Saint Augustine Parish Church () is the only

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 ...

Roman Catholic church in Bay, Laguna, in the Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of 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 ...

. The church was first administered by Augustinian friars and later transferred to the Franciscans.

History

San Agustin Parish Church is historically considered as the oldest Roman Catholic church in the Province of Laguna upon the early conquest and establishment of La Laguna. The first church of

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

was constructed made of light material of bamboo and nipa by the first-ever Catholic missionaries in Laguna, the Augustinian friars of . It was built along the shore of Laguna Lake (now Brgy. ''San Agustin.'') The town church itself was under supervision of prior provincial itself no other than Martin de Rada (de Herada in some documents) under the patronage of the order's major patron saint,

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

, in 1571. It became a parish on April 30, 1578. In the 18th century, the ecclesiastical administration of Bay was transferred to the Order of Franciscan Minors (OFM), with Domingo Martorel as its new parish priest on November 23, 1737. From the original site along the lake, the church was transferred to its present site later known as , or town center. In 1804, a structure made of bricks and wood was built under the supervision of Geronimo Hervas. Construction of the church continued until the tenure of Pedro Moya in 1864. When the most devastating earthquakes in the Philippines struck in 1880, the Luzon earthquake, the church suffered some damage, including to the church's roof. The earthquake also led to a number of fatalities among the townspeople."American Journal of Science - Art.V. The earthquake of the Philippine Islands, July 1880"
pp.52–57. When the regular clergy (missionaries) abandoned the Philippines in 1898–1899 due to the Philippine Revolution against Spain and in 1899-1903 due to 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 Bay church and convent were administered by the

secular clergy In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...

of the Archdiocese of Manila. The church was also heavily damaged during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines and the Second World War from 1942 to 1945. When peacetime came in 1953, the church was gradually rebuilt by Alejandro Vermorel. When the Archdiocese of Lipa was created, the church was transferred to the newly created archdiocese as of April 16, 1967. In 1980s the canonical administration of Bay Church was again transferred to the newly created

Gallery

File:ChurchofBayjf4232 01.JPG, Church interior in 2013 File:8570San Agustin Parish Church Bay, Laguna 50.jpg, Parochial office File:BayChurchjf4030 11.JPG,

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo , state=autocollapse Roman Catholic churches in Laguna (province) Marked Historical Structures of the Philippines 1571 establishments in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo