It’s my second Sunday to go to a church amidst the ongoing pandemic. I have decided to go to Mandaluyong and visit San Felipe Neri Church. The church was established in 1863 and played a significant role as a relay station for propagating the Katipunan during the 1896 to 1897 Revolution.

The parish is dedicated to St. Philip Neri, known as the “Second Apostle of Rome”, next to St. Peter. He was an Italian priest who founded in 1575 a pontifical society of secular clergy called the Congregation of the Oratory. The Oratorians are made up of priests who commit themselves to the society without actually taking vows.