Malate Church

Foundation The Augustinian Chapter held on September 18, 1581, accepted the house of Maalat as a house of the Order under the name of Lagunoi, and the advocation of the Conception of Our Lady (Immaculate Conception). In the Chapter held on May 17, 1590, three resident priests of the monastery of San Agustín (Manila) were charged with the care of the natives of Malate; they were Frs. Alfonso de Castro, Diego Muñoz, and Ildefonso Gutiérrez. The report of the Father Provincial of 1591 reveals that the house of Malate together with Lagunoi had 1,200 persons, convent and church. In 1639, the convent of Malate contributed to the patriotic campaign of Governor-General Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera, former governor of Panamá, who brought Peruvian soldiers as well as Panamanians and Genoese to fight against Muslim pirates, with a donation of two bells of seven arrobas and seven libras (approx. 154 kg. & 220 g.). In 1624, Fr. Juan de Guevara brought from Andalucía, Spain, the image of the which was said to be miraculous. It “had graceful features”, says San Agustín, “was half vara high (417 mm.) and slightly brown”. Fr. Castro's version is different: “I saw the image a thousand times,” he wrote, “but she never looked brown to me, but rather white with hands and face of white ivory.” The devotion to the made Malate a renowned shrine. People flocked to venerate the image, especially on Saturdays, with women presenting their babies to the Virgin. Except for a short time, Malate was always administered by the Augustinians. The priest of Malate also ministered to neighbouring Ermita from 1591 to 1610, since the two barrios had been united by Governor-General Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas with the approval of Bishop Domingo de Salazar, O.P. Pasay was separated from Malate under the name of Pineda on May 17, 1863. Malate was also a place of recreation for the residents of the Walled City and long a meeting place for noblemen, Tagalogs and their kings like Rajah Matanda and Rajah Soliman. It easily became “the most aristocratic barrio of Manila where Spaniards and mestizos dwelt”. Fr. Francisco Cuadrado constructed the third church, the present one, in 1864 almost in its entirety except for the façade. Cuadrado, then the parish priest, started the reconstruction. The “just one”, as he was called by his parishioners, toured the city and nearby provinces to raise the necessary funds. His efforts paid off as he collected more than what he needed. Thus, he was known for gathering the poor fishermen of his parish and sharing with them his “savings”. Towards the war's end in 1945, the church and convent were left in complete ruins, and its records reduced to ashes. Rebuilding the church was undertaken by the Columban Fathers during the 1950s. They rebuilt the roof, altar, dome, and transept while the interior was painted. The bricks and the stone outside were returned to their pristine color in 1978. On April 22, 2023, the National Museum of the Philippines declared the church an Important Cultural Property. == Architecture ==

Malate Church is one of only two nationwide with twisted columns and in effect a retablo-type façade, the other being the Franciscan Daraga Church in Albay. If Santa Ana was the summer resort by the Pasig River from the 17th to the 19th centuries, Malate was its counterpart by Manila Bay. Seaside villas beautified the place as a virtual college town emerged, with St. Scholastica's College and De La Salle College on the south, University of the Philippines and Ateneo Municipal on Padre Faura Street on the north and some, other private schools within the boundaries of the barrio. The central, rectangular body of the three-storey façade is flanked by two projecting cylindrical buttresses, shaped into half-embedded hexagonal forms, converted from bell towers with the third tier as belfries. The embellishments on the stone surface are worked onto the natural surface, making it appear as if the ornamentation had emerged on the surface as a holistic part of the design. The Augustinian symbol, the flaming heart, is carved on both sides of the entrance. Bells hang from the uppermost part of the now-side buttresses. The illusion of solidity and height are from the twisted columns, a popular feature in Mexican Baroque and used extensively in retablos but seldom on façades. The combination of Romanesque columns on the first storey, the twisted columns on the second, and the blind balusters are clearly Baroque. The plain pediment suggests a Renaissance style of architecture. The design of the church façade is unusual with the use of trefoil blind arches which clearly indicate Moorish influence. The large opening of the lower level is balanced by the blind trefoil openings of the second, and the semi-circular niche of the third. Laid out across the tiers like cornices are diamond and rectangular designs, as well as the shallow, ornamental relief work suggestive of Islamic art. Few openings suggest massiveness, while the bell towers give an impression of solidity and strength in “squeezing” the middle part of the façade. Interior Enshrined above the high altar is the small statue of Our Lady of Remedios, brought from Spain in 1624. This image is popular with mothers who have sick children; they manifest their devotion by lighting special candles and pouring private petitions to the Virgin. File:Malate Church Interior, Manila, Mar 2024.jpg|Church interior in 2024 File:MalateChurchjf0846_14.JPG| File:Malatechurchjf0906 02.JPG|Church sanctuary ==References==