San Agustin Parish Church (Bay, Laguna)

Bay Church
St. Augustine Parish Church
Facade of St. Augustine Parish Church
Bay Church Republic of the Philippines
14.180369°N 121.284315°E / 14.180369; 121.284315
Location	Bay, Laguna
Country	Philippines
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Former name(s)	Iglesia y Convento de Bay
Status	Parish church
Founded	1571
Founder(s)	Fray Martin de Rada OSA
Dedication	St. Augustine of Hippo
Consecrated	1580 (as Parish)
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Iglesia y Convento de Bay
Designated	1572
Architectural type	Church building
Style	Colonial Baroque
Groundbreaking	1572
Completed	1737
Specifications
Materials	Bricks, gravel, limestone
Administration
Province	Manila
Archdiocese	Manila
Diocese	San Pablo
Clergy
Archbishop	His Eminence Luis Antonio Tagle
Bishop(s)	Most Reverend Buenaventura M. Famadico D.D
Curate(s)	Rev Fr.John F.Tabot

St. Augustine Parish Church (Filipino: Simbahan at Parokya ni San Agustin) is the only Augustinian Roman Catholic church in Bay, Laguna, in the Philippines. The church was first administered by Augustinians friars and later transferred to the Franciscans. The current parish priest is Reverend Father John F. Tabot.

History

It 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. Augustinians. It was built along the shore of Laguna Lake (now Brgy. Aplaya) the town church itself was under supervision of Prior provincial otself no other than Fray Martin de Rada (de Herada in some documents) under the patronage of the order's major patron St. Augustine in 1571. It became a parish on April 30, 1578. In 18th century, the ecclesiastical administration of Bay was transferred to the Orden of Franciscan Minors (OFM), with Father Domingo Martorel as its new parish priest on November 23, 1737. 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 Fray Geronimo Hervas OFM. construction of the church continued until the tenire of Fray Pedro Moya in 1864.

When the most devastating earthquakes in the Philippines struck in 1880, the Luzon earthquake, the church suffered some damage such as the church roofings.The earthquake also brought number fatalities within the townspeople.

When the regular clergy(missionaries) abandoned the Philippines in 1898-1899 due to the Philippine Revolution against Spain and in 1899-1903 at Philippine–American War,the Bay church and convent was administered by the Secular Clergy by the Archidiocese of Manila. Another turmoil came into the town that the church were heavily damaged during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines and the break-out of the Second World War from 1942 to 1945. When the peace time came in 1953 the church was gradually rebuilt by Father Alejandro Vermorel. When the Archdiocese of Lipa was created, the church was transferred to the newly created [[Roman Catholic Archdipcese of Lipa| Archdiocese of Lipa as of April 16, 1967. In 1980s the Canonical administration of Bay Church were transferred again to the newly created Diocese of San Pablo

Bibliography

• Huerta, Felix de (1865). Estado geográfico, topográfico, estadístico, histórico-religioso. Binondo: Imprenta de M. Sanchez y Ca. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Historical Markers: Regions I–IV and CAR. Manila: National Historical Institute (Philippines). 1993. p. 42. ISBN 9715380611.

External links

Media related to Saint Augustine Parish Church of Bay at Wikimedia Commons