Featured image: Church of the Gesù

By Neil Aventurado

Thousands of Filipino believers in Metro Manila make a pilgrimage to seven different churches outside of Metro Manila. But really, you don’t have to do that! Here are the seven most interesting churches in Quezon City and their historical distinctions.

Church of the Gesù

Standing on the  hill of Loyola inside the Jesuit school of the Blue Eagles along Katipunan is the unconventionally designed but aesthetically pleasing Church of the Gesu, fully constructed in July 2003 under the architectural guidance of Jose Pedro Recio and Carmelo Casas.

Shaped like a triangle to symbolize the Holy Trinity, the church also features a semicircle of stained glass depicting the Passion of Jesus. The glass windows on its slanted roofs makes the church in harmony with the environment, as these allow natural light in and give churchgoers a glimpse of the trees, which, in turn, exude calmness in this place of worship.

Conferred with the Haligi ng Dangal award by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ (NCCA) architecture committee in 2017, the church evokes the traditional bahay kubo (nipa hut), which is seen as Ateneo’s way of paying respect to Filipino culture, heritage, and spirituality.

St. Pio of Pietrelcina Chapel

Padre Pio was widely known for various supernatural phenomena such as stigmata
(bodily wound and scars that reflect Jesus’ injuries in his crucifixion), bilocation, and healing during his lifetime. For believers and devotees, who don’t have the luxury of time to visit the national shrine dedicated to this Italian Capuchin friar in Santo Tomas, Batangas, the St. Pio of Pietrelcina Chapel, structurally inspired by his hometown shrine (Santa Maria delle Grazie in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy), is for you!

Nestled in the midst of busy factories and bustling mixed-use development along the Eulogio Rodriguez segment of C5 road, it was opened in the late 2000s. It has since been witness to different prayer intentions and grants, as evidenced by several thousands of rosaries found all over the vicinity. Adding to the serenity of the sanctuary are the flight of pigeons, which the kids might enjoy, and elegant chandelier-looking rosary lanterns hanging on the trees.

It has also been a tradition at the St. Pio of Pietrelcina Chapel during Holy Week to have devotees pick up a wooden cross—the largest and heaviest given to men, the medium-sized ones to women, and the smallest to the children and the elderly—and follow the Way of the Cross.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish Church

For believers and devotees of Our Mother of Perpetual Help who want to escape the hassle of the heavy traffic on EDSA just to visit the national shrine in the crowded district of Baclaran, this church just located in Cubao might be a worthy alternative!
Established in 1964 as a parish community, the church honors its roots as an orphanage and small chapel built by Agustinian nun, Sr. Alfonsa de la Santissima Trinidad, in 1946.
The highly ornate Baroque-styled carved wooden altarpiece, painted bronze and gold in harmony with silver embellishments, where the Risen Christ is flanked by two angels and the descending dove, which represents the Holy Spirit, exudes the glory and majesty of Jesus.

The stained glass windows beside the church doors feature different Marian icons, as a nod to the patroness of the respective pamayanan or basic ecclesial communities of the parish.

The church has been the spiritual center of the commercial-residential district of Cubao and its core mixed-used development, the Araneta City, which houses the Big Dome, in turn, the venue of the church’s annual Lenten retreat every Holy Week since the 1980s.

Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Situated in the heart of New Manila, the national shrine dedicated to the Virgin of Carmel was inaugurated on the patroness’ feast day in 1964. It was first constructed in a decade
earlier, in 1954, the same time as the Order of Discalced Carmelites was founded in the Archdiocese of Manila. The church is highly visible from Aurora Boulevard at the corner of Madison Street.

Built in the Modernist style in a cruciform layout, the church’s interior was only coated with paint for the first time in the mid-2010s since it was first constructed.
The church, which became a popular location for wedding scenes in the movies, has also become more popular with Catholic devotees as the Holy See declared it as the first minor basilica in Quezon City in 2019.

Minor Basilica of Saint Pedro Bautista

Founded in 1590, the Minor Basilica of Saint Pedro Bautista in San Francisco del Monte (SFDM) district is the oldest church in Quezon City and also one of the oldest in the country. The church is dedicated to Franciscan mission superior Fr. Pedro Bautista, one of the 26 Christians eventually martyred in non-monotheistic Japan in 1597. He himself founded the church and established a cave under its sanctuary as his room of prayer and meditation.

It has retained its distinct Spanish Mission architecture and Baroque altar in good state through conservation and maintenance. The Franciscan headquarters and church-convent complex was declared an important cultural property (ICP) by the National Museum. The SFDM church was also declared as a minor basilica by the Holy See during the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Santo Domingo Church

The Santo Domingo Church is the largest church in Metro Manila and one of the biggest churches across Asia. It is home to Quezon City’s patroness Our Lady of La Naval de Manila, the 16th-century venerated icon of Virgin Mary, who is said to have interceded against Dutch attempts of invasion during the Manila Bay naval battle series in 1646.
With its current structure built in 1954, the Santo Domingo Church has an Art Deco design combined with Spanish modern style in contrast to the Baroque churches built during the Spanish colonial era. Headquartered by the Dominican friars in the Philippines, the national shrine was designated the first National Cultural Treasure in the city in 2012. This tranquil and peaceful oasis is located in the busy area of Quezon Avenue, near Gregorio Araneta Avenue.

Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy

Founded in 1856 by Augustinian friars, this diocesan shrine is the oldest church in the Novaliches district. In fact, it was just two years after the district was established when the church, initially called the Chapel of Corpus Christi, was founded under the decree of Archbishop Julian de Aranguren of Manila.

Structurally designed in modernism, the original church building was razed to the ground during the Filipino revolutionary times in the late 1890s. The only relic saved is a golden chalice encrusted with amethysts. The original image of the Marian icon, Our Lady of Mercy, known as Ina ng Novaliches (Mother of Novaliches), was carved by sculptor Wilfredo Layug in the early third millennium. The image, also known as La Verdarera, was commissioned in the early 1900s. The church was restored in 1928 and elevated as a diocesan shrine in 2008. This church filled with history is located along Quirino Highway.