Barasoain Church: Barasoain Church (Also Known As The Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish) Is A Roman

BARASOAIN CHURCH
Barasoain Church (also known as the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish) is a Roman
Catholic church built in 1888[1] in Malolos, Bulacan. It is about 42 kilometers away
from Manila. Having earned the title as the "Cradle of Democracy in the East, the most
important religious building in the Philippines", and the site of the First Philippine
Republic, the church is proverbial for its historical importance among Filipinos.
HISTORY
Barasoain was known before as "Bangkal" a part of Encomienda of Malolos integrated
by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi with the town of Calumpit in April 5, 1572. When
the Augustinian friars founded the Town of Malolos in 1580 as independent town,
Bangkal was become villages of Malolos under the town church. A hermitage made of
nipa and bamboo was constructed near the river between Maluslos (Malolos poblacion)
and Barasoain for the people of Bangkal. In that same year, Malolos Friar Curate and
Vicario Foraneo Fray Agustin Carreno, OSA established the first chapel at the old
Ermita of the old Cemetery of Malolos. Abandoned in 1680, it served as the temporary
visita of Barasoain, located in front of the Casa Tribunal (Presidencia), which is now
commonly called "Casa Real de Malolos." A big fire in the 17th century destroyed the
new church.
Another church building was commissioned and constructed on a new site, its present
location—corner of Paseo del Congreso and Antonio Bautista streets. Under the
supervision of Rev. Fr. Francisco Royo, O.S.A., the new church was built, made of light
materials. In 1884, during the celebration of the Flores de Mayo (Nuestra Señora del
Carmen), Patroness of the Parish, the temporary church was burned.
From 1630 to 1859, priests serving in Barasoain were from the nearby church, the
mother church of the town which is Parroquia dela Inmaculada Concepcion of Malolos.
Since the formal establishment of Barasoain as an independent parish to Malolos
Church in 1859, several priests were assigned by the Augustinian Order, and later by
the Archdiocese of Manila and Diocese of Malolos.
The separation of Barasoain and the construction of the church
In 1859, Barasoain was separated from Malolos. As a new town and parish, the Our
Lady of Mt. Carmel was deemed to be its patroness. Fr. Francisco Arriola, appointed
first parish on June 1, 1859, built the convent. A small ermita, constructed by Fr.
Melchor Fernandez in 1816 while he was parish priest of Malolos (1816–1840), served
as temporary parish church. One of the existing bells bears the year 1870. It was
installed by Fr. Emterio Ruperez. It was donated by the “principalia (sic) of Malolos.”
And dedicated to the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel of Barasoain. Fr. Francisco Royo replaced
the temporary chapel with a hewn stone church built between 1871 and 1878. This was
soon destroyed by fire. The only remnant of this church is one of its bells, installed by
Fr. Royo on February 30, 1873 and dedicated to St. Francis Xavier.Fr. Juan Giron who
succeeded him, used the chapel of the cemetery until this one, too, was destroyed by
the earthquakes of 1880. Fr. Giron then built temporary chapel of nipa and bamboo
which was burned down in 1884, during the solemn celebrations of the feast of Our
Lady of Mt. Carmel.
In 1885, Fr. Giron hired the services of contractor by the name of Magpayo and started
the construction of a massive church made of masonry and bricks. The church was
completed under Fr. Giron’s supervision. Jorde does not specify the year of its
completion; he says only that, “at the time it was completed the pockets of Fr. Giron
were drained.” In 1889, Fr. Martin Arconada started the construction of the tower and
the restoration of the convent. Three bells were installed in 1897. One of them is
dedicated to St. Martin, Bishop, and was donated by Fr. Martin Arconada. In 1894, Fr.
Miguel de Vera undertook another restoration of the convent.
Bell Tower of Barasoain Church
Inside the church

Philippine Revolution and the Malolos Congress
As tensions were brewing between the Filipino revolutionaries and the Americans who
have arrived in the country in the wake of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine
Revolutionary Government under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo decided to move
the capital north from Cavite to Malolos in Bulacan. Plans were made to write a new
constitution for the soon to be proclaimed Philippine Republic; Barasoain Church was
chosen to be the site of the First Philippine Congress, otherwise known as the Malolos
Congress, which convened on September 15, 1898 to draft what would become
the Malolos Constitution.
On January 21, 1899, the Malolos Constitution was ratified. This paved way for the
formal inauguration of the First Philippine Republic on January 23, 1899) with Emilio
Aguinaldo taking oath as president. But the outbreak of the Philippine-American War on
February 4 brought the republic into a crisis. The Malolos Congress held its last session
on the last week of February as the Aguinaldo government left Malolos and transferred
the capital to Nueva Ecija.
On March 31, 1899, the American forces captured Malolos and Barasoain as they were
placed under American control.
Reunited with Malolos and subsequent events
In 1903, the town of Barasoain was abolished as the former town was decreed to be
reunited with Malolos.
By Presidential Decree No. 260, Barasoain Church was proclaimed as a National
Shrine by President Ferdinand Marcos on August 1, 1973. A museum was opened at
the old convent of the church which is being managed by the National Historical
Commission of the Philippines.
In the wake of the 1998 Philippine Centennial celebrations, the church became the
venue for the inauguration of Joseph Estrada on June 30, 1998.[4]
Philippine bill issue
Before 2002, the image of the church has been depicted in certain monetary bills,
namely the English series one peso bill and the Pilipino, Ang Bagong Lipunan, and both
the 1985 and 1997 New Design series ten peso bill together with an image of Apolinario
Mabini (Andres Bonifacio on the 1997 version) on the other side. However, it was
replaced by a ten-peso coin without the representation of the church. In 2009, local
priests and Laban ng Bulacan movement officials, led by their chairman John Paul
Albert Limpo, initiated a signature campaign to appeal to the Philippine Bangko
Sentral restoring at least the image of the church in any present Philippine bill.[8]
After three years of petition, in December 2010, upon the issuance of the "New
Generation Currency" series for Philippine banknotes, the Barasoain Church is featured
again, this time in the 200-peso denomination.

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BARASOAIN CHURCH

Inside the church

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