The Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guidance, also known as Ermita Shrine or Ermita Church ( es, La Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Guía) is a

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

located in the district of

Ermita Ermita is a district in Manila, Philippines. Located at the central part of the city, the district is a significant center of finance, education, culture, and commerce. Ermita serves as the civic center of the city, bearing the seat of city g ...

in the city of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

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 ...

. The

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

is home to the

Marian Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...

image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

of the

Immaculate Concepcion The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth wh ...

known as , which is considered to be oldest in the Philippines, and in whose honor the church is officially named after and dedicated to.

History

The church began as a rustic shrine made of bamboo, nipa, and molave wood that was built to house the image of Our Lady of Guidance in the area where it was found in 1571 by Spanish soldiers under

Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as '' El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spaniard who, from the age of 26, lived and built a career in Mexico (then the Viceroyalty of New Spain) and, i ...

. The shrine eventually became a chapel built in 1606 as house for the image and was called ''La Hermita'' ("The Chapel" or "Hermitage" in English). The word also gave the name to the present district in Manila where the chapel is located. The church was damaged many times due to earthquakes. In addition, the image had to be transferred to the

Manila Cathedral The Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception ( fil, Basilika Menor at Kalakhang Katedral ng Kalinis-linisang Paglilihi; es, Basílica Menor y Catedral Metropolitana de la Inmaculada Concepción), also known as the ...

for safekeeping during the

British occupation of Manila The British occupation of Manila was an episode in colonial history of the Philippines when the Kingdom of Great Britain occupied the Spanish colonial capital of Manila and the nearby port of Cavite for twenty months from 1762 to 1764. The ...

in 1762–1764. A more permanent stone church was built in 1810; the image was returned to the church in 1918. In 1945 near the end of

World War II 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 church was reduced to rubble during the Battle of Manila. However, the image was saved from destruction and was temporarily kept in a private residence. Work began for the reconstruction of the church in 1947 with a new design by architect

Carlos A. Santos-Viola Carlos Antonio Santos-Viola (born Carlos Santos-Viola y Antonio; April 8, 1912 – July 31, 1994) was an architect in the Philippines. He is best known for designing and building churches for the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) religious group. ...

. On March 28, 1949, attorney and future senator Jose W. Diokno married Carmen Icasiano at Ermita Church. Diokno was also baptized here on September 3, 1922, his godmother and second mother was Paz Wilson. By 1953, the reconstruction was completed and the image was returned to the new church. On December 3, 2005, Manila Archbishop Most Rev. Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales, elevated the status of this church to an archdiocesan shrine.

Gallery

File:Ermita Church facade 2.JPG, old facade File:Ermita Church interior 1.JPG, Church interior File:Ermita Church interior 2.JPG, Church altar File:Ermita Church Nuestra Sra de Guia.JPG, Nuestra Señora de Guia enshrined in the church altar File:Ermita Church marker.JPG, historical marker File:Ermita Church marker 2.JPG, Archdiocesan Shrine markers

References

{{Roman Catholic churches in Manila Roman Catholic churches in Manila Buildings and structures in Ermita 1606 establishments in the Spanish Empire Cultural Properties of the Philippines in Metro Manila Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila