Immaculate Conception Parish

Boac, Marinduque

Program of Activities

SCHEDULE OF MASSES TIME

Everyday Mass - 5:00 AM

Wednesday Mass - 4:45 PM
First Friday Mass Holy Hour of Confession - 5:00 AM
Baptism Every Saturday - 10:00 AM
Wedding Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
Confirmation was scheduled by the Parish
Flores de Mayo - Whole month of May
Holy Week
Pastoral Visit depends upon the decision of the bishop
 Some Notes on the Parishes

The conquest of Marinduque by the Spanish conquistadores was peaceful. From all
indigenous the Cross and not the sword were used. The coming of the missionaries, the
Christianization of the natives, the founding of the towns and the building of the churches were
all that were necessary to lead its inhabitants to recognize lawful authority.
According to Father Agustin Cavada (Historia Geografica, Geologica y Estadistica de
Filipinas Tomo II, Manila, p. 478) the Augustinian Friars so zealously worked for the conversion
of the island of Mindoro, of which Marinduque was a part, from 1572 to 1579.
In 1579 the Franciscan Friars took charge of these missions. Father Pedro Huerta (1856
said that Father Esteban Ortiz of the Franciscan Order came to Marinduque in 1579. His
missionary work laid the foundation of the first three towns. Our Lady of Monseratt of
Marinduque (probably the town of Boac); San Juan de Marinduque (Santa Cruz) and San
Bernardo de Marinduque (Gasan).
BOAC PARISH CHURCH

In the construction of the permanent churches in the three towns of Marinduque in which
the main idea was to provide the communities with adequate places of worship, said structures
were erected to withstand the rigors of the weather and earthquakes and to serve as places of
refuge in cases of invasion particularly by the Moros.

FORTRESS CHURCHES

Stylistically fortress churches do not differ much from churches built in less war prone
areas. They do not represent a particular style. The fortresses churches of Boac and Sta. Cruz
de Napo, for instance, use the familiar two stories with a triangular pediment faade, the single
nave or cruciform plan, and heavy buttressing for the walls. There are two kinds of fortress
church: the first, represented by Boac, has a wall surrounding the church, strategically located on
top of a hill. In case an attack the church becomes the second line of defense. The second,
represented by Sta. Cruz de Napo, uses the church itself as the main defense. True, a wall
surrounds the churchyard but this is built low and can be easily assaulted.
BOAC
Boac was the principal Jesuit house on the island. Although it remained juridically
dependent on Silang for some time, called a domus rather than a residentia, Boac seems to
have been a favorite place for sending Jesuits to prepared for ministry among the Tagalog for we
read that Jesuits were assigned there to study Tagalog.

THE BOAC CHURCH

We don not have dates for the construction of Boac walls but it would certainly make
sense if we assume that the walls were built sometime in the latter part of the eighteen century
when frequent raids were abroad. The walls, at times as high as three meters, crown the top of
the hill, today called Mataas na Bayan. There are six sides to the walls, each side of unequal
length. At every corner are bulwarks with openings of artillery. A sixth bulwark doubles as a
sacristy. The church faade faces east and catches the rising sun. the convento built behind it
opens to a vista of the Boac river and distant Laylay, where at the delta stands the ruins of an old
watchtower. The church is built closer to the southern side of the walls. Two gates pierce the
walls, one at the northern side facing the river and the other at the southern side facing the hills.
Today a third breach has been cut into the walls. The eastern bulwark has been demolished, an
archway made, and a road for cars laid out. Stories go that there are secret passages leading from
hillock to river and from hillock to town. One entrance could be that found in the convento and
the other in the sacristy but all these passages have been boarded up.
We can describe Boacs faade as a modified 71 San Ignacio type. However, ornaments
are limited to the central portal area, the first floor, and the area around the central window of the
second. A niche, with the image of San Miguel slaughtering the devil, crowns a plain triangular
pediment and burnay jars adorn the corners of the faade. The bell tower is of four stories built of
adobe. The first two are quadrilateral and of equal sizes; the upper two octagonal, the higher one
smaller than the lower one. Windows pierce the sides of the bell tower and from them we get an
unencumbered view of the town, the river and the sea. The faade used to be finished with a
heavy coat of stucco out of which decorative elements were molded. But a mistaken idea of
restoration has overrun the church. In the past few years, all the stucco has been removed,
revealing haphazard brickwork on the mistaken notion that brickwork was the original finish of
the church.
 The sides of the church are heavily buttressed 75 with rubblework. Windows pierce the
walls in-between buttresses. These come in pairs, a circular one placed above a rectangular one
with an arched lintel. The windows are placed high on the walls, although in the 1950s more
windows were added at a lower level, and in recent years, doors were cut besides.
The church is singled-naved. The sacristy is found at the gospel side of the sanctuary.
From the sacristy one can ascend to a room above, which then leads to a covered walkway
behind the church. From the walkway one can go to the Gothic shaped convento, or gain enter
the church using a small side door that leads behind the retablo. This unusual placement of the
convento and its multiple passages may have been called for by the defensive nature of the
church. One can go from church to convento without exposing oneself. The convento itself is
geared for defense. Instead of the regular plan using a wooden second floor, both floors are of
stone and brick. A veranda surround the convento on two sides, perhaps as a passageway for
lookouts. And below the convento is an empty hall identified by tradition as a cuadra, a stable.

THE BOAC ALTARS

Boac has three retablos, a main one and two side retablos. The side altars have been
moved from their positions along the nave to a place behind the main altar. All three have been
repainted with a soft cream color; ornaments, probably gilded, with a light brown. In spite of past
unenlightened restoration, the altars contain enough of the original to suggest what they may
have looked like.
The main altar is divided into three stories very much in the manner of the Antipolo main
altar. Three niches, all of equal height and shape, fill the first and second stories. These niches all
use a half shell dome except for the tabernacles niche which is polygonal in shape. The third
story niche containing a crucifix has a flat top. Paired solomonicas define the vertical sweep of
the retable and separate the niches from each other. These solomonicas are of an idiosyncratic
variety, they have no capitals to speak of unless we consider the circular band with which they
end as capital. They rest on colums vertically, are not spirally fluted as solomonicas should be,
and are adorned with grapevines that resemble tropical vegetation.
The retable ends in a splie arched pediment which contains the Jesuit colophon,
surmounted by a crown. Reclining angles flank the colophon, and beside them are standing
angels in the round. The borders of each floor of the retablo is enhanced by scroll flanges which
resemble young fern shoots as angels gambol up and down these scrolls. The scrolls are filled
with suggestions of tropical flower, vines, a cornucopia. The divisions between horizontal are
delineated by bands that are carved with medallions, angel heads, fruits, vines, flowers, a bull,
and eagle probably, and on the highest with God the Father in glory surrounded by clouds.
St. Ignatius is depicted twice. In one image he holds an osternsorium with the insigna,
IHS. In another, he holds a book, probably the Exercises or the Constitutions. Peter and Paul are
depicted both at the first story of the retablo and as finials above the second story. John is also
found there depicted twice. In the first place he holds a cup, an allusion to his miraculous cure
from poisoning, and in the second he holds his hands together in an attitude of sorrow. What
explains this duplication of Santos? Did the Jesuit pastor have an oversupply of statues? Or did
he keep these for use in a future altar at another mission station only to be prevented from doing
so because of the expulsion?
The side altars are of two stories. Like the main altar they use a split pediment with a
space for a medallion. Vegetal scrolls similar to those found at the main retablo are used, but
besides these, bunches of fruit resembling roundish bananas hand pendant. The lower niches top
is decorated with a lush bouquet of flowers resembling oversized roses or catmon flowers. The
gospel side altar contains an image of Our Lady of Light, the same as the patron of Cainta. Its
upper niche depicts St. Raphael and the boy Tobias. The epistle altar has a St. Monica at the
higher niche. At the lower niche a status of St. Anthony of Padua of twentieth century vintage
occupies the space allotted for a lost santo.
We do not know these retablos were fashioned. The similarity in plan with that of
Antipolo suggests eighteenth-century vintage. Could the image of the Virgin of Light be used as
a clue to dating? The devotion first began in Cainta in 1727, twelve years after its founding.
Whatever be the case, Boacs altar departs from the usual relieves. Not obviously catechetical,
the altar nonetheless contains enough images to fill many a sermon.
 MGA NAGING PARI SA PAROKYA NG IMMACULADA CONCEPTION MULA 1775
HANGGANG SA KASALUKUYAN (1998)

Rev. Fr. Pedro Sanchez Filipino 1775

Rev. Fr. Jose Alix Filipino 1775-1787
Rev. Fr. Miguel Bunag Filipino 1787-1789
Rev. Fr. Francisco Nieva Filipino 1789-1794
Rev. Fr. Sebastian de Mendoza Filipino 1794-1810
Rev. Fr. Leoncio Silvero Filipino 1810-1811
Rev. Fr. Luciano Villa Filipino 1811
Rev. Fr. Pedro del Rosario Filipino 1811-1817
Rev. Fr. Juan Bernardino Filipino 1817-1833
Rev. Fr. Narciso Leano Filipino 1833-1842
Rev. Fr. Agustin de Mendoza, Coadjutor
Rev. Fr. Rafael Nepomuceno Filipino 1842-1846
Rev. Fr. Mariano San Juan Filipino 1846-1848
Rev. Fr. Santiago del Rosario Filipino 1848-1856
(Namatay ditto sa Boac at may lapida sa tapat ng Coro ng Simbahan)
Rev. Fr. Eduardo de la Cruz Filipino 1856-1857
Rev. Fr. Leon Zunio Filipino 1857-1858
Rev. Fr. Fermin de Leon Filipino 1858-1870
Rev. Fr. Braulio Brual Filipino 1870
Rev. Fr. Silvino Saludes Filipino 1870-1872
Rev. Fr. Francisco Calzado, Interino Filipino 1872-1873
Rev. Fr. Zacarias Funes Kastila 1873-1876
Rev. Fr. Exequiel Moreno, Coadjutor Filipino
Rev. Fr. Silvino Saludes, Coadjutor Filipino
Rev. Fr. Mariano Landa, Coadjutor Kastila
Rev. Fr. Aniceto Ariz, Coadjutor Kastila 1876-Mayo 16
Rev. Fr. Jacinto Perez, Interino Kastila 1876-June 27, 1881
Rev. Fr. Aniceto Ariz, Coadjutor Kastila
Rev. Fr. Simeon delos Reyes, Coadjutor Filipino
Rev. Fr. Tomas Roldan, Coadjutor Filipino
Rev. Fr. Dionisio Gurbindo, Cura Kastila 1881-Marso 10, 1884
Rev. Fr. Santiago de Luna, Coadjutor Filipino
Rev. Fr. Santiago de Luna, Interino Filipino 1884-Abril 4, 1884
Rev. Fr. Felix Menero, Cura Kastila 1884-Mayo-1894
Rev. Fr. Santos de Luna, Severo Buenaventura
Blas Reyes, Valentin Tayag, Angel Ilagan,
Feliciano Salud at Wenceslao Cruz Y Ferrer,
Mga Coadjutores nap alit-palit. Pawang mga Filipino.
Rev. Fr. DionGurnindo, Cura Kastila 1894-1898
Rev. Fr. Esteban Avilez, Sabino Lizo at
Wenceslao Crua y Ferrer, mga Coadjutor na
Palit palit
Rev. Fr. Esteban Aviles, Interino Filipino 1898-1899
Rev. Fr. Vicente Bernardo Icasana Filipino 1899
Rev. Fr. Saturnino Trinidad, Cura Filipino 1899 Feb. 1923
Rev. Fr. Esteban Aviles, Ciriaco de Castro,
Vicente Estacio, Candido del Rosario,
Miguel Magboo, Flacido Garcia Fidalgo,
Toribio Ilao, Edilberto Lazcano, at Bartolomeoa, mga Coadjutores na papalit-palit;
pawing mga Filipino
Rev. Fr. Bartolome Roa, Interino dahil sa pagkakasakit
Ni Rev. Fr. SAturnino Trinidad ng paralysis 1920-1921
Rev. Fr. Jose Alvear, Cura Economo 1921-1925
Rev. Fr. Justo delos Reyes, Cura Filipino 1925-1931
Rev. Fr. Eufrosino Lusterio, Coadjutor
Rev. Fr. Victorino Lagumen, Cura Filipino 1931-1937
Rev. Fr. Alejandro Lualhati, Coadjutor
Rev. Fr. Moises Lavares, Coadjutor
Rev. Fr. Eufrosino Lusterio, Coadjutor
Rev. Fr. Jose Zoleta, Cura 1937-1939
Rev. Fr. Cirilo Castillo, coadjutor at nagging Cura ng
Parokya ng Cawit Filipino 1940
Rev. Fr. Eliseo Dimaculangan, Cura Filipino 1939-1942
Rev. Fr. Augurio Buendia, Coadjutor Filipino
Rev. Fr. Eugenio Galimba, Coadjutor Filipino
Rev. Fr. Alfredo Cordero, Coadjutor Filipino 1943
Rev. Fr. Lorenzo Menorca, Cura Filipino 1942 Marso 29
Rev. Fr. Alfredo Cordero, Coadjutor
Rev. Fr. Gonzalo Sagento, Coadjutor Filipino 1944 May 10
Rev. Fr. Estanislao Chu, Coadjutor 1952 Sept. 2
Rev. Fr. Sisenando Rada, Cura Filipino 1954 October
Rev. Fr. Alfonso Nieva, Coadjutor Filipino 1954
Rev. Fr. Francisco Javier Villaverde Filipino 1956
Rev. Fr. Bernardo Quito, Coadjutor Filipino 1957 April
Rev. Fr. Anastacio Jandusay, Coadjutor Filipino 1961 April
Rev. Fr. Gonzalo Sagento, Cura Filipino 64 Dec. 16-Dec. 31, 1978
Rev. Fr. Atilano Oracion, Coadjutor
Rev. Fr. Rolando Oliverio, Coadjutor
Rev. Fr. Calixto Jamilla V. G., Cura 1979 Jan 1982
Rev. Fr. Renato Sapungan, Coadjutor Nov. 1981-1982
Rev. Fr. Angelito Leal, Cura 1982-1984
Rev. Fr. Senen Malapad, V. G., Pastor Moderator 1984 June 4-1990
Rev. Fr. Gonzalo Sargento, Pastor Member (died May 3, 1990)
Rev. Fr. Nicanor Ferangco, Jr., Pastor Moderator
Rev. Fr. Simeon Reginio, Parish Priest June 1990-1991 (Retired)
Rev. Fr. Rene Labrador May 18, 1991-June 3, 1995
Rev. Fr. Edwin Sager Jan. 6, 1995-June 1996
Rev. Fr. Ramon Magdurulang, Parish Priest June 1996-2002 June 12
Parochial Pedro Fernandez, Parochial Vicar Jan 1997-June 12, 2002
(Most Rev. Fr. Rafael M. Lim, DD, Bishop of Boac May 10, 1978-Died Sept. 10, 1998)
nd
(Most Rev. Fr. Jose F. Oliveros, DD., 2 Bishop of Boac March 28, 2000-Aug. 4, 2004)
Rev. Fr. Renato M. Sapungan, Co-Parish June 12, 2002
Rev. Fr. Juan Pedro M. REcalde, Jr.-Co-Parish Priest May 23, 2004
(Most Rev. Fr. Reynaldo G. Evangelista, DD., 3rd Bishop of Boac Feb. 22, 2005