Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church, designated as the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe of 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 ...

, is the only

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

Pagsanjan, Laguna Pagsanjan (pronounced ''PAG-sang-han''), officially the Municipality of Pagsanjan ( tgl, Bayan ng Pagsanjan), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 44,327 peop ...

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 ...

, and the oldest church in the Philippines under the patronage of

Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...

. It is home to the patroness of Pagsanjan,

, whose image was a gift from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

History

A former visita of

Lumban Lumban, officially the Municipality of Lumban ( tgl, Bayan ng Lumban), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. It can reach this town Passing Through Rizal Province via Manila East Road or SLEX. According to the 2020 ...

, the parish church of Pagsanjan was founded on November 12, 1687, by

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 Father Agustin de la Magdalena as its first pastor (parish priest). The first church was originally made of light materials like

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

, nipa and wood in 1688 by natives of Pagsanjan under forced labor. A larger and more solid church constructed from

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

with a red-tiled roof was built in 1690 with the help of Chinese Miguel Guan Co and chief ''alguacil alferez'' Alonzo Garcia to replace the original church. Further renovations were conducted from 1847 to 1852 under Father Joaquin de Coria, who engineered the stone belfry and Romanesque dome. In 1872, the church added a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

under the direction of Father Serafin Linares and Father Cipriano Bac. The church was heavily damaged by American and Filipino military bombers on March 15, 1945, during World War II. A replica of the church was constructed over its ruins, without the original dome, with the help of Manila Pagsanjenos under the leadership of Engr. German Yia and Dr. Rosendo Llamas. Serious restoration efforts after the war took place in 1965 under

Lipa Lipa or LIPA (Cyrillic: Липа) may refer to: Acronym *Liquid Isopropyl alcohol *League for Independent Political Action, a former American progressive political organization *Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, a performing arts school in ...

Archbishop Alejandro Olalia. On April 6, 1969, Bishop Pedro Bantigue blessed the rebuilt church and consecrated the main altar. Due to the devotion of the people of Pagsanjan and nearby towns, the Diocese of San Pablo declared Pagsanjan Church as the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2012. Under the term of Monsignor Castillo from 2013 to the present, further renovations were carried out, including the church patio and construction of the choir loft and church gate.

Features

The facade of Pagsanjan church is a three-level early Renaissance styled facade with a semicircular arched main entrance, choir loft window and a three-story bell tower. A side chapel near the altar houses an image of San Juan Diego, a replica of the tilma of the Our Lady of Guadalupe and a stone relic from

Tepeyac Hill Tepeyac or the Hill of Tepeyac, historically known by the names Tepeyacac and Tepeaquilla, is located inside Gustavo A. Madero, D.F., Gustavo A. Madero, the northernmost ''delegación'' or borough of Mexico City. According to the Catholic tradit ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

in 1531, the site of the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The chapel is also a mini-museum containing liturgical vestments of Pagsanjeño priests.

Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Within the church of Pagsanjan, two images of the town patroness,

, can be found. The original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was donated by Father Agustin when the parish was first established. The image was given to him as a gift from rich and pious Mexican families; it was installed at the main altar on December 12, 1688. However, the original image was destroyed during the American and Filipino military bombings of 1945. In 1958, Mexican Catholics contributed a life-sized image of Our Lady of Guadalupe sculpted by Ramon Barretto of Toluca, which can be seen in the church today. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe placed on the main altar was sculpted by Maximo Vicente 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 ...

Notes

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

*
Official Facebook page of the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo , state=autocollapse

Pagsanjan Pagsanjan (pronounced ''PAG-sang-han''), officially the Municipality of Pagsanjan ( tgl, Bayan ng Pagsanjan), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 44,327 peop ...