San Agustin Parish Church (Bay, Laguna)

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Bay Church
Saint Augustine Parish Church
Simbahan at Parokya ni San Agustin (Filipino)
8570San Agustin Parish Church Bay, Laguna 26.jpg
Church facade in 2019
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Bay Church
Location in Laguna
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Bay Church
Location in Luzon
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Bay Church
Location in the Philippines
14°10′49″N121°17′04″E / 14.180369°N 121.284315°E / 14.180369; 121.284315
Location Bay, Laguna
CountryPhilippines
Denomination Roman Catholic
History
Former name(s)Iglesia y Convento de Bay
Status Parish church
Founded1571
Founder(s)Martin de Rada
Dedication Augustine of Hippo
Consecrated 1580 (as Parish)
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationIglesia y Convento de Bay
Designated1572
Architectural type Church building
Style Colonial Baroque
Groundbreaking 1572
Completed1737
Specifications
Materials Bricks, gravel, limestone
Administration
Province Manila
Archdiocese Manila
Diocese San Pablo
Deanery Immaculate Conception
Clergy
Priest(s) Licerio S. Taguilaso
Assistant priest(s) Park O. Ebones

Saint Augustine Parish Church is the only Augustinian Roman Catholic church in Bay, Laguna, in the Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of San Pablo. The church was first administered by Augustinian friars and later transferred to the Franciscans.

Contents

History

Church NHI historical marker installed in 1985 Ba-y Church historical marker.jpg
Church NHI historical marker installed in 1985

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 was constructed made of light material of bamboo and nipa by the first-ever Catholic missionaries in Laguna, the Augustinian friars of Provincia del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus. [1] 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, in 1571. [2] [ clarification needed ] It became a parish on April 30, 1578. [2] 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. [1] From the original site along the lake, the church was transferred to its present site later known as poblacion, 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. [2] [3]

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. [4]

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 Bay church and convent were administered by the secular clergy 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. [2] When peacetime came in 1953, the church was gradually rebuilt by Alejandro Vermorel. [2] When the Archdiocese of Lipa was created, the church was transferred to the newly created archdiocese as of April 16, 1967. [2] In 1980s the canonical administration of Bay Church was again transferred to the newly created Diocese of San Pablo.

Notes

Bibliography

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