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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in the municipality of Santa Maria, Laguna,

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

under the

Diocese of San Pablo The Diocese of San Pablo (Latin language, Latin: ''Dioecesis Sancti Pauli in Insulis Philippinis'', Filipino language, Filipino: ''Diyosesis ng San Pablo'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Diócesis de San Pablo'') is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholi ...

. 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 (), is a 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 education, commerce and transportation ...

) 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. 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 a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

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

1880 Luzon earthquakes The 1880 Southern Luzon earthquakes, were one of the most destructive tremors on record in the history of the country. The shocks continued, with greater or less interruption, from July 14–25, 1880; highlighted by three violent quakes measurin ...

."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 A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

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 (), is a municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 34,511 people. History From Mabitac was a mountain path pointed northw ...

Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo