Beginnings and Spread of Faith in Cavite

When the Spanish conquestadores came to Cavite, they brought with them not only the Spanish flag, but also the Holy Catholic Faith. The Spanish missionaries lost no time in evangelizing the natives so that by the end of the 16th Century, two parishes were established in Cavite. These were Silang in the upland area and Cavite Puerto in the lowland coastal area serving as the cradles of the Catholic faith in Cavite.

It was in 1585 when the Franciscans began sowing the seeds of the Catholic Faith in Silang, then the biggest town in upland Cavite. Silang was originally an encomienda of Don Diego de Villalobos. Attached to it were the old towns of Indang and Maragondon. By 1595, Silang was already established as a parish with Indang and Maragondon as its “vistas.” However, by 1598, the Franciscans were obliged to give up the spiritual stewardship of Silang. On May 5, 1599, Silang was formally entrusted to the Jesuits by the Cathedral Chapter of Manila. The Jesuit Fathers Pedro Clurino and Salsi were assigned on temporary mission in Silang on 1601. By 1611, Silang had become a permanent Jesuit mission.

In the Annual Report of the Jesuit Mission in 1614, a beautiful description of the devotional life of the people of Silang is given: “Every day at dawn, the church bell rings for all the children to come to the church. Thence they go in procession through the town chanting the catechism in their native tongue. The passing of the procession, so numerous (There were as many as 200 boys) and so devotional, is a constant delight to the beholder. They returned to the church where they recited the principal points of Christian doctrine and answer questions on them. Then they hear mass, after which they betake themselves to school. Some learn their first letters; others are further exercised in catechism. No one was permitted to work in their farms or help their parents, until he is solidly grounded on the faith. On Sundays, all the people, young and old, attended catechism lesson in the church.”

In this task of catechizing the people, the Jesuits were greatly helped by a lay catechist, who was formerly a “catalonan” (pagan priest). In his Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, Fr. Pedro Chirino S.J., gave a very good description of Diego Masanga, a catalonan turned catechist, and Indian, who though physically blind, was spiritually very enlightened, and who with extraordinary faith, love, and delight in the things of God teaches those who wish to be baptized, instructing them morning and afternoon in church. “He is so proficient in catechism that not one of us could do it better so that they came from him excellently instructed. And although he cannot see, he keeps a good count of the many catechumens under his charge that if one is absent, he unfailingly took notice of it and informs the priest accordingly…he used to be one of the pagan priest…now transformed into a preacher of our faith.

In 1640, an Indio of Silang named Andres found an image of the Virgin encased in a box. A friend of Andres was so captivated by its beauty that he asked Andres for the image. The latter gave it without hesitation. The image gained popular devotion that many people gathered around it daily to pray the rosary. In January 30, 1643, the Indio left for Friday devotion. When he returned home, he found the case of the Virgin empty. He went searching for the image, until he found it in the mountains of Silang. After several times of disappearances and recoveries, the Virgin was brought to the church – and the devotion to the Virgin became widespread.

By 1643, Silang already had a church made of stone built under the administration of Fr. Juan de Salazar S.J., provincial of the Jesuits. More likely, it was built between 1637 and 1639. The church underwent a series of repairs and constructions. In 1656, the mission was reported to be ministering to 4,000 souls.

“Every day at dawn, the church bell rings for all the children to come to the church. Thence they go in procession through the town chanting the catechism in their native tongue. The passing of the procession, so numerous (There were as many as 200 boys) and so devotional, is a constant delight to the beholder. They returned to the church where they recited the principal points of Christian doctrine and answer questions on them. .

From Silang, Jesuit missionaries were sent to neighboring areas to continue the evangelization started by the Franciscans. Under the leadership of Fr. Angelo Armano, S.J., the Jesuit mission was established in Silang in 1600. By 1625, Indang was separated from Silang as an independent parish. The greater part of the church of Indang was constructed under the supervision of Fr. Luis Morales, S.J., between 1672 and 1676. It was fully completed by 1707, and in 1710, the convent was finished. The church walls and ceilings were painted in polychromatic trompe l’oiel. Although popular tradition stated that the original patron of Indang was St. Francis Xavier, the parish was officially dedicated to San Gregorio Magno, one of the best popes, who introduced a lot of reforms in the church.

In 1614, Maragondon was established as a quasi-parish administered by the Jesuits residing in Silang. A report in 1618 accounted the town with a church and an ongoing evangelization. Another report in 1620 narrated that the town’s people donated 70 pesos for the purchase of the image of the Virgin. By 1627, the parish of the Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion was established.

In 1630, a second church was built. In 1633, the new church, which was bigger and has more elaborate furnishing was completed. Between 1646 and 1649, the church was demolished by the order of the government during the Spanish-Dutch war. On May 30, 1650, the Jesuits were given permission to rebuild the church and the convent made of wood. By 1690, the construction of a new church began. According to Fr. Pedro Velarde Murillo, S.J., the church was completed in 1714. Interesting about this church was the inscription emblazoned on the roof truss. In 1870, the first Vatican Council was convoked. In the Philippines it was commemorated as a jubilee year. The secular parish priest De los Reyes had it inscribed that a crowd of parishioners were in the church of the festivities.

Much earlier though in 1513, the Portuguese succeeded in establishing their sovereignty over Moluccas, the Spice Islands – one of the most coveted areas in the world then – to which Ternate was a part. St. Francis Xavier, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary established a Christian settlement in the area. However, by 1574, many Christianized Moluccans turned their back from the Catholic Faith and rose in revolt to expel the Portuguese from Ternate because of their harsh administration. When the Spanish and Portuguese thrones were joined together by the Most Catholic Majesty, King Philip II, the Spaniards succeeded in establishing themselves in Ternate. The Jesuits ministered to the Spaniards as well as the native Christian Mardekas left by the Portuguese missionaries.

“In 1614, Maragondon was established as a quasi-parish administered by the Jesuits residing in Silang. A report in 1618 accounted the town with a church and an ongoing evangelization. Another report in 1620 narrated that the town’s people donated 70 pesos for the purchase of the image of the Virgin. By 1627, the parish of the Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion was established.

However, the Spaniards could hardly maintain the place and was eventually forced to give it up. When the Spanish soldiers evacuated to Manila, 200 loyal Christianized Mardekas, who regarded themselves as spiritual sons of St. Francis Xavier, went with them to help defend Manila from the Chinese pirate Koxinga. In recognition of this gesture, Governor General Sabiano Manrique de Lara resettled the Mardekas in a strip of land north of Maragondon. By 1663, the Mardekas had settled in what was formerly known as Barra de Maragondon, which they renamed Ternate as a reminder of their place of origin. The new settlers brought with them a beautiful image of the Santo Niño, and by 1692, a church in honor of the Santo Niño, which was made of stone was completed. Sometime in the 1700s, Ternate was reduced into a vista of Maragondon. The image of the Santo Niño was taken to Maragondon where it stayed for most of the year and only brought back to Ternate during the fiesta.

In 1843, a new church was built, but it was destroyed during the revolution of 1899. The Sto. Niño de Ternate drew a lot of devotees. Many miracles were attributed to it. The Jesuits never tired of conquering the hinterlands for Christ, also established the missions in Carmona by 1697 and Naic by 1693. On the other side of Cavite, the Catholic Faith spread along the coastal areas of lowland Cavite to Cavite Puerto as its center. Because of this convenient harbor and flourishing commerce, Cavite Puerto had become a thriving community towards the end of the 16th Century. Here, sailors and craftsmen, artists, and shipbuilders lived side by side. To minister to the spiritual needs of the people, Cavite Puerto was made a visita of the parish of Parañaque, which was founded by the Augustinians with Fray Diego de Espinar as its first parish priest. The missionaries had to cross Manila Bay to cater to the needs of the people. In 1602, the Ecclesiastical Chapter of Manila reported that since 1586 a cleric had been assigned in Cavite with a stipend “as poor as the others.”

There seemed to be a controversy regarding the administration of the mission. In the letter dated March 19, 1591, Governor General Gomez Perez de Dasmariñas suggested to Bishop Domingo de Salazar that Parañaque and Cavite should be administered as one entity under the Augustinians. While the Bishop agreed with the Governor’s idea, he maintained that only he had the authority over ecclesiastical affairs. Two months later, Governor Dasmariñas reported that Cavite, together with the surrounding villages of Cavite Viejo, Binacayan, and Bacoor, were under the secular priest of the parish of San Pedro, which must have been established between 1586 and 1591. Another town under the care of the parish was San Roque, a town adjacent to the Puerto, was created as independent town in 1614. The Royal Cedula of March 10, 1688 created San Roque as an independent parish.

Kawit is a town on the other side of Bacoor Bay, just opposite the Cavite Puerto. The entire province got its name from the place. The word Cavite came from the Tagalog word “Kawit e.” The Spaniards finding it difficult to pronounce the letter “W” changed it to “V.” It was the mother town of Cavite Puerto, hence it was called Cavite Viejo. In 1615, the Archbishop of Manila Garcia Serrano placed Kawit under the spiritual care of the Jesuits. It was a principal resort for soldiers, sailors, and other seafarers on short leave, and thus a haven for pleasure seekers. Fr. Murillo Velarde described the early ministry in Kawit: “Small but difficult to administer, on account of the people being scattered and far more because of the corruption of morals for lacking the presence of the pastor, and the wolves of the nations who have come here from all parts for trade being so near, it might better be called a herd of goats than a flock of sheep – this village being as it were, the public brothel of that port, and there was hardly a house where this sort of commerce was not established.”

Kawit is a town on the other side of Bacoor Bay, just opposite the Cavite Puerto. The entire province got its name from the place. The word Cavite came from the Tagalog word “Kawit e.” The Spaniards finding it difficult to pronounce the letter “W” changed it to “V.” It was the mother town of Cavite Puerto, hence it was called Cavite Viejo."

The Jesuits tried to remedy the situation, and they could not think of any better way except to dedicate their church to Saint Mary Magdalene and “to pray that its bell tower ringing mellowly at dawn and dusk, marking the beginning and the end of mortality might now and again bring to the feet of Christ some nameless sisters of the woman who was a sinner.” By 1624, Kawit was already an independent parish. In 1638, Kawit, the land of salt beds and fishponds was dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. The present church dates back to 1715.

Just like some of the upland towns, Las Estancias or San Francisco de Malabon (General Trias) was also part of the Franciscan mission territory where Archbishop Serrano turned over Kawit to the Jesuits, and San Francisco de Malabon went with it. According to Ricky Jose, an expert on Cavite Ecclesiastical and Art History, San Francisco de Malabon had a priest who ministered to the people even as early as 1661. However, the parish would be established almost a hundred years later.

Just like Kawit and Binakayan, Bacoor was under the Jesuits until 1622. However, residents of Bacoor had to go to Cavite Puerto for their religious obligations especially during the Holy Week by bancas, which usually got lost in the surging waves. Eventually, the residents of Bacoor requested to have their town be created as an independent parish notwithstanding the shortness of the trip by water from Bacoor to Cavite for many others have not met the same fate.

Imus was founded as an independent civil town in 1775. In the late 18th Century, Imus had only a visita consisting of a temporary nipa shed in Toclong, now referred to as Bayang Luma. Occasionally, holy sacraments were dispensed in their visita by the river by a priest, and during religious holidays by a coadjutor from Kawit. By 1782, a secular priest, Fr. Jose de Sta. Rosa, was assigned to take care of the spiritual needs of the people. It was formally erected as an independent parish by virtue of a decree of 1795 with Fr. Francisco de Santiago, ORSA, as the first cura colado. Since then, the parish of Imus had been under the administration of the Recollect Fathers until the outbreak of the revolution in 1896.

The town of Perez Dasmariñas, which was once part of the Recollect Hacienda de Imus, had always been under the spiritual ministry of the Recollects. On October 21, 1866, her Most Catholic Majesty, Queen Isabella II, signed the Royal Order creating the independent parish of Perez Dasmariñas. In 1867, the first parish priest, Fr. Valentin Diaz, ORSA, was installed.