Sister Churches: Santuario de Santo Cristo and Santísimo Rosario

October 01, 2020

SISTER CHURCHES: SANTUARIO DE SANTO CRISTO PARISH (SSCP) and SANTÍSIMO ROSARIO PARISH (SRP)

Santísimo Rosario Parish

Santuario de Santo Cristo Parish

Some would regard the Santísimo Rosario Parish-UST in Manila and the Santuario de Santo Cristo Parish in San Juan as sister parish churches since both are under the jurisdiction of the Dominican Fathers and both were founded in the same year, 1942. However, there are some interesting details to discuss in order to show that these sister parish churches have trudged two different historical paths.

SSCP LOCATION = San Juan, Manila

The story of place started since the 17th century when the idea for the Dominican Fathers to have an R and R house (repose or rest and recovery) was conceptualized, which was accepted with hesitancy provided that:

the land would have to be donated, since they could not afford the luxury of buying it;
It should be in a healthy place, with climate cooler than Manila and
It must not far from the capital and readily accessible.

In 1616, the house became independent from Santo Domingo convent in Intramuros, and came to be known as the “House of San Juan Bautista del Monte.”

SRP LOCATION = Sampaloc, Manila

Until the 20th century, a large portion of the Sampaloc area was composed of rice fields and forests dotted with hills and crisscrossed by small dirt roads. The are was filled with groves of tamarind trees. Hence, the are is called Sampaloc.

SSCP SHRINE = Santuario (Shrine) of Santo Cristo

In 1641, Fr Sebastián de Oquendo, OP, the Prior of Santo Domingo Convent in Intramuros, decided to send to San Juan the image of the Santo Cristo that was then venerated in Binondo Church (another Dominican possession). The venerable image was brought to the reconstructed church in San Juan and placed on the main altar, displacing the image of San Juan Bautista, since the image, which was "nine palmos in height" (approx. 1.80 meters) would not fit. From then on, devotion to the Santo Cristo spread to nearby communities. Now, it has become a Santuario de Santo Cristo.

SRP SHRINE = Provisional Shrine of La Naval

The Gothic Sto. Domingo Church in Intramuros was destroyed during the bombing of Manila by the Japanese Imperial Army on December 27, 1941. The fire that started in the bell tower, spread to the library and to the private quarters of the convent. What remained were once again bombarded by the planes which returned the next day. The first image of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary that was brought by the Dominicans was destroyed from its fixed location in the facade of the Church but the image of La Naval and the archives of the Province were safely kept inside a vault. Only few other relics, sacred vessels and images were saved. The University of Santo Tomas Chapel became the Provisional chapel of La Naval from 1942 until it was transferred in solemn procession to her present shrine in Quezon City in 1954.

SSCP PARISH = 3 May 1942

Seventy years before the erection of the parish, the faithful of San Juan had been clamoring to have a separate parish in San Juan. The formal negotiations to have the Santuario raised to the status of a Parish between the Archbishop of Manila. Most Rev. Michael O’Doherty, DD and the Dominican Order began in November 1941. But before the resolution could be put into effect, the war broke out. It would be the following year, with the country already occupied by the Japanese, that, at long last, some 70 years after the local people had asked for it, and 50 years from the establishment of the first Parish in San Juan at Pinaglabanan, that a Parish was canonically erected at the Santuario del Sto. Cristo on May 3, 1942.

SRP PARISH = 21 March 1942

It was Most Rev. Michael J. O'Doherty, Archbishop of Manila, who decreed in March 21, 1942 that the Santísimo Rosario Parish be established in Sulucan (now Sampaloc), with the then newly-built chapel of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomás as its parish church. At that time, the Japanese had just started occupying Manila, the La Naval had just been evacuated, the new UST campus was turned into a concentration camp, so the parish began its life in a time of terrible suffering and tribulation. Through it all, we have been sustained by our loving mother, the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary.

SSCP PARISH PRIESTS

Fr. (later, Bishop) Peregrin de la Fuente, OP (1942-1944) - First Bishop-Prelate of Batanes-Babuyanes
Fr. Santos Galende, OP (1944-1949)
Fr. Patricio Rodrigo, OP (1949-1958)
Fr. Benito Vargas, OP (1958-1959) - First Filipino Parish Priest who is also the First Filipino Assistant Parish Priest of SRP afterwards).
Fr. Crispin Marqueses, OP (1959-1971)
Fr. Gerardo Manzanedo, OP (1971-1984)
Fr. Jesús Prol, OP (1984-1985)
Fr. Ramón Perez, OP (1985-1993)
Fr. Jesús Prol, OP (1993-2017)
Fr. Matthias Nga Reh, OP (2017-present)