The San Sebastian Parish Church, informally known as Lumban Church, 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 Lumban, Laguna, Philippines. Its titular is

St. Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbonne, Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Roman Italy, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional beli ...

and its feast is celebrated every January 20. The first tabernacle outside

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 ...

was inaugurated in Lumban including the first Eucharistic Procession outside of Manila. The

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

established the first School for Church Music in the country in this town under Father Juan de Santa Maria, OFM. Today, the church is under the pastoral care of the Clerical Congregation of the Missionaries of Faith.

History

When the Franciscans first arrived in the Philippines in 1578, Father Juán Portocarrero de Plasencia and Father Diego de Oropesa de San José started the evangelization of the province of

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 ...

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 ...

, together with

Pila Pila may refer to: Architecture * Pila (architecture), a type of veranda in Sri Lankan farm houses Places *Pila, Buenos Aires, a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina *Pila Partido, a country subdivision in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina * ...

became the first Spanish town of the province and heart of the Franciscan missionary activities in Laguna. Father Juán de Plasencia served as parish priest of Lumban in 1578 with St. Francis of Assisi as its original patron. A church made of nipa and

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 ...

was first built in a site called ''Entablado'', in the northern portion of the town. The first church was destroyed by flood and later rebuilt in wood. However, the wooden church was burned in 1586. Lumban became the first Franciscan mission settlement in the country. The government allowed

San Pedro Bautista The were a group of Catholics who were executed by crucifixion on February 5, 1597, in Nagasaki, Japan. Their martyrdom is especially significant in the history of the Catholic Church in Japan. A promising beginning to Catholic missions in J ...

to build the church and convent in stone on that same year. The church of Lumban was finished in 1600. It became the first stone church in Laguna and the first Franciscan building outside Manila made out of stone. In this church, the first tabernacle outside

was built including the first Eucharistic Procession outside of

on October 9, 1600. On October 8, prior to the eucharistic procession, choirs from Santa Ana de Sapa,

Pangil Pangil, officially the Municipality of Pangil ( tgl, Bayan ng Pangil), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 25,026 people. Etymology According to a paper ent ...

Nagcarlan Nagcarlan, officially the Municipality of Nagcarlan ( tgl, Bayan ng Nagcarlan), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 64,866 people. It is northeast of San P ...

and Lumban sang in a mass officiated by Father Juan Montes de Oca, provincial of the Augustinians. Based on the records of

Felix Huerta Felix Huerta, O.F.M., was a Spanish Franciscan friar, Catholic priest, scholar and missionary to the Philippines during the 19th century, when it was still a colony of Spain. He is best known for authoring a history of local Catholic parishes which ...

, the parish has two chapels dedicated to Saint Sebastian and the Holy Cross. Adjacent to the church is the church

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

(''convento'') built under the term of Father Francisco de Cañaveras. The first School for Church Music in the country was established by the Franciscans in Lumban under Father Juan de Santa Maria, OFM on 1606. Around 400 boys were taught liturgical hymns and use of musical instruments. The church also served as infirmary or hospital of the male Franciscan religious from 1606 to 1618 before it was transferred to Pila. In the 18th century, the town adopted Saint Sebastian Martyr as its patron saint. It was seriously damaged during 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. and was restored by Father Manuel Rodriguez in 1889. The massive church of Lumban was completed in its original form during the American occupation and was dubbed as the biggest stone church in Laguna. It was again heavily damaged during the Japanese occupation in 1941 and a storm in 1947.

Architecture

The church has a three-story facade. To its right is a square based three level octagonal

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

with the statue of San Sebastian, its patron saint on top.

Media

The church appears in the

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

television series '' Huwag Kang Mangamba'', depicted as Hermoso church that was later burned down.

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

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San Sebastian Parish-LumbanSan Sebastian Parish - Lumban, Laguna
Official Facebook page {{Authority control 1600 establishments in the Philippines Roman Catholic churches completed in 1600 Roman Catholic churches in Laguna (province) Marked Historical Structures of the Philippines 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo