Pampanga | Visita Iglesia Roadtrip

The Seven Churches Visitation also known as Visita Iglesia is a pious Roman Catholic tradition observed by faithful Christians during Lent by attempting to visit 7 Christian sites or parishes.

Customarily, Visita Iglesia is done every Holy Thursday. Unfortunately for the stokedtraveler, he lives in a province where there is a large number of magdarame (penitents). For this reason, he decides to spare his car of blood from those who flagellate themselves splashing around blood in anything or anyone they get close to. He’s seen several automobiles in the past which were decorated with blood and he is just irked by the thought of having blood on his white car. He makes his church visit during Holy Tuesday when there are little to no mamalaspas walking around the roads.

It was a choice between doing Visita Iglesia (Visita Altares as his mom calls it) in his home province in Pampanga or take a longer road trip in Bataan heading to Mt. Samat. The former was the more practical choice due to the proximity, budget (gas expense) and familiarity to the location. He will still take the excursion to Mt. Samat and write about it in a separate entry.

The trip starts straight from the family house of the stokedtraveler in Angeles City. Though he planned to make an early start in the morning, his body refused to cooperate. He managed to leave home at 2pm in the afternoon.

First stop is the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Fernando. This was originally a humble church built by Augustinian Friars in 1755 from wood and thatch. During the Philippine revolutionary period, the church was burned down by the orders of Gen. Antonio Luna. It was then rebuilt only to be destroyed again by fire in 1939. A few years after the next restoration, it was declared as a diocese (1948) and eventually to Archdiocese of San Fernando (1975).

There is a majestic dome reminiscent of baroque style with some renaissance touch. The interior and exteriors have a more modern neo-Art Noveau look with faux columns.

It is hard to appreciate the structure from street level perspective because of the electric cables hanging about. The rotunda center island in front of the cathedral wasn’t of much help because there are other shops blocking the façade of the church now. The newly built SM City San Fernando which towers the Cathedral also isn’t an attraction adding to heritage feel of the district.

After taking late lunch in SM City San Fernando, he drove his way to the next church

 San Guillermo Parish Church in Bacolor is named after the patron saint of Bacolor – San Guillermo. The church was also originally built by Augustinian friars in 1576 and had a share of calamities until its most recent encounter with the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. The world renowned volcanic eruption took place in 1991 but it was only during its second onslaught in October 1, 1995 when the structure was half-buried in lahar. San Guillermo Parish Church is also known as the “Sunken Church”.

Only half of the original façade of the church can be seen today. After the volcanic eruption, the town’s people painstakingly excavated the altar and the retablo and relocated it under the dome in order for the tall wooden retablo to fit. The retablos niches are filled with centuries- old statues which were saved from destruction of the lahar. 

Visitors now enter the church through the choir loft windows. 

The stokedtraveler seemed to find a special connection to this church. As soon as he parked, church bells started to ring as if it was just waiting for him to arrive. There were only a handful of by standers in the area and the surrounding garden was very serene. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes of the half-buried façade. Any visitor would probably have this same connection after seeing the grand structure that was strenuously restored even just at half of its immaculate beauty. Behind the church is a not-so-hidden passage to Bacolor de Campo Santo, also a lahar-buried cemetery. It is also interesting to know that this played as the main venue for “May Bukas Pa” where the child actor who played “Santino” became famous.

Not generally known to everyone, there was a period in Philippine history when Bacolor became the capital of the exiled government of the Philippines during British Occupation from 1762 to 1764. Reading more about Bacolor’s rich history, the stokedtraveler finds some more interesting facts about it although it is nowadays only categorized as a third class municipality of the province of Pampanga.

Still in Bacolor and not very far from the Sunken Church is the Sunken Shrine of our Lady of Lourdes of Cabetican. This wasn’t originally part of the list for the Visita Iglesia trip but it somehow managed to show up in the GPS navigator he used on the car. The stokedtraveler made a stop to this place on his way to Guagua and found a stone structure also buried under ground.

There is a typical looking chapel next to the buried structure. He asked the gardener working inside the premises where the sunken shrine was and he was directed towards the dark walls next to where they were standing at. He was shown the stairs leading inside and saw a big shrine. There was not much to look at because it was dark and the altar was veiled.

Intrigued, the stokedtraveler looked for more information on the shrine. He finds that the shrine is home to the Miraculous image of Our Lady of Lourdes of Cabetican. Many claims of healing have been recorded after a pilgrimage to the shrine. The site is also the center of Marian Concordia Pilgrimages and Healing in Pampanga. He will be back to this site again to witness the said beauty of the miraculous image and prayers.

The fourth stop of the trip leads to Guagua and into the intricately painted Parish Church of St. James the Apostle in Betis. More commonly known as “Betis Church”, this church is a testament to the artistry of the woodcarvers and painters in Betis. Construction started in 1660 mainly using wooden materials. Because fires frequently broke inside the Betis Church, it was only in 1770 when it was completed using concrete. Beautification of the church walls and ceilings was extensively done in 1930.

The unembellished exterior walls don’t speak much of what intricacies one will find inside the structure. Betis Church is also often called the “Sistine Chapel of the Philippines” because of the spectacular murals on its walls and ceilings. The main altar also has statues of all the 12 apostles which add to the ornate finish. The church itself is now considered a National Cultural Treasure.

Also, beside it is a humble museum showcasing the work of Betis woodcarvers and artists. They even have students as guides welcoming and walking you through the museum artifacts.

A few steps outside the museum will lead you to a sort of mini park with an aviary. The stokedtraveler would’ve gone further into the park if not for a dog that was running around and barking at the visitors.

San Agustin Chapel would’ve been the fifth church but it was closed when he passed.

Daylight was starting to run out. With three more churches to visit, he hastened to the next nearby church – Immaculate Conception Church. This church was built in 1772 and improved in 1862 until 1870.

This church was right in the town center of Guagua. Again, another rotunda and the traffic was quite difficult to manage not to mention the lack of parking space. He was signaled by one random guy to double park behind some cars. He took that chance and told the guy that he won’t take very long.

It was already dark by the time the stokedtraveler arrived on this site. The path leading to the entrance of the church was narrow and the façade couldn’t be appreciated as much because of the perspective. From afar, you will notice a dome like structure which is indicative of baroque style architecture. As you enter, you will notice the simplicity in the design. The main attraction must’ve been the altar with life sized statues of saints and angels.

It was already past 6pm when he left Immaculate Conception Church. The next churches were in Lubao and the Sta. Rita de Cascia Church in Sta. Rita, Pampanga. St. Rita de Cascia was a special highlight he missed. It is one of the very few churches with a first class relic (uncorrupt body part of a saint). But, seeing that even Immaculate Conception Church was already about to close, the stokedtraveler opted to take the route back home and take chance on nearby churches he would pass along the way.

The trip was exciting and fulfilling at the same time. His eyes feasted on the captivating magnificence of the old churches’ architecture (yes, he loves history). His heart was filled with adventure from traveling through places he’s never been to. His soul feels satiated with the prayers he left on every church he visited. He will definitely be engaging in this same activity again next year (or maybe sooner).

One disappointment on the trip was that the religious statues and the altars were all veiled. This is supposed to have some historical religious significance starting from the 5^th Sunday of Lent until the unveiling is done on Easter Sunday. It is hard to read through the context of the religious statements about this act of veiling but because it is a religious practice then it has to be respected. However, this leaves the shutter bug in the stokedtraveler left to be content with taking photos mostly of walls, ceilings and the exteriors. Maybe a Visita Iglesia after Easter Sunday isn’t a bad idea?

Reference on historical dates: en.wikipedia.org