Founded 1603 Functional status Active Architectural style Baroque architecture Function Place of worship Architectural type Church | Status National Shrine (1986) Phone +63 2 734 1271 | |
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Similar National Shrine of Saint Jud, Our Lady of Montserrat Abbey, Archdiocesan Shrine of Espiritu S, San Sebastian Church, Binondo Church | ||
The Regal Parish and National Shrine of Saint Michael and the Archangels, also known as San Miguel Church, is a Catholic church of the Latin Rite dedicated to the seven archangels, namely, Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, Saint Uriel, Saint Selatiel, Saint Jhudiel, and Saint Barachiel. Its present location is on the corner of Jose Laurel Street and General Solano Street, in San Miguel, Manila, the former original site of La Fábrica de Cerveza de San Miguel (now San Miguel Brewery).
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It is also known as Malacañang Church due to its proximity to Malacañang Palace, the official residence of the President of the Republic of the Philippines. Among the presidents that heard Mass at the shrine are Carlos P. García, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Fidel V. Ramos (who is Protestant).
The parish has only about 1,500 parishioners, some of whom came from old-rich families in the district of San Miguel, Manila. It is the only church in the country with priests permitted to administer the sacrament of Confirmation twice a week.
History
San Miguel Church was first built as a stone church in 1603 by the Jesuits in Paco, Manila (formerly known as Dilao). From the 17th up until the early 18th century, there was an increase of Japanese arrivals in that area, where they established a community. In 1611, the Jesuits and the local Catholics accommodated the Japanese Christians who were persecuted under the Tokugawa Shogunate. It was Dom Justo Takayama, a feudal lord, who led a group of approximately 300 Japanese Christians to the Philippines in 1614. According to some sources, the parish was named after Saint Michael, because most of the Japanese who arrived were of the samurai or warrior class.
The church was damaged in the 1645 Luzon earthquake, and during the British Occupation that was part of the Seven Years' War. The church was rebuilt in 1913 at its present site through the generous assistance of Doña Margarita Roxas de Ayala.
The church served as the pro-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Manila while Manila Cathedral was being rebuilt from 1946 to 1958 following its destruction in World War II. It was elevated to the rank of National Shrine in 1986. The church follows a European Baroque architecture, and features its symmetrical bell towers.
Notable events
Former President Ferdinand E. Marcos and beauty queen Imelda Romuáldez were married in the shrine (then the pro-cathedral) on May 1, 1954. Their wedding was tagged as the Wedding of the Year.
Archbishop Gabriel M. Reyes, the archdiocese's first Filipino ordinary who served from 1949 to 1952, was first entombed in the National Shrine of St. Michael and the Archangels before his remains were transferred to Manila Cathedral. Also buried in the church are the remains of Don Domingo Roxas, patriarch of the Zóbel-de Ayala-Roxas-Soriano clans.