CALVARY HILLS IN CAGAYAN One of the landmarks of Cagayan province is the Stations of the Cross on Calvary Hills in Iguig town. MELVIN GASCON/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON
Street vendor Federina Taguba was all smiles as she greeted a group of pilgrims who had alighted from a rented van to visit the Basilica Minore de Nuestra Señora de Piat (Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Piat).
The basilica is an imposing red brick Romanesque church sitting on top of a hill that overlooks parts of Piat town proper in Barangay Maguiling.
“Welcome to Piat. Would you like some souvenirs? We can have them blessed,” Taguba told the group, a family of eight from Marikina City.
It is the time of the year when the place comes alive as Catholics from all over the country flock to the Our Lady of Piat shrine, the centerpiece of the Visita Iglesia (church visits) in Cagayan province.
The outpouring of religious zeal has inspired parishioners in Cagayan’s pilgrimage sites—from this town by the Chico River to the provincial capital of Tuguegarao and to Aparri up north—to reciprocate the Filipinos’ piety by serving as guardians of the province’s religious wealth.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Piat is the popular first stop among Catholics who come to Cagayan for their Visita Iglesia.
“We do our very best to maintain the upkeep of the church and make constant improvements on the facilities, especially now that our parish has been showered with generous donations from the faithful,” said Fr. Othello Bartolome, parish priest.
Rebuilding the basilica
Built in 1875, the basilica has constantly seen rebuilding and renovation to keep up with the stream of devotees.
A staircase and a passageway at the back of the church provide access to pilgrims who wish to touch the image of the Black Virgin Mary through a small window behind the altar wall.
The interior has also been upgraded, with the altar’s “retablo”—a shelf enclosing images of saints and placed behind the altar—expanded to accommodate more images, Bartolome said.
Kiosks have been built around the Lady of Piat’s image at the prayer garden, located just outside the basilica, to shade devotees, especially during summer.
Donations have also been used to repair the shrine’s toilets as well as repaint the parish office, Bartolome said.
Major renovation
These latest preparations are timely for the weeklong celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Sambali Festival on the third week of June, which culminates with the start of the Feast of the Our Lady of Piat on July 1 and 2, he said.
The Piat basilica museum, located on the right side of the church and housing many of the Tuguegarao archdiocese’s significant religious artifacts, has been closed for repairs.
“The building is no longer safe and will need a major renovation. We had to move many of the important artifacts to the archbishop’s residence (in Tuguegarao) for temporary safekeeping,” said Fr. Victor Emmanuel Quintos, curator of the archdiocese’s museums.
Seat of the archdiocese
Some 40 kilometers from Piat is the Saints Peter and Paul Metropolitan Cathedral in Tuguegarao City, the biggest Spanish-built church in Cagayan Valley and also the seat of the archdiocese.
Completed in 1767, the cathedral has undergone major renovations following its destruction during World War II.
Today, the church is undergoing restoration of its dome-shaped ceiling to return its original appearance during the precolonial period, but with modern building materials, Quintos said.
“We were able to find a very old photograph of the prewar look of the ceiling and that is what we are now trying to replicate,” Quintos said, referring to ornate fresco paintings.
Religious art
The cathedral’s windows are also being replaced with stained glass featuring religious art.
Should there be enough funds, the archdiocese also plans to restore the church’s retablo.
“Three of the five panels will be restored based on an old photograph, while the remaining two will be generated based on scholarly analyses of how they may have looked during those earlier times,” Quintos said.
The “ambo,” or readers’ lectern, and a new cathedra (the seat of the bishop at the altar) will also be replaced, he said.
In Iguig town, the life-size, concrete images representing the Stations of the Cross have again come to life following their repainting and the sprucing up of the grounds by volunteers.
But it is the church that needs immediate refurbishing, said Fr. Carlos Evangelista, Iguig parish priest.
Destroyed by floods
Saint James Church, which overlooks the vast rice and corn fields along the Cagayan River, has seen repeated repairs and rebuilding following its destruction by floods in recent years.
“We have been trying to extend the life of the roof so we looked at repainting the ceiling. The last time we checked, the engineers said it was about time the roof was replaced. It’s coming down really soon,” Evangelista said.
The parish is also trying to complete the concrete fence that will enclose the 2-hectare church grounds against roaming cattle and other farm animals, which in the past have become a nuisance to pilgrims.
Historically, the Saint Philomene Church in Alcala town was left unfinished by the Spaniards fleeing from Filipino revolutionaries. Its completion has been left to the town’s Catholic faithful, said Fr. Rino Pio Guaring, Alcala parish priest.
Thus construction of altars on the left and right wings of the church is ongoing. It was supposed to have been completed in time for the Lenten season.
“The weather has not been cooperative. Also, the church has been hosting a lot of religious events, causing all these delays,” he said.
Cultural significance
The 17th century structure is considered the widest Catholic church in Cagayan Valley.
The parish has completed the installation of religious images on the church’s facade, filling the niches left vacant through the centuries, Guaring said.
“We are preparing to do major repairs on the roof and ceiling through the use of stronger trusses and a domed ceiling design patterned after a blueprint approved by the [Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines],” Guaring said. “This will become the standard, uniform design for all colonial church ceilings in the country in the future.”
The Saint Dominic de Guzman Church in Barangay Centro in Lal-lo town, with its deep historical and cultural significance, is also yearning for immediate, sensitive repairs.
This church served as the seat of government in the 16th century. Lal-lo has been named the city of Nueva Segovia. It was, in those times, the hub of religious, trade and commercial activities in northern Luzon.
Typhoons and decades of exposure to the elements have caused leaks in the church interior, prompting parish leaders to consider replacing the roof and the heavy wooden ceiling, said Fr. Nathaniel Malana, parish priest.
Leaning belfry
Today, Lal-lo’s parishioners are looking at stripping the wooden ceiling to expose the church’s centuries-old trusses and galvanized iron sheets.
But an even greater challenge is up ahead for the parishioners: How to stop the church belfry, which is showing signs of leaning, from crumbling.
The tilt may have been triggered by the loosening of the earth on the foundation of the belfry, where traces of a centuries-old tunnel were found, Malana said.
“We have yet to discuss this matter with other church leaders in the archdiocese. Definitely, it will be a difficult task,” he said.
The parish in Camalaniugan town and the Tuguegarao archdiocese are also studying how they can best preserve the Sancta Maria church bell, touted as the oldest bell in Asia.
Oldest bell
Minted in 1595, the bell remains hoisted, along with three other 15th and 16th century bells, in the three-story brick belfry of the San Jacinto Church in Camalaniugan.
Quintos acknowledged the limited measures the church had taken to preserve the bells, which have become a popular attraction for pilgrims.
“There have been suggestions to replace the oldest bell with just a replica, which shall be open for public viewing, while the genuine bell will have to be preserved and kept in some form of encasement. But then again, we ask, ‘What good is a bell that is not being rung?’” he said.
Two churches in Aparri stand as symbols of the Cagayanos’ deep sense of devotion—one was rebuilt and completed in 2011 and the other was built from scratch.
Tribute to 1st Filipino saint
In 2002, Aparri’s faithful led an ambitious project to build a church within the main campus of Lyceum of Aparri, a Catholic-run school, which also hosts a seminary and another archdiocesan museum.
With donations from devotees in the country and abroad, the San Lorenzo Ruiz Church was built as the Cagayanos’ tribute to the first Filipino saint.
In 2011, renovation of the St. Peter Gonzales Thelmo Church in downtown Aparri was completed to replace an older church rebuilt from the ruins of World War II.
Renamed the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, the church is now a significant destination for devotees.
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