BEACHES AND CHURCHES: THE CHURCHES OF NUEVA ECIJA: Part One: DIOCESE OF CABANATUAN

Tuesday, April 03, 2018

THE CHURCHES OF NUEVA ECIJA: Part One: DIOCESE OF CABANATUAN

The province of Nueva Ecija is composed of 27 municipalities and 5 cities divided into four congressional districts. Ecclesiastically, Nueva Ecija is divided into two dioceses, the Diocese of Cabanatuan and the Diocese of San Jose. The Diocese of Cabanatuan comprises of 16 towns of the southern part of the province and the cities of Cabanatuan, Gapan and Palayan which are part of the third and fourth congressional districts including Talavera and Zaragoza from the first district. The Diocese of San Jose, Nueva Ecija comprises of the city of San Jose and the Science City of Muñoz and 12 other municipalities in Northern Nueva Ecija which are the first and second congressional districts.

During the Holy Week of 2018 I decided to visit the main parish churches of the towns of the province. I was able to visit all of the towns and cities comprising the Diocese of Cabanatuan which will be featured in this post. I will display them in the order that I visited them except that of the Cathedral of Cabanatuan which I will place at the end.
Part two will show the churches of the Diocese of San Jose, Nueva Ecija.

ST. JOHN NEPOMUCENE PARISH

Cabiao, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1847

ST. ISIDORE THE WORKER PARISH

San Isidro, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1843

ST. ANTHONY ABBOT PARISH

San Antonio, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1843

A Pabasa broadcasted over the loud speakers of the church was ongoing when we visited the Church of San Antonio.

ST. AUGUSTINE PARISH

Jaen, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1868

Distinctive of the Church of Jaen was the huge relief of St. Augustine at the main altar with four niches of saints at its sides.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW PARISH

San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1896

ST. ROSE OF LIMA PARISH

Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1879

HOLY CROSS PARISH

General Tinio, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1935

A Pabasa was also being sang at the church of General Tinio when we visited it.

Minalungao National Park, General Tinio, Nueva Ecija

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI PARISH

Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1853

THREE KINGS PARISH

Gapan City, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1595

The statues of the Three Kings were in front of a side altar retablo with the statues of the Holy Family encased in glass in a niche behind them.

ST. NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO PARISH

San Nicolas, Gapan City, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1971

OUR LADY OF FATIMA PARISH

Gen. Mamerto Natividad, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1964

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI PARISH

Bongabon, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1760

Bas reliefs on the life of St. Francis of Assisi at the doors of the Church. The relief above depicts St. Francis returning his clothes to his father.

ST. STEPHEN THE KING PARISH

Laur, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1938

ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE PARISH

Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1964

What interested me most during my visit to Gabaldon was learning about a unique Good Friday tradition shared by Gabaldon and the neighboring town of Dingalan in the province of Aurora, known as the Gabalding Encounter. The parishioners of these two towns, belonging to different provinces and dioceses, would set out in procession, praying the Stations of the Cross along the way, and meet halfway up the mountain near the welcome marker of Dingalan.

The processions would begin at seven in the morning. Upon reaching the hilly area where the two groups would meet, the two parish communities would come together for the Good Friday Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion. I was told that thousands of people attend this annual event, a tradition that began in 1975.

Fr. Benjie at the Bahay Pari, who had previously served as parish priest of Gabaldon, had in fact invited me to join them. Had I known about the tradition earlier and had I not already made other plans for that day, I would gladly have joined them.

ST. CECILIA PARISH

Palayan City, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1976

The view of the church of Palayan from the main highway. It was a huge church which was still unfinished but already being used.

NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LAS SALERAS PARISH

Aliaga, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1849

For Holy Thursday, I had planned to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in Aliaga, whose parish priest was my contemporary at UST. I asked one of the priests at the Bahay Pari for his contact number and sent him a message. When I received no reply, I simply presumed that the Mass would be at five in the afternoon, which is a common time for the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

Since we still had several other churches to visit that day, it was already 4:30 p.m. when we arrived in Aliaga. As soon as we got out of the car, I could hear someone preaching. At first, I thought there was a Holy Hour before the Mass, only to discover that the priest was already delivering his homily. When I looked at the schedule posted in front of the church, I saw that the Mass had begun at four in the afternoon.

After taking some pictures, I decided that we should return to Quezon, which we had just visited and which already belonged to the Diocese of San Jose. I hoped that we could still catch the five o’clock Mass there. Fortunately, we arrived just in time.

After the Mass and supper in Quezon, we passed through Aliaga again to see the parish priest, Fr. Robert, who graciously showed us around the church and its premises. When I mentioned the message I had sent him earlier, I learned that he already had a different phone number. That explained why I had never received a reply.

Altar of the Aliaga parish church taken on June 3, 2023.

Picture taken on June 3, 2023. There is already a covered walk leading towards the church.

ST. ISIDORE THEWORKER PARISH

Talavera, Nueva Ecija

Founded: 1846

I concelebrated the Good Friday Commemoration of the Passion of the Lord in Talavera as I had heard that the parish has a tradition of Good Friday procession with several carrozas. There were at least 60 carrozas depicting the different personalities and events connected to the Passion and death of Christ.