Our Lady of Most Holy Rosary Parish Church, commonly known as Makinabang Church or , is a Roman Catholic Marian church in Barangay Makinabang, Baliuag, Bulacan, Philippines. It celebrates its Feast Day on October 7, it is one of six Roman Catholic parish churches in the municipality and is the focus of one of its largest processions each year. The other nearby Baliuag parishes which bound the church are: Saint Augustine Church (Población); Holy Family Parish (Tangos); Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish (Sabang); Nuestra Señora de las Flores (V.D.F.); and Inmaculada Conception (Concepcion).

Makinabang Church is under the Vicariate of Saint Augustine of Hippo and belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Manila. Its incumbent team of priests in solidum moderator is parish priest Nicanor J. Castro, V.F., who was formally installed as the 6th Parish Priest on February 12, 2021. He succeeded the (Judicial Vicar), Winniefred F. Naboya, who was formally installed in November 2013. Naboya replaced the former Parish Administrator, Macario R. Manahan, who succeeded Walderedo Castillo who died in 2008. The Parish Church's Vicar Forane is its current Parish Priest, Nicanor J. Castro, V.F.

Etymology Before the 1521-1898 Spanish colonization of the Philippines, Makinabang was already a settlement or sitio and the largest in Baliuag. When the Spanish friars, particularly the Augustinians, founded Saint Augustine Church in 1733, a Spanish mestizo introduced a wood sugarcane press to the area. The machine extracted panutsa (molasses), which the villagers mixed in with their coffee and other foods. Natives called the press makina (from the Spanish maquina), at which they would queue and abáng (Tagalog, "wait"). Those queuing would enquire "Marami pa bang nakaabang?" ("Are there many more waiting?), from which the word Makina-bang and eventually Makinabang was formed.

The chapel and its fence were originally painted red, for which reason the parish was called Bisitang Pula ("red chapel").

History

The church was built in 1920 and established as Parish in 1941 with its patron Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario (Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary), a Marian title in relation to the Rosary. Devotion to the Virgin Mary under this title goes back to 1571 when Pope Pius V instituted "Our Lady of Victory" as an annual feast to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Lepanto.EWTN on Battle of Lepanto (1571) Gilbert Chesterton, 2004, Lepanto, Ignatius Press Butler's Lives Of The Saints (April) by Alban Butler (1999) page 222 The victory was attributed to a rosary procession that day in St. Peter's Square in Rome for the success of the mission of the Holy League to hold back Muslim forces from overrunning Western Europe. In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of this feast-day to "Feast of the Holy Rosary". in 1716 Pope Clement XI added the feast to the General Roman Calendar and assigned it to the first Sunday in October. Pope Pius X changed the date to October 7 in 1913, in his effort to restore celebration of the liturgy of the Sundays.

In 1920 the parish priests Pastor Luciano (d. 1985) suggested to Church authorities in Bulacan to build a small ermita or Kapilya. The new parish covered the Barangays of Tarcan, Santa Barbara, and even Taal and Santo Cristo in Pulilan, Bulacan. The small chapel is made of wood, nipa and light building materials, while its attached convento was made of nipa.

Jovito Reyes reconstructed the dilapidated chapel, adding concrete buttresses, including the walls, roof and convento. Wealthy residents, headed by Councilor Carmen Fernando García, Delfin Cruz and Salud S. Tesoro, helped build the new patio and grotto of the Sagrada Corazón and Our Lady of Lourdes.

Amador Wisco Cruz succeeded Jovito as parish priest on July 20, 1957. He bought the 4,000 sq.m. lot wherein the parishioners built the Parish Hall of the Cursillistas and Catholic Women's League. He is also known as the translator/editor of the most popular version of the Pasyón (Copyright 1949), the "Casaysayan nang Pasióng Mahal ni Jesucristong Panginoón Natin na Sucat Ipag-alab nang Pusò nang Sinomang Babasa". In the early 1990s, Expedito Caleon and Jess Cruz assisted the then ailing Amador, who died in 1992 after having served the parish for 35 years. Then came Ronald Ortega, Walderedo Castillo (d. 2008), and Macario R. Manahan (d. 2013).

In preparation for its 75th Jubilee in October 2016, the Pastoral Council initiated repairs and improvements on the church building and its environs, under Winniefred F. Naboya.

On February 12, 2021, Nicanor Castro was installed as the 6th parish priest.

Pastors No. Portrait Name From Until 1 Rev. Fr. Jovito F. Reyes† (22 Sep 1967) 1940 Assigned as Parish Administrator 1941 Appointed as Parish Priest 1957 Appointed as Parish Priest in San Bartolome Church (Malabon) 2 Rev. Fr. Amador W. Cruz† (28 Sep 1992) 1957 Appointed as Parish Priest 1992 Died in Office - Rev. Fr. Jesus Cruz† (25 Jun 2017) 1989 Assigned as Assistant Priests 1991 Appointed as Parish Priest in St. Gabriel the Archangel Quasi-Parish, San Gabriel, Santa Maria, Bulacan - Rev. Fr. Expedito Caleon 1989 Assigned as Assistant Priests 1991 Appointed as Assistant Priest in San Juan de Dios Church (San Rafael) 3 Rev. Fr. Ronaldo "Bogs" Ortega 1991 Assigned as Assistant Priest 1992 Appointed as Parish Priest 2003 Assigned as Parish Administrator at Nuestra Señora delas Flores Quasi Parish Virgen Delas Flores, Baliwag, Bulacan 4 Rev. Fr. Walderedo Castillo† (24 Sep 2008) 2003 Appointed as Parish Priest 2008 Died in Office - Rev. Msgr. Macario Manahan, P.C.† (16 Mar 2014) 2008 Assigned as Parish Administrator 2012 Retire as Active Priest 5 Rev. Fr. Winniefred F. Naboya, J.C.L. 2012 Assigned as Parish Administrator 2013 Appointed as Parish Priest 2021 Appointed as Parish Priest in Señora del Rosario Parish Pulonggubat, Guiguinto, Bulacan 6 Rev. Fr. Nicanor J. Castro, V.F. 2021 Appointed as Parish Priest Incumbent

Ordained Priest from Parish

No. Name From Ordained 1 Rev. Fr. Reynaldo P. Fernando, Jr† (01 Dec 2022) Taal, Pulilan 18 Jan 1979 2 Rev. Fr. Cennon Dennis G. Santos Sta. Barbara, Baliuag 19 Nov 1988 3 Rev. Fr. Reynaldo Manahan Taal, Pulilan 05 Sep 1995 4 Rev. Fr. Conrado “Larry” C. Zablan Sta. Barbara, Baliuag 13 May 2000 5 Rev. Fr. Lamberto C. Tomas Sta. Barbara, Baliuag 03 Sep 1994 6 Rev. Fr. Antero “Bong” C. Natividad Sto. Cristo, Pulilan 14 Dec 1998 7 Rev. Fr. Anselmo M. Manalastas, O.S.B. Tarcan, Baliuag 24 Nov 2002 8 Rev. Fr. Romualdo “Chi” C. Go Sta. Barbara, Baliuag 31 May 2008 9 Rev. Fr. Reymann G. Catindig Makinabang, Baliuag 28 May 2010 10 Rev. Fr. Laurence Anthony C. Bautista Makinabang, Baliuag 10 Dec 2019 - Rev. Patrick Jansen F. Tomas Sta. Barbara, Baliuag 06 Dec 2021 (As Deacon)

Chapels

Current chapels (Brgy. Santa Barbara, Baliwag City) (Brgy. Tarcan, Baliwag City) (Sitio Mulawin Matanda, Brgy. Tarcan, Baliwag City) (Sitio Mulawin Bata, Brgy. Tarcan, Baliwag City) (Brgy. Sta. Barbara, Baliwag City) (Vernieville Subdivision, Brgy. Sta. Barbara, Baliwag City)

Former chapels (Brgy. Taal, Pulilan) (formerly known as ) (Brgy. Sto. Cristo, Pulilan)

References

Books Baliwag: Then and Now, by Roland E. Villacorte, Philippine Graphic Arts, Inc., Caloocan City, 1970, 1985 * 2001 editions. pp. 350–351 (2001 edition); and pp. 392–396 (1985 edition). "Baliuwag, Lunduyan ng mga Bayani", Baliuag Tourism Council, 2008, Municipality of Baliuag, 2008 Edition, pp. 10–120.

Sources The 2010–2011 Catholic Directory of the Philippines (published by Claretian Publications for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, June 2010)

External links