Ben Goes Where: Pisamban: Church Visit in Pampanga

The Archdiocese of San Fernando has jurisdiction in the province of Pampanga and includes the Suffragan Sees of lba (Zambales), Tarlac (Tarlac) and Balanga (Bataan).

It's a rainy Sunday morning and kinda have an urge to attend mass somewhere I've never been before. I've visited a handful of churches in CALABARZON area and Province of Bulacan, so why not go to a province nearby? That's Pampanga what I'm thinking. Prior to that, I bought a map of the province and planned my itinerary so that I'll be able to visit some of them for a day.

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Pisamban: Kapampangan word that means 'church'.

My first stop is the City of San Fernando, the capital of province. There, I attended a morning mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Ferdinand. It's also the seat of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, covering the entire province of Pampanga's catholic churches. The mass is in English language but I heard Kapampangan parts during the homily.

Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Ferdinand

The nave

The main altar

St. Ferdinand the King, the cathedral's patron

After attending the mass, I walked along the Capitol Blvd and at the Diversion road crossing, I rode a jeepney going to adjacent town of Bacolor. At last, I finally saw the famous sunken St. Jerome Church featured on a teleserye May Bukas Pa. The lahar of Mt. Pinatubo reduced half of its height, but the faith of townsfolk never waned as they dug the church to save the retablos and related items bringing back to its former glory. Visit the church's museum (the adjacent sunken convent) to see more of its history. Souvenir items are also available next to it.

St. Jerome Church

Church's museum

Church's nave

Marker

The main church altar (retablo)

Saint Jerome (in Spanish: San Guillermo) Bacolor's patron saint

What I'm eager to see is the declared National Cultural Treasure church in Betis, Guagua: the St. James The Apostle Church or simply 'Betis Church'. I was amazed by the arched fences around its perimeter and rose-colored exterior. But when you enter the church, you'll be in awe gazing at the ceiling's murals akin to The Sistine Chapel's frescoes in Rome, Italy. When I got there, one panel is under renovation. Thanks to the people for preserving our cultural heritage. One of the best church paintings I've ever seen.

Church's façade

Ceiling panel painting

The ceiling painting under renovation

Church's patron saint statue at the garden

Main retablo

Nave

Marker

Longer ceiling painting above nave

Just few minutes away, you're in the town center of Guagua where the Immaculate Conception Church stands behind the Municipal Hall. Fund raising efforts are seen in ads to restore the church by means of raffle.

Church's façade

Main Altar

Marker

Nave

South of Guagua is the town of Sasmuan where the St. Lucy Parish was erected. It was heavily renovated probably for expansion and mainly due to constant flooding by the nearby river.

Church's façade

St. Lucy, Sasmuan's patron saint

Main Altar

Nave

I intend to go to Lubao church but since the grounds there are flooded, I decided to go straight to the highway. My next stop is Sta. Rita, where the namesake St. Rita of Cascia Church stands at the town's square. I wasn't able to enter inside because it's noon and the church was closed.

Church's façade

Main Altar

Ceiling of the dome

St. Rita of Cascia

Going north to Porac, the St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish patron, known as Apung Tali has an interesting story. She was a virgin martyr executed for spreading Christianity at her time by beheading instead of the breaking wheel, because the latter was broken when it touched her!

Lastly, I stopped at Angeles City where some of its heritage buildings are known for historic value. An example is the Holy Rosary Church where it houses the two venerated icons: the images of Our Lady of The Holy Rosary (Indu ning Sto. Rosario) and the Our Lord of Mercy (Apung Mamacalulu). Their feasts are held every October as part of Fiestang Culiat.

Church's façade

Based on the Kapampangan text, the town of Culiat now known as Angeles was established on December 8, 1829 by Don Angel Pantaleon de Miranda and Doña Rosalia de Jesus.

Our Lord of Mercy

Our Lady of The Holy Rosary

Nave

Main Altar

From Angeles City, I rode a jeepney to Mabalacat Bus Terminal at Dau where you can ride buses bound to Manila and different provinces. In my case, I rode a bus going back to Pasay City. Next time, I'll visit the ubao Church and remaining churches at Southern/Eastern Pampanga when the flood-stricken towns are already passable.

Pampanga West-Central Route:
San Fernando City-Bacolor-Betis, Guagua-Guagua-Sasmuan-Sta. Rita-Porac-Angeles City

A year later, I was able to visit the Lubao church as part of our parish's visita iglesia. The San Agustin parish church, is a 17th-century Neo-classic, Spanish stone and brick church that stands within town center ans was declared an Important Cultural Property on 2013.

Further southwest of Pampanga lies a small town of Minalin with its flagship Santa Monica Parish Church, a Baroque church, located in poblacion area. Built during the Spanish era, was declared a National Cultural Treasure by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the National Museum of the Philippines on August 27, 2011, one of 37 churches in the country bestowed that honor. The church is under the patronage of Saint Monica of Hippo, with a feast day celebrated annually every second Sunday of May.

Among its unique features are the retablo-like facade and the four capilla posas, concrete arched structures used as “oratory stations” for the Blessed Sacrament during Christ the King, Corpus Christi and other events.

The most notable and striking architectural feature of the church is its retablo-like façade. The lavishly floral decorations of the main entrance and the windows above it. The floral décor is evocative of early folk altars. An array of coupled Corinthian columns artistically crowd the center of the facade and act as support for the triangular pediment that is topped by a roof lantern or cupola. During the Spanish era, a lighted beacon was placed on top of the apex of the pediment to guide fishermen as they made their way from the river to the town. The structure is further complemented with a short row of balusters. The semi-circular niches hold painted stone statues of various Augustinian saints, designed to blend with the rose windows.

The capilla posas distinguishes Santa Monica Church as the only church in the Philippine that have these features fully preserved today. During the Hispanization of Minalin, these altars were used by Filipinos (termed by the Spaniards as Indios) as the church interior was reserved for “peninsulares” (full-blooded Filipino-Spaniards).