits, this church was dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle and was the largest Catholic church in Asia at the time. A fire started in the kitchens, during a typhoon, destroyed the body of the church in 1835.

Ruins of St. Paul’s

Now in ruins, all that remained was the magnificent, intricately carved stone facade (built from 1620 to 1627 by Japanese Christian exiles and local craftsmen under the direction of Italian Jesuit Fr. Carlo Spinola), the crypts of the Jesuits who established and maintained the cathedral, and the grand, 66-step staircase.

To preserves its aesthetic integrity, the facade is now buttressed with concrete and steel and a steel stairway allows tourists to climb up to the top of the facade from the rear. From this stairs, it is customary to throw coins into the top window of the ruins for luck. Behind the façade are remains of the original pillars and a shrine.

The facade, rising in 4 colonnaded tiers, is crowned by the cross of Jerusalem, below which are 3 tiers with niches containing statues, cast from bronze at a local cannon and bell factory. It is covered with Jesuit statues with Oriental themes (such as a woman stepping on a 7-headed hydra, described by Chinese characters as “Holy Mother tramples the heads of the dragon”), carvings of the Garden of Eden, the Crucifixion, the angel, the devil, a Chinese dragon, a Portuguese sailing ship, a Japanese chrysanthemum, pious warnings inscribed in Chinese, founders of the Jesuit Order, the “Conquest of Death by Jesus” and, at the very top, a dove with wings outstretched.