The Saint James the Great Parish Church is a Spanish colonial

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 ...

located at Brgy. Germinal in

Bolinao Bolinao, officially the Municipality of Bolinao ( pag, Baley na Bolinao; ilo, Ili ti Bolinao; tgl, Bayan ng Bolinao), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capit ...

, Philippines. The church was made out of black

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

stones In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...

. The church underwent series of natural and man-made calamities, such as the 1788 earthquake, 1819

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

incident, and Typhoon Emong in 2009.

History

The first religious friars in Bolinao were 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 ...

s who stayed in the town from 1585 to 1587. The Dominicans took charge from 1588 to 1599. In 1600, the Augustinians returned and stayed until 1607. The missionary work left by the Augustinians were taken over by the

Augustinian Recollects The Order of Augustinian Recollects (OAR) is a mendicant Catholic religious order of friars and nuns. It is a reformist offshoot from the Augustinian hermit friars and follows the same Rule of St. Augustine. History The Order was founded in 16t ...

who administered the town from 1609 to 1679, up to 1712 when the Dominicans took over again. When the Recollects returned in 1609, they transferred the town to the mainland because of the troubles inflicted by the piratical raids. The Recollect fathers returned in 1749 and took charge until 1784. Since then, several priests administered the parish. The church tower of Bolinao used to be the tallest in Pangasinan until an earthquake destroyed half of the tower in 1788. The church convent was accidentally burned in 1819. The first priest was ordained in Bolinao Church in 1974. In 1985, it became a parish of the Diocese of Alaminos, previously being under the Diocese of

Lingayen Lingayen, officially the Municipality of Lingayen ( pag, Baley na Lingayen; ilo, Ili ti Lingayen; tgl, Bayan ng Lingayen), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has ...

. On May 7, 2009, the church was heavily devastated by Typhoon Emong and has since then been undergoing repairs and renovations.

Former Parish Priests

Architectural features

Saint James the Great Parish is in

High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...

style. One feature of the church is its

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four rin ...

arch main door. The overall design of the facade is plain and simple with the super-positioned

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s alternating with window openings and tall blind arches conspicuously dominating the ends of the walls.

Present condition

In front of the church is a marker stating that the first Mass on Philippine soil was celebrated in Bolinao Bay in 1324 by a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

missionary, Blessed Odorico. However, Bl. Odoric being in the Philippines is highly doubted by scholars.One scholar is quoted saying: " at the name of Luzon olrdiin which Mr. Romanet in his work Les voyages en Asie au XIV siecle, took for original in the work of Bl. Odoric de Pordenone is due to the natives and not to the foreigners; secondly, that for Odoric the so-called islands of Dondiin, comprise Ceylon, a part of Sonda, probably Berneo and the Island Hainan, but by no means the Philippine Islands.” - Cited by Isacio R. Rodriguez
“Bibliography on Legazpi and Urdaneta,”
Philippine Studies 13, n. 2 (1965), 296 - 297 Further, the

National Historical Institute 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 heritag ...

recognized the historical records of

Limasawa Limasawa, officially the Municipality of Limasawa ( Cebuano: ''Lungsod sa Limasawa''; Filipino: ''Bayan ng Limasawa''), is an island municipality in the province of Southern Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population ...

Southern Leyte Southern Leyte ( ceb, Habagatang Leyte; Kabalian: ''Habagatan nga Leyte''; war, Salatan nga Leyte; tl, Timog Leyte), officially the Province of Southern Leyte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital ...

as the venue of the first Mass, held on March 31, 1521.

Marker from the Saint James the Great Parish Church

In popular culture

The town center of the Saint James the Great Parish Church in Bolinao, Pangasinan was one of the Miniland models featured at the

Legoland Malaysia Resort Legoland Malaysia Resort is Malaysia's first international theme park, which opened in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia on 15 September 2012 with over 40 interactive rides, shows and attractions. It is the first Legoland theme park in Asia and s ...

. It was the only Philippine town featured at the said park.

References

External links

{{Roman Catholic churches in Pangasinan Roman Catholic churches in Pangasinan Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alaminos