Friday, November 27, 2009

Peter and Paul Church @ Bantayan Island

For 51 weeks of the year, this century old church is just like any other church that celebrates mass and serve its constituents. But come holy week, Peter and Paul Church of Bantayan Island is the focus of religious processions that attract the faithful from all over the Philippines.

The marker at its coral-stone wall reads:

"Ang Simbahang ito na inialay sa Nuestra Senora De La Asuncion ay ipinatayo ng mga paring Agustino noong Ika-11 ng Hunyo 1580. Pagkaraan, naging patron ng simbahan si San Pedro Apostol at lumawak ang sakop ng parokya hanggang sa Maripipi, Panamao at Limangcawayan sa Leyte. Sinunog ng mga mamamalakay sa Muslim noong 1600. Ito ay muling ipinatayo noong taon ding iyon at inilipat s pamamahala ng mga sekular. Ang kasalukuyang gusali ay sinimulang gawin noong 1839 at natapos noong 1863."

It has been a tradition in the Philippines that as a sign of sacrifice, red meat are prohibited to be eaten on Good Friday. However, legends has it that Pope Leo XII in 1843 allowed the people of Bantayan to eat red meat due to the difficult fishing conditions that time. Such exemption has been practiced ever since so that while the rest of the country are abstaining from eating red meat, Bantayan was allowed guilt-free to do so resulting to influx of carnivorous Filipinos flocking to this island for an epic fiesta with a side order of sacrilegious roast suckling pig.

But for the rest of the year, you can have this beautiful church and the rest of the islands all to yourself.

Care-worn, Coral Stone Church


Peter and Paul Church Altar


Walkway leading to the Altar


Church's Interior


Sidewalls of the Church


Peter and Paul Church - Up-Close


Belltower and Church


This blog is currently experiencing problems with missing comments. I have noticed last Tuesday that most comments in my previous posts have disappeared. In other cases, there appeared to be one of two comments but when I click to read the comments, a "no comment yet" message appear. Only my posts for September to this date were spared from the glitch. I have learned from Blogger Help Forums that there are also other bloggers who are currently experiencing the same problem.

Because of this, I temporarily deleted the "Most Commented Post" links in my sidebar because I find it funny that you may click on it and find a "0" comment in that post. Finally, I love comments because your comments improve me. Even if they criticize, I do not delete them. So, if you happen to wonder why your previous comments are not showing, I did not delete them. Blogger did. Hope they come back!!!

More on Bantayan Island on my next posts.

19 comments:

  1. bilib na talaga ako sa mga churches sa Cebu at Bohol---talagang luma kung sa luma but still well preserved and maintained~~~~

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  2. i was in Bantayan in Holy Week a few years ago...there was lechon galore, and beach parties with live bands from Cebu.

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  3. wow ang ganda ng aisle!

    ngayon ko lang yan nalaman na exempted pala sa no-red meat rule ang Bantayan. Kaya siguro ang hihilig sa letson ng mga cebuano. :))

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  4. Kahit di ako katoliko nafafascinate pa rin ako sa mga art works na gawa sa loob ng mga cathedral/churches na sinauna...

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  5. Buti pa ang mga church na yan kasi na preserved... Kasi sa amin... May isang church akong alam na pahnahon pa ng mga kastila noong pinatayo pero nabubuog na raw sabi ng mga taga sa amin!

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  6. attorney.... hello there, its been a while... hehehe after a long silence in the blog world, here i am again.....
    i've got some catching up to do... hehehe please check out my new post later...

    hehehe i wonder, san kaya ako ikakasal??? hahahah

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  7. winner ang facade at interior ng simbahan na iyan. thanks for educating me. :)

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  8. Some heavenly photos of some magnificent church details!

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  9. i always like seeing and experiencing old churches. there are always history, art, culture, religion, architecture in each century-old churches we have in the country. and that one in bantayan is a must-see. wish i could bring my family there one day.

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  10. For such an old church, I find the name unusually "modern". Was this church renamed perhaps?

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  11. Really lovely church. Mukha ngang maganda pumunta jan sa Holy Week

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  12. Churches and Christmas.... Just in time for this season attorney.

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  13. Hi Norman! Wonderful pictures. The church looks beautiful also and the story of red meat is quite interesting...

    Old Town Bilbao is now at Blogtrotter for your joy. Have a great weekend!!

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  14. I love old churches. So much history on them. Did you say they allow lechon on Good Friday? Now, I am heading there come Holy Week. Hahaha.

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  15. However, legends has it that Pope Leo XII in 1843 allowed the people of Bantayan to eat red meat due to the difficult fishing conditions.

    Wow...that is really interesting!

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  16. ganda ng simbahan na to. good that they really retained its interior and exterior part. matched to bantayan's simple town.

    i also encountered the same problem before but soon after it recovered. i think it's a typical blogger problem.

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  17. Nice church building. Worth a visit!

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  18. Problems with missing comments? Hmm, I thought there was a mild glitch at my blog too when the number of comments stated did not reflect the actual number of comments!

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