-
Our Lady of the Divine Providence Parish Church
A mission of Spanish priests and laymen arrived in Siquijor from neighboring islands in 1790 and set about christianizing the inhabitants. They went from one community to another and came upon a place that surprised them for its abundance of molawin and other local hardwood trees. It was occupied by a settlement of Boholanos that…
-
St. Augustine of Hippo Parish Church
Around a decade after it was established as a town separate from Dumaguete in 1837, Bacong became a parish dedicated to St. Augustine of Hippo. Christianity, however, was introduced in Bacong centuries before by Spanish Augustinian friars back when it was known as Marabago and administered as part of Tanjay Parish. Marabago was located in…
-
San Isidro Labrador Parish Church
Lazi started out as a visita that was regularly visited by priests based in the parish of Siquijor. Augustinian Recollects, who administered the island beginning in 1794, would come to Lazi and hold masses in a makeshift structure of nipa and bamboo that served as chapel. When its population reached over 7,000 in 1857, Lazi…
-
St. Francis of Assisi Parish Church
Siquijor was established on Feb. 1, 1783 and was the first and only parish in the island for more than 50 years. Dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi for his love of nature, which the island has in abundance, the parish was administered by secular clerics until the Augustinian Recollects took over in 1794. The…
-
Baguio Cathedral: place of worship, refuge
One of the more durable 20th century structures in the Philippine summer capital, the Baguio Cathedral survived the carpet bombings by Allied Forces in 1945 and the killer earthquake of 1990. This church is the very first in the world dedicated to Our Lady of Atonement, according to the Archdiocese of Baguio, citing an entry…