Malolos Cathedral, formally known as the Minor Basilica and Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Malolos (Spanish: ''Basílica Menor y Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción de Malolos'', Filipino: ''Basilica Minore at Catedral ng Inmaculada Conception ng Malolos''), is a historic

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 * C ...

in the Philippines located in city of

Malolos Malolos, officially the City of Malolos ( fil, Lungsod ng Malolos), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to th ...

, the capital of the province of

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Metr ...

. The cathedral is the

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of the

Bishop of Malolos A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, whose diocese is a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the

Archdiocese of Manila In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

Beginnings

Due to the defeat of the Hagonoy and Macabebe natives headed by Bambalito against Spanish conqueror

Martin de Goiti Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aust ...

and Juan Salcedo at the Battle of Bangkusay on June 3, 1571. The Spaniards pacified the northern villages of Manila. They arrived at the river banks of the Malolos River on November 14, 1571, and conceded the unnamed eight villages into the Encomienda of Malolos under Don Marcos de Herrera. On April 5, 1572, Legazpi aggregated the villages of Calumpit, Malolos, Bangkal (also in Malolos) Magong (now Paombong) under a single encomienda vis-a-vis pueblo under the name "Calumpit", administered jointly by Don Marcos de Herrera and Sargento Mayor Juan Moron Also in April 1572 the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

friars arrived at the bank of the Meyto River, headed by Diego de Herrera, but he was dispatched in Spain. On May 3, 1572, upon the election of the new Prior Provincial of the Augustinians,Martin de Rada overtook the administration of the Convento de Calumpit withDiego Ordoñez de Vivar as his parochial vicar, a native of

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, Mexico, established and accepted Calumpit wherein he Christianized and baptized the village of Meyto, Meysulao, Pandocot, and Calumpit. Vivar expanded the ecclesiastical missions to the villages of Malolos and Hagonoy. It is simplified to say that also on this period Malolos was annexed as one of the ''visitas'' and mission (sub-parishes) of the Calumpit in

Eight years later on June 11, 1580, Malolos Church was recognized as a separate town and parish having three visitas namely Paombong, Matimbo and Mambog with Matheo de Mendoza as its first Curate (Conquistas delas Islas Philipinas of Gaspar de San Agustin) while Binto 'y Quingua on the other hand according to Galende's Angeles in Stone, included later as its visita on May 21, 1599, but an earlier date appear according to a document on Report to the King of Spain made by Governor General Luis Perez Dasmariñas in June 1591 it appears Binto as visita under the instruction of the Malolos Convent. On January 3, 1582, the Augustinian council fathers authorized the provincial to grant the town of Malolos to have its voting power to the provincial chapters. The Catalogo of 1591 indicates Malolos had one convent with three thousand six hundred (3,600) souls. In 1599, San Agustin Monastery in Intramuros asked Malolos prior, Roque de Barrionuevo to contribute an annual rent of fifteen pesos, twenty bushels of rice and sixty chickens. Owing to the frequent flooding of its first and second location, the church was moved to a higher location from time to time. The hermitage were initially built made of cogon and bamboo materials in early 1573 at the banks of the Liang River. Transferred later on the site now called Bangkal (today San Agustin-Caingin area) and in 1578–1579 it was transferred to Mambog where the prominent tree named Kalumpang once stood. It became "Poblacion" in sometime in 1673 when the exact boundaries of the town was demarcated and configured. The town church made of light material where later enlarged in the year 1590 under the curacy of Cristobal Tarique, when Fray. Roque de Barrionuevo assigned to the town he brought a wooden image of Saint Roque, he started the construction of the bigger church in 1599 and at the same date he built the Chapel of Mambog. The Estado of 1612 mentions that the Malolos convent had two priests and 2,100 souls. In 1630, Mateo de Braceros started to build a church made of hewn stone, and it was continuously built under the town friars throughout, namely Agustin Carreno in 1635, Juan de Trezo in 1638 and Andres Jimenez in 1639. In the same year, Jimenez donated two bells weighing 39 kilograms and 2 kilograms in Superior Gobierno in Intramuros for the campaign of Governor General Corcuerra against Muslims (Galende). Construction was continued by Sandro Moncada and was slightly interrupted due to the revolt of Don Pedro Ladia in 1640 at the term of Cristobal Enriquez. Lorenzo Figueroa continued construction from 1641 to 1653. Works were nearly finished in 1669 under Francisco Martinez. In 1671, the church were almost done by the time of Ildefonso Tellez in 1672 and Jaime Balzac (restored as Malolos curate) and Francisco Lopez applied the few finishing touches, and the first ever stone church of Malolos was finished in 1673. In 1732, the Malolos convent had four thousand four hundred ninety-one souls. In 1760, it had seven thousand six-hundred twenty-four souls. The Intermediate Meeting of the Augustinians of 1763 was held in the Malolos convent establishing the Prior of Pulilan. However, both the church and the convent were totally destroyed by fire in 1813.

Construction of the present church

The construction of the present church was started in 1814 and completely finished in 1817 under Fray. Melchor Fernández. An embossed stone marker was installed in the main portal of the church depicting ANOD1817. It was consecrated by Ilmo. Francisco Albán,

Bishop of Nueva Segovia The Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. It covers the province of Ilocos Sur, on the island of Luzon. The see of the archdiocese is the city of Vigan.earthquake took place in 1880 which destroyed the convent.Juan Tombo began the restoration of the convent in 1883. It was completed in 1884 byFelipe Garcia."History – Malolos Cathedral – The Church and its People"
Diocese of Malolos. Retrieved on 2014-10-26.

The convent as the presidential palace

The Malolos Cathedral convent served as the presidential palace of

Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who is the youngest president of the Philippines (1899–1901) and is recognized as the first president of the Philippine ...

, during the

First Philippine Republic The Philippine Republic ( es, República Filipina), now officially known as the First Philippine Republic, also referred to by historians as the Malolos Republic, was established in Malolos, Bulacan during the Philippine Revolution against ...

from September 15, 1898, to March 31, 1899. Aguinaldo used the convent as his office. During the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

, the US Army decided to strategize their "Northern Campaign" by moving the US soldiers forward to Malolos in order to defeat the Filipino forces in town. Aguinaldo and his men decided to escape before the American Army arrived in the capital. While escaping to

San Fernando, Pampanga San Fernando, officially the City of San Fernando ( pam, Lakanbalen ning Sampernandu; fil, Lungsod ng San Fernando), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, ...

, Aguinaldo ordered General

Antonio Luna Antonio Narciso Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta (; October 29, 1866 – June 5, 1899) was a Filipino army general who fought in the Philippine–American War before his assassination in 1899. Regarded as one of the fiercest generals of his ...

to burn down the Malolos Church, as part of his

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...

policy so that anything left would be rendered useless.

Church rebuilding

From the ashes of war, the church was rebuilt from 1902 to 1936. Starting in the mid 20th-century major changes were made to the church beginning in the 1950s when the entrance to the church was made into three doors. Prior to this renovation, the structure had only one door at the center. Under the curacy of Pedro Abad, the

baptistery In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...

was built and blessed by the

Archbishop of Manila The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila ( lat, Archidioecesis Manilensis; fil, Arkidiyosesis ng Maynilà; es, Arquidiócesis de Manila) is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Metro Manila, Philippines, encompassing ...

Rufino Cardinal Santos on February 28, 1954. The pews were acquired in 1957 by Marcelino Montemayor and the roof was replaced during the time of Francisco Domingo.

Elevation to a cathedral

The Malolos Church became a cathedral with the creation of the

Diocese of Malolos The Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos (Latin: ''Dioecesis Malolosinae''; Tagalog: ''Diyosesis ng Malolos''; Spanish: ''Diócesis de Malolos'') is a Roman Rite Diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the Philippine, encompassing th ...

and the installation of its first diocesan bishop, Most Reverend Manuel del Rosario

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

, in March 1962.

Other renovations

With the reforms of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

, Virgilio Soriano commissioned a new altar in 1967. Another major renovation of the cathedral happened in 1970. Prior to this renovation, the cathedral's bell tower was a topped with a triangular cone, as seen on the old picture taken mostly during the Philippine–American War from 1898 to 1899. In 1970, the triangular cone that previously topped the bell tower was removed and replaced by a concrete statue of the

Immaculate Conception 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 w ...

, donated by Amparo Bautista-Julian. When the cathedral together with the new bishop palace was again consecrated by Papal Nuncio Bruno Torpigliani DD on December 4, 1976, the

communion rail The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and oth ...

was dismantled, and the sanctuary was renovated with stained glass windows. The old convent was reconstructed and expanded to accommodate the bishop's residence, chancery office and parish convent. During the incumbency of Macario Manahan, the St. Joseph Social Hall was built; the old baptistery was transformed into a mortuary chapel; and a crypt was constructed below the main altar.

Elevation to a minor basilica

When Rolando Tria-Tirona became bishop and moderator of the Team Ministry, renovations and repairs were undertaken like the Diocesan Hall being refurbished into the Mary Magdalene Hall. It was under the tenure of Bishop Tirona that the cathedral was elevated into the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on December 4, 1999. The fourth bishop, Jose Oliveros, continued to make improvements especially with the church patio and its environs. The statues under the Kalayaan tree, the memorial cross fronting the Basilica and the Presidential Gate constituted different phases which are connected with the Patio Development Plan.

Style and design

The predominant feature of the cathedral basilica is the semi-circular arch in its lower part. The ornamentation is moderate; the

massing Massing is a term in architecture which refers to the perception of the general shape and form as well as size of a building. Massing in architectural theory Massing refers to the structure in three dimensions (form), not just its outline from ...

is well balanced and the symmetrical movement of the columns and openings are almost neoclassic. The façade is divided by single and coupled

Doric columns The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

in three segments, and is dominated by large semi-circular arches of the openings in the first level, and the smaller ones superimposed on the second level which are alternately semicircular and segmented. The triangular pediment strongly outlined by heavily projecting broken cornices is topped by a sort of

acroteria An acroterion, acroterium, or akroteria is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the ''acroter'' or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed at th ...

in the center and torch-like

finials A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the apex of a dome, spire, towe ...

. A statued niche flanked by fluted

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

topped by a segmented canopy crowns the silted frame of the center window. Triglypha decorate the

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

and a stylized Augustinian emblem decorates the center of pediment. The over-all impression is one of the neatness of line, counterbalanced by the dramatic circular of the openings.

The image of the Immaculate Conception at the main altarpiece

According to reliable information, the statue of the Immaculate Concepcion was made before 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 work is attributed to Donding Ople, a gifted artist who was orphaned at a very tender age. The original work is kept in an undisclosed place but the statue at the high enclosure behind the main altar is the perfect replication of the original. Many of the devotees flock to the image of the Immaculate Concepcion. Additionally it is the second attractive church in Malolos, Bulacan

The miraculous image of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

The miraculous image of Our Lady enshrined at the main altar was carved by a certain Donding Ople in 1950. Due to the miracles attributed in devotion to the Immaculate Conception, the Malolos curate decided to produce some replicas. An elite replica of the said statue was first displayed at the right of the sanctuary, at the middle, and beside the statues of

Saint Joachim Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocrypha ...

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

patriarch. The devotion to Immaculate Conception seems to be very effective and so to enrich the faith of the Maloleños, a set of stairs was attached to the altar so the people may go and touch the statue. This action was made under the time of then rector, Jojo Galvez with Fathers Ron Cristobal and Francis Protacio S. Cortez III as members. Also around this time, the statue was officially named "Virgen Inmaculada Concepcion de Malolos" (Our Virgin of Immaculate Conception of Malolos). In their tenure, a replica of the image was placed in front of the Adoration Chapel's ''Capella Sanctorum'' (Chapel of the Saints). The statue is placed in the middle of the highest elevation and is connected down with a set of stairs. Next to the entrance stair is a "Prayer Requests" book where devotees write their prayers. Next to the exit stairs is the "Answered prayers" book where devotees were write their own experiences of

divine intervention Divine intervention is an event that occurs when a deity (i.e. God or a god) becomes actively involved in changing some situation in human affairs. In contrast to other kinds of divine action, the expression "divine ''intervention''" implies that ...

through the said statue.

The canonical coronation and the golden jubilee

Due to popularity of miraculous attributes, a petition was made for the

canonical coronation A canonical coronation ( la, Coronatio Canonica) is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a bull, in which the pope bestows the right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureole to an image of Christ, Mary or Josep ...

of the image at the main altar of Malolos Cathedral. In May 2009, the Vatican granted the petition for the canonical coronation through a papal bull. The solemn canonical coronation was held on March 10, 2012. During the time of Jaime Garcia and Conrado "Badong" Santos Jr. and Renato "R.J." Brion (2009–present), renovations and refurbishments inside and outside the cathedral and its patio were started in preparation for the canonical coronation and the golden jubilee of the Diocese of Malolos. When Jaime Garcia died on June 4, 2011, Pablo S. Legaspi Jr. replaced him as rector, continuing and completing the needed refurbishments in preparation for the diocese's golden jubilee.

The Kalayaan Tree

The Kalayaan Tree (locally called ''Siar'', a Yellow flame tree) is located at the patio of the cathedral. It is not certain that Aguinaldo planted this tree because it was already mature when the First Philippine Republic was established. The historical significance of this tree is that it is a living witness to the Malolos Republic. Aguinaldo and his Cabinet have conducted many political discussions there. Under the tree, a monument was placed symbolizing the meeting of Filipino revolutionaries, represented by Gen.

Gregorio del Pilar Gregorio Hilario del Pilar y Sempio (; ; November 14, 1875 – December 2, 1899) was a Filipino general of the Philippine Revolutionary Army during the Philippine–American War. As one of the youngest generals in the Revolutionary Army, he ...

and Gen. Isidoro Torres; Don Pablo Tecson, an erudite legislator; Padre Mariano Sevilla, a nationalist leader of the church and Doña Basilia Tantoco, portraying a woman freedom fighter. File:Malolos Cathedral interior.jpg, Interior of the cathedral File:Malolos Cathedral sanctuary.jpg, The cathedral presbytery File:Conventofficesjf.JPG, Lobby of the diocesan chancery File:Maloloscathedra222ljf.JPG, The new cathedra at the side of the sanctuary File:Maloloscathedraljf.JPG, Image of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception of Malolos at the Chapel of the Saints

Parish priests 1580–1961

From 1580 up to the present time, Malolos Cathedral has a long list of parish priests who administered the church. The list includes priests from the Augustinian Order and from the Archdiocese of Manila. Due to the antiquity of Malolos Church, the list of parish priests from 1580 to 1680 came from the catalog of Augustinian Province archive.Perez, Fr. Elvino (1901). "Catalogo Bio-bibliografico Religiosos Agustinos de la Provincia de Santisimo Nombre de Jesus de las Isla Filipinas des de su Fundacion Hasta Nuestros Diaz". Establicimente Tipografico, Colegio de Santo Tomas, Manila. The list below is from the Malolos Cathedral Archive. Note that the Malolos Church was burned down in 1899, and records are incomplete. Malolos Cathedral recorded the list of priests only from 1673.

References

External links

Malolos Cathedral Facebook Page
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos Roman Catholic churches in Bulacan Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Philippines Basilica churches in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Malolos Spanish Colonial architecture in the Philippines Roman Catholic churches completed in 1817 1580 establishments in the Philippines 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the Philippines Neoclassical church buildings in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos