Bona fide Text
Early visita iglesia
One of the good effects that the Spaniards left to the once colonized land was the capacity of the Filipinos to embrace Christianity with open hearts and minds. When Miguel Lopez de Legaspi invited and brought Spanish missionaries in the Philippines around 18th century, Catholicism was really spread out in Luzon and Visayas areas. Though in some history credits, these missionaries tried to reach Mindanao but the power of foundation of the Islam religion prevailed. Anyway, the spread of Catholicism in the Philippines was indeed successful.
When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, our ancestors had their way of worshiping. They were considered to be pagans and their supreme god was Bathala. They worshiped nature-spirits; they offer dances, food, even to the extent of offering lives to their gods and local deities.
The Filipinos were amazed of the different religion that the Spaniards introduced to the Filipinos. When the first Catholic mass was held in Limasawa which was celebrated by Fr. Pedro de Valderrama, Filipinos stunned the way the ritual being done. The first mass was done along the seashore right after the baptism of Rajah Humabon and Reyna Maniwangtiwang. Since they didn't have the formal way of worship, they easily adapted the Catholicism.
And that was the start of the spread of Catholicism in the country. Some history books that I've read, the Spaniards colonized the land as planned by their government with the aid of religion. Yes, religion played a great role in the spreading of Christianity in the Philippines. And I should say the missionaries who came to the country were effective enough to provide a good foundation of the said religion. Not only thinning out the religion through out the country but also building churches where they can celebrate mass in formal way.
Numerous churches sprouted like mushroom as initiated by the friars. Based on the account, Filipino laborers known as polistas worked for the construction of the churches. These polistas worked through a forced labor system implemented by the Spanish government. In other words, they work for free and for no payment at all. However, Filipinos were motivated enough to be part of the construction after realizing that it is for the sake of every Catholics, then they didn't question anymore. After all they were building the house of God.
Last Friday, September 21 I was lucky to be a part of the SJS Fourth Year's Visita Iglesia. Yes, you read it right. Although it is not Mahal na Araw yet, but it was a nice experience to all of us. Actually it was my second time to do a Visita Iglesia in my entire life and humbly saying, it was my first time to go to oldest churches here in Iloilo. I've been here in the city for quite sometime already, but I don't have the chance of attending mass or even just for a visit. I was just so lucky then when Teacher Lea and Sir Rey, 4th Year advisers invited me to join the group.
We had a day tour church visitation despite the heavy downfall of rain. It was not a hindrance for our trip. We first visited Sta. Ana Parish or well-known as Molo Church which exudes a blatant expression of Gothic-Renaissance architecture. This church is considered one of its kind outside Manila. History says that our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal once visited this church sometime in 1886. Then we proceeded to Sto. Niño de Arevalo Church located in Villa. The said church has an image of the Sto.Niño which was the 3rd oldest in the country. After that, we then went to Oton where the Immaculate Concpecion Parish is situated. Tigabuan was the next destination and we were fascinated the Parish of St. John Sahagun. The church is the only one in the country (take note) which has a Latin American churriquesque style. It has one of the most beautiful modern-type interiors made up of colorful stone murals. Parish of St. Nicholas de Tolentino was the next church we visited. Of course, the Visita Iglesia won't be complete if we didn't go to Miag-ao Church. St. Thomas de Villanova Parish is one of the four Baroque Churches in the Philippines and FYI it has been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. To complete the seven churches, we then visited the Sta. Barbara Parish.
With the colonization of the Spaniards, these churches were built and we are just blessed enough. The spread of Catholicism in our country has a lot of things to say not only in the past but until today.
*CONGRATULATIONS to Rapunzel Grace Lim, 4th Year student of SJS, for being elected as DILG Prosecutor of the Rotary Club of Iloilo City's Boys and Girls Week.