The feast of San Pedro Bautista (St. John the Baptist) was celebrated at Basilica Menor de San Pedro Bautista, the oldest church in Quezon City, on Sunday, 5 February.
Bishop Honesto Flores Ongtioco, the first and only Bishop of Diocese Cubao, led a 10 a.m. high Mass with other priests from the Franciscan Order for the celebration which was attended by some local officials.
The church in the San Francisco del Monte District was founded in 1590 predating the founding of the city by more than 350 years.
It was conceived by Fray Pedro Bautista who envisioned a tranquil retreat where they could seek spiritual, emotional, and physical renewal. Such a refuge required a serene location that would be conducive to prayer and meditation.
The priest chose the sleepy town of San Francisco del Monte, then a thickly-forested, elevated terrain surrounded by a creek and eight freshwater springs.
In a show of support, then Governor-General Santiago de Vera granted the Franciscans a 250-hectare estate in the town in 1590. Fr. Bautista built a chapel on the site that same year and dedicated it to Nuestra Señora de Monticelli (Our Lady of Monticelli).
Since then, the structure was expanded and rebuilt when damaged by an earthquake and wars.
On 13 June 2020, the church was declared as a Minor Basilica by Pope Francis, the second in the Diocese of Cubao and the 17th in the Philippines.
JV