Nuestra Señora de los Angeles Parish Church (also ''Our Lady of Angels Parish Church''), commonly known as Santa Maria Church, is the only Roman Catholic church in the municipality of Santa Maria,

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 under the

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 sa ...

. Its titular is the Our Lady of Angels whose feast is celebrated every August 2.

Church history

Santa Maria was formerly a part of Guiling-guiling (now

Siniloan Siniloan, officially the Municipality of Siniloan ( tgl, Bayan ng Siniloan), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 39,460 people. Sinilóan is a center of educ ...

) as a small village called Caboan. Father Antonio de la Llave was assigned as the first parish priest of Caboan. In 1602, the small village was converted into a town and renamed ''San Miguel de Caboan'' under the patronage of

Saint Michael, the Archangel Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

. Father Geronimo Vasquez built the stone church on the exact spot where the image of the Virgin Mary was found by a Caboan couple according to legend in 1613. Since then, the town was named ''Santa María de Caboan'' or simply Sta. Maria. The church was destroyed by the 1639 Chinese uprising and was rebuilt in 1669 by José de Jesus María, as well as the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

. Like the other churches in Laguna, the church of Santa Maria was heavily damaged in the

1880 Luzon earthquakes The earthquakes of July 1880 in Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines, were one of the most destructive tremors on record in the history of the country. The shocks continued, with greater or less interruption, from the 14th to the 25th of t ...

."American Journal of Science - Art.V. The earthquake of the Philippine Islands, July 1880"
pp.52–57. It was rebuilt by Leopoldo Arellano in 1891. The facade of the church is still surviving at present. The church was again partly destroyed during the earthquake of August 20, 1937, but was not reconstructed until after the

Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

in 1945. File:Church of Santa Maria (Laguna) historical marker (cropped).jpg, Church PHC historical marker installed in 1939 File:SantaMariaChurchjf 7306 07.JPG, Church sanctuary in 2013

Notes

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuestra Senora de los Angeles Parish Church (Santa Maria)

Santa Maria, Laguna Santa Maria, officially the Municipality of Santa Maria ( tgl, Bayan ng Santa Maria), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 34,511 people. History From Mabitac ...

Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo