65. VISITA IGLESIA AT THE CRADLE OF THE 1st REPUBLIC

VISITA IGLESIA at the CRADLE of the 1^st REPUBLIC

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

29 March 2018

Every Maunday Thursdays, my wife and I visit Roman Catholic Churches in a certain locality to pray, meditate and also as our form of penitence. This past years, we were able to journey around all the Spanish period Churches in the City of Manila and more recently all the parishes of Rizal province. This year, I drafted an itinerary particularly in the capital city of Malolos in Bulacan province. Included in our circuit are seven parishes in the Vicariate of Malolos plus the seat of the diocese - the Cathedral-Basilica Minore of the Immaculate Conception or commonly known as the Malolos Cathedral.

According to Rappler, there are several theories on the origins of the church visit or visita iglesia practice. Among them is of early Christian communities of the Roman Empire commemorating the suffering and death of Jesus in 7 parts: Garden of Gethsemane, The House of Annas, Tribunal of Caiaphas the High Priest, Tribunal Before Pilate, Trial Before Herod, From Herod Back to Pilate and From Pilate to Golgotha (Calvary). When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire under Emperor Theodosius I, the practice evolved to its current form of visiting 7 churches. There were 7 major basilicas founded in Rome which were believed to hold the tombs of prominent martyrs like St. Peter and St. Paul. A pilgrimage to all 7 basilicas then developed among the faithful. The practice then spread to other parts and cities of the Roman Empire, and became associated with the Holy Week when they were made to honor the Blessed Sacrament. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the practice slackened somewhat until during the first Jubilee of the Catholic Church, when the church visitations were revived by Pope Boniface VIII.

Like all things Catholic, Visita Iglesia came to the islands via Spanish colonizers, particularly through Augustinian missionaries in the 1560s. Nowadays, the Visita Iglesia has expanded beyond being a purely religious practice, as tourists often travel alongside the faithful to visit old colonial churches and cathedrals across the country. The practice also underwent a 21^st  century makeover in the Philippines with the launch of Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' visitaiglesia.net and other Visita Iglesia websites, which allow users, particularly overseas Filipinos and the infirm, to undergo virtual church visits at home.

The road to Malolos was not easy. Traffic is everywhere including the NLEx as shown in the GPS navigation software Waze. We went through the traditional route via McArthur Highway which was also congested and took us almost three hours to reach historic Barasoain Church or the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish Church in the capital city of Malolos, Bulacan

Barasoain was originally part of Malolos until its official separation on August 31, 1859. In 1903 it became part of Malolos again. The old Church constructed by Augustinian missionary Fray Francisco Royo was destroyed by fire in May 1884 but rebuilt by fellow Augustinian Fray Juan Giron in 1885. This Church was the seat of the Revolutionary Congress which convened on September 15, 1898 up to November 13, 1899, under the presidency of Pedro A. Paterno. Among the important measures passed by the Congress was the Malolos Constitution, drafted chiefly by Felipe G. Calderon. 

 
Half a kilometer away, via Kapitan Kiko Street, is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception founded in 1580 which is located in front of the Malolos City Hall. A large Statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception stands in front of the religious edifice. General Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (1869-1964), as President of the First Philippine Republic, held office on the Cathedral's Convent from September 10, 1898 to March 25, 1899. This is also the mother church of the Diocese which was created on November 25, 1961 by the metropolitan Archdiocese of Manila and was canonically created on March 11, 1962. 

More than three kilometers away, via Estrella Street, is another Spanish era church - the Santa Isabel Church, officially known as St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish. Located at Fr. Kuatro Kantos Street, the Church is the center of religious activities in the old pueblo of Santa Isabel which was also founded in 1859 but was reverted as a barrio of Malolos during the early American colonization in 1903 together with Barasoain.

To complete the 7-Church visita iglesia, we visited five more parishes established in recent decades: the St. Joseph the Worker Parish (founded in 1980) located in Panasahan, Parish of the Holy Spirit (founded in 1994) at Alido Heights in Bulihan, Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish (founded 1995) located in Mojon, Quasi-Parish of Santissima Trinidad (founded in 2003) situated at Maunlad Homes Subdivision and the Our Lady of the Lord's Presentation (also founded in 2003) also in the same subdivision. Only two parishes in the whole vicariate were not visited: the San Isidro Labrador Parish also in Bulihan and the Stella Maris Parish located in the island barangay of Pamarawan.

We were able to hit two birds with one stone as we accomplished our annual Maundy Thursday vow at the same time visit the seat of the First Philippine Republic. My last visit in this historic locality was in 2015 where I made a walking tour on every notable edifice or spot where big permanent galvanized markers with complete description were installed. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) mounted 15 markers in the city and more than a dozen other markers set up by the Local Government Unit in 2014 and by other organizations like the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP) and the Meralco.

My favorite markers were the three installed by the Philippine Historical Committee (now the NHCP) in 1959 in front of the Basilica Minore of the Immaculate Conception all with the same content but engraved in three different languages: (1) REPUBLIKA PILIPINA. 1898-1901. SA KUMBENTONG ITO ITINATAG ANG PRESIDENSIYA NG UNANG REPUBLIKA PILIPINA NA PINANGULUHAN NG KGG. EMILIO AGUINALDO Y FAMY AT DITO’Y NANATILI MULA NOONG IKA-10 NG SETYEMBRE 1898 HANGGANG IKA-20 NG MARSO 1899. (2) PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC. 1898-1901. IN THIS CONVENT, GENERAL EMILIO AGUINALDO Y FAMY AS PRESIDENT OF THE FIRST PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC HELD OFFICE FROM 10 SEPTEMBER 1898 TO 29 MARCH 1899. (3) REPUBLICA FILIPINA. 1898-1901. EN ESTE CONVENTO SE ESTABLECIO LA PRESIDENCIA DELA REPUBLICA FILIPINA CUYO PRESIDENTE FUE DON  EMILIO AGUINALDO Y FAMY Y LO OCUPO DESDE EL 10 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 1898 HASTA EL 29 DE MARZO DE 1901.

Our Holy Week sojourn was filled with prayer, meditation, spiritual upliftment and historical learning. My wife and I, devout Catholics and lovers of history believes that though there is separation of Church and State, the support of the religious in the affairs of the  country is still significant in the progress and development of the nation. Practicing a tradition like the visita iglesia gives us a renewed faith ready to face the test of life and the times.