Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, also known as Barásoain Church () is a Roman Catholic church built in 1888
Etymology
The name "
Barásoain" is from Barásoain in
Navarre,
Spain, the birthplace of José Julián de Aranguren, OSA (February 16, 1801 – April 18, 1861). He served as the 22nd Archbishop of Manila from 1847 to 1861.
History
Barásoain was originally known as "
Bangkál", a part of
Encomienda of Malolos integrated by Miguel López de Legaspi with the town of
Calumpit to the west on April 5, 1572. When the
Augustinians friars made Malolos a separate town in 1580, Bangkál became a village under the jurisdiction of the town church. A hermitage made of
Nypa fruticans and bamboo was constructed near the river between Maluslos (Malolos
Poblacion) and Barasoain for the people of Bangkál. In that same year, Malolos
curate and
Vicar Forane Fray Agustín Carreno, OSA established the first chapel at the old
ermita of the old Cemetery of Malolos. Abandoned in 1680, it served as the temporary
chapel-of-ease of Barásoain, located in front of the
Casa Tribunal (
Presidencia), which is now commonly called
Casa Real de Malolos. A 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 Francisco Royo, the new church was built, made of light materials. In 1884, the temporary church burnt down during Flores de Mayo celebrations.
From 1630 to 1859, priests serving in Barásoain were from the nearby mother church of the town, the Parroquia de la Inmaculada Concepción de Malolos. Since the formal establishment of Barásoain 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.
Separation of Barásoain and construction of the church
In 1859, Barásoain was separated from Malolos. As a new town and parish, the Our Lady of Mount Carmel was chosen to be its patroness. Francisco Arriola was appointed first parish priest on June 1, 1859, and he built the convent. A small ermita, constructed by Melchor Fernández in 1816 while he was parish priest of Malolos (1816–1840), served as the temporary parish church. One of the existing bells bears the year 1870; installed by Emeterio Rupérez, it was donated by the "principalía (sic) of Malolos." The bell was also dedicated to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel of Barásoain. 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 Royo in 1873 and dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier. Juan Girón, who succeeded him, used the chapel of the cemetery until this one, too, was destroyed by the earthquakes of 1880. Girón 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 Mount Carmel.
In 1885, Girón hired contractor Miguel Magpayo and began construction of a massive church made of masonry and brick. The church was completed under Girón's supervision. Jorde does not specify the year of its completion; he says only that, "at the time it was completed the pockets of Girón were drained."
In 1889, Martín Arconada started construction of the belfry and the restoration of the convent. Three bells were installed in 1897. One of them is was donated by Arconada and dedicated to his namesake, Saint Martin of Tours. In 1894, Miguel de Vera undertook another restoration of the convent.
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 evacuate the capital north from
Cavite to Malolos. Plans were made to write a new constitution for the soon to be proclaimed Philippine Republic; Barásoain Church was chosen to be the site of the
Malolos Congress, otherwise known as the Malolos Congress, which convened on September 15, 1898 to draft 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)
On March 31, 1899, American forces captured Malolos and Barásoain, which were placed under military control.
Reunification with Malolos and subsequent events
In 1903, the town of Barásoain was dissolved and re-annexed to Malolos.
By Presidential Decree No. 260, Barásoain Church was proclaimed as a National Shrine by President Ferdinand Marcos on August 1, 1973.
In the wake of the 1998 Philippine Centennial celebrations, the church became the venue for the inauguration of Joseph Estrada on June 30, 1998.
Philippine bill issue
The image of the church has been depicted in certain monetary bills until 2001, namely the
English series one peso bill and the
Pilipino Series,
Ang Bagong Lipunan, and both the 1985 and 1997
New Design series ten peso bill together with an image of Apolinario Mabini (with Andrés 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 then-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.
After three years of petition and nine years since the last printing of the ten peso bill in 2001, in December 2010, upon the issuance of the "New Generation Currency" series for Philippine banknotes, Barásoain Church was featured again, this time in the 200-peso denomination, with the facade from 2010 to 2017 and its interior since 2017 with the scene of the opening of the Malolos Congress.
List of parish priests and rectors
|
|
| Francisco Arriola | 1860–1869 |
| Emiterio Ruperas | 1869–1872 |
| Francisco Royo | 1873–1879 |
| Juan Giron | 1881–1889 |
| Martin Arconada | 1889–1894 |
| Miguel Vera | 1894–1895 |
| Martin Arnada | 1898–1899 |
| Juan dela Rosa | 1899–1900 |
| Osmundo Lim | 1900–1902 |
| Carlos Inquimboy | 1902–1923 |
| Vicente Fernandez | 1923–1938 |
| Angel Cruz | 1939–1942 |
| Artemio Pascual | 1943–1944 |
| Arsenio Reyes | 1944–1950 |
| Pedro Abad | 1950–1951 |
| Jose Aguinaldo | 1951–1957 |
| Angel Pengson | 1957–1987 |
| Serafin Riego de Dios | 1987–1988 |
| Moises Andrade | 1989–1993 |
| Jose Aguilan Jr. | 1993–2000 |
| Filemon Capiral | 2000–2007 |
| Angelito J. Santiago, Jr. | 2007–2013 |
| Mario DJ Arenas | 2013–2014 |
Rev. Msgr. Dario V. Cabral[Cabral was appointed as Chaplain of His Holiness alongside Salonga in 2025.] | 2014–2021 |
Rev. Msgr. Domingo M. Salonga P.C.[Salonga was appointed as Chaplain of His Holiness alongside Cabral in 2025.] | 2021–present |
|
Gallery
File:Barasoain Church interior 2023-12-16.jpg|Church nave with parol hung, Christmas 2023
File:Barasoain Church nave tiles.jpg|The church's nave tiles.
File:Barasoain Bell Tower.jpg|Church bell tower
File:Barasoain Church altar.jpg|Church altar
File:Biyak na Bato, Malolos, Bulacan.jpg|Biyak na Bato
External links
