St. John the Baptist Parish Church (Filipino: ''Simbahan ng Parokya ni San Juan Bautista''), commonly known as Calamba Church, is the oldest

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in Calamba,

Laguna Laguna (Italian and Spanish for lagoon) may refer to: People * Abe Laguna (born 1992), American DJ known as Ookay * Andrés Laguna (1499–1559), Spanish physician, pharmacologist, and botanist * Ana Laguna (born 1955), Spanish-Swedish ballet d ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

under the

Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo The Diocese of San Pablo (Latin: ''Dioecesis Sancti Pauli in Insulis Philippinis'', Filipino: Diyosesis ng San Pablo, Spanish: ''Diócesis de San Pablo'') is a Roman Catholic diocese which is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Manila. Its patron s ...

. It is located adjacent to Rizal Shrine and is known as the christening site of

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered the national he ...

History

Jesuit Missionaries in 1757 purchased a big portion of land called ''Hacienda de San Juan ''for their missions but the parish was only established in 1779 by the Franciscan Friars upon gaining independence from the parochial church of

Cabuyao Cabuyao, officially the City of Cabuyao ( fil, Lungsod ng Cabuyao), is a 1st class component city in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 355,330 people. It used to be known as the "riche ...

(formerly known as Tabuco). The stone church was originally built in 1859 but destroyed on February 12, 1945 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The reconstruction of the church of Calamba was headed by Father Eliseo Dimaculangan. The original altar was burned in 1862 but immediately rebuilt by Father Leoncio Lopez. The first Filipino priest, Father Angel Villaruz, served the longest in this church for 43 years since 1901.

Features

The church of Calamba is a stone church built under the Baroque style. It has several stained glasses, two of which are in the church entrance depicting

St. Dominic Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientis ...

and San Lorenzo Ruiz. Other stained windows depicts the seven holy sacraments of the Church such as baptism, reconciliation, confirmation and among others.

Baptistery

The church baptistery where

Rizal Rizal, officially the Province of Rizal ( fil, Lalawigan ng Rizal), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Its capital is the city of Antipolo. It is about east of Manila. The p ...

was baptized on June 22, 1861 by the then parish priest of Calamba Father Rufino Collantes and his godfather Father Pedro Casanas is a recognized National Historical Landmark (Level 1). The declaration was made by virtue of Resolution No. 2 of the Philippine Historical Commission (now

National Historical Commission of the Philippines The National Historical Commission of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, abbreviated NHCP) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural herita ...

) on August 19, 1976 under Section 4 of the Executive Order No. 260 dated August 1, 1973 and amended by Executive Order No. 375 dated January 14, 1974. The original

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

was restored including original church items and reliquaries during Rizal's time. A transcript of Rizal's existing baptismal record is displayed on the left side of the baptistery entrance. The original baptismal records including the canonical books were lost on September 28, 1862 when Calamba Church was burned. The transcript of Rizal's baptismal certificate issued by Father Leoncio Lopez originally written in Spanish is shown below:

Garden of Gethsemane

The ''Garden of Gethsemane, '', located at the right side facing the church entrance'', ''was a'' ''small garden designed for devotees who wants to meditate or pray. It contained 14 life-size bar reliefs of the Stations of the Cross, a ''Well of Repentance'' or "''Balon ng Pagbabalik Loob''" and a statue of St John the Baptist. These were demolished in 2019.

Other Church Sections

The church also includes an adoration chapel at the right side of the main church entrance and an adjacent mini-museum. Upon entering the church complex, there is a columbarium on the right side facing the church entrance.

Notes

Bibliography

External links

The Roman Catholic Parish Church of Saint John the Baptist City of Calamba
(Official Facebook page) {{Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo

Calamba, Laguna Calamba, officially the City of Calamba ( fil, Lungsod ng Calamba), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Laguna (province), Laguna, Philippines. According ...

Buildings and structures in Calamba, Laguna

Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo