On July 26, 2022, which coincided with the Feast of St. Anne, the Vatican officially designated the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Anne in Taguig City as a minor basilica. This significant recognition puts the church in the esteemed company of only 20 churches in the country. The declaration was announced by His Excellency Most Rev. Charles John Brown, D.D., the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.

It’s holy week again and fortunately, unlike the previous 2 years of pandemic, people can now move to different places here in the Philippines. So, we decided to go to Baguio City, the summer capital of the country.

The Sta. Clara de Montefalco Parish was officially founded in Brgy. Caniogan in February 1994. However, the original church’s seating capacity of 150 proved insufficient for the thousands of parishioners. Consequently, a new church was constructed, now standing at a towering height of 57 meters on a sprawling 11,230 square meters of land. It is now acclaimed as the tallest church in the Philippines.

Commonly referred to as Binondo Church, the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of San Lorenzo Ruiz was founded by the Dominicans in 1596. Initially dedicated to Saint Gabriel the Archangel, who served as Binondo’s patron until the mid-19th century, it later became known as Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish, venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary as Binondo’s patroness from the early 1700s to the present day.

The Minor Basilica and Archdiocesan Shrine of Santo Niño, more commonly known as Tondo Church, was established by the Augustinians in 1572 and holds the distinction of being the first parish church in Luzon. It is also home to the second oldest image of the Santo Niño in the Philippines, next only to the Sto. Niño de Cebu. The image enshrined in the church originated from Acapulco, Mexico, and was handed to the Archbishop of Manila by a wealthy merchant before being entrusted to the parish priest of Tondo, where it has remained since the church’s founding.

The church was dedicated to St. Dominic Savio, the patron saint of choirboys, falsely accused people and juvenile delinquents. He was studying to be a priest under St. John Bosco when he died at the very young age of 14. He was canonized in 1954 which made him the youngest non-martyr to be a saint until 2017.