San Isidro Labrador Church is a colonial church located in San Fernando, Cebu, Philippines. This Roman Catholic parish is also called St. Isidore the Laborer Church or simply San Fernando Church.
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History
In the past, San Fernando was once part of Naga and Carcar. It gained independence by the efforts of Juan Diyong whose feats are steeped in myths as well as perseverance against daunting odds.
His deeds are memorialized in the municipality’s seal. It is said that the town’s name was christened after Fernando Sanchez, a parish priest who was popular among the constituents and who was named after a saint.
On January 9, 1858, San Isidro Labrador Parish was established.
After the first church in San Fernando was built in Pitalo, it was decided a new church was to be built from the Neo-Gothic design by Domingo de Escondrillas submitted in 1870, replacing an older place of worship made of bamboo and nipa.
Its location was on a donated land at the marketplace and near the cemetery, about which would eventually rise the town center. Its construction, including the belfry, was completed in 1886 and survived the Second World War largely unscathed.
Architecture
The arched entrance of the church is fluted and flanked by blind, recessed arches. The white faint outlines of their pointed spires are embedded onto the stonewall frontispiece. Above the entrance is a circular relief representing the Divine Trinity (a triquetra enclosed in a triangle, each side of which is a white winged angel—all of which circumscribed by decorative knots), and on the pediment above is the Augustinian emblem.
On either side of the entrance are open arches and the pilasters on the facade terminate in spires, above which on the roof of the church are twin bell towers made of cement that are said to be a later addition. On the facade’s on both gospel and epistle sides are rose window. The cornices are richly decorated.
Celebration
The fiesta of San Isidro Labrador is celebrated May 15 every year in celebration called Sikoy-Sikoy Festival.
Mass schedule
Below is the weekly mass schedule of San Isidro Labrador Church in San Fernando, Cebu from June 9, 2025 to June 15, 2025. Please reach out to the church for an updated schedule. Additionally, you may also want to view mass schedules of churches in San Fernando.
Monday
- 6:00-7:00 AM
- 5:00-6:00 PM
Tuesday
- 6:00-7:00 AM
- 5:00-6:00 PM
Wednesday
- 6:00-7:00 AM
- 5:00-6:00 PM
Thursday
- 6:00-7:00 AM
- 5:00-6:00 PM
Friday
- 6:00-7:00 AM
- 5:00-6:00 PM
Saturday
- 6:00-7:00 AM
- 4:00-5:00 PM
- 5:00-6:00 PM
Sunday
- 5:00-6:00 AM
- 6:30-7:30 AM
- 8:00-9:00 AM
- 10:00-11:00 AM
- 3:30-4:30 PM
- 5:00-6:00 PM
- 6:30-7:30 PM
- 8:00-9:00 PM
Church information
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | San Isidro Labrador Church in San Fernando, Cebu |
| Other Names | St. Joseph the Worker Parish, San Fernando Church |
| Address | Natalio Bacalso Avenue, Pitalo, San Fernando 6018 |
| Country | Philippines |
| Contact | (032) 488 9314 |
| Religion | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Established | January 19, 1858 |
| Age | 167 years |
| Status | Parish |
| Archdiocese | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu |
| District | District III – Southeast Cebu |
| Vicariate | Vicariate of St. Catherine of Alexandria |
| Patron | St. Isidore the Laborer |
| Feast day | May 15 |
| Architecture | |
| Completed | 1886 |
| Age since completed | 139 years |
| Architect | Domingo de Escondrillas |
| Style | Neo-Gothic |
Nearby Churches
- Archbishop Teofilo Camomot Shrine
- Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Carcar, Cebu
- Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Church in Ocaña, Carcar City, Cebu
- Sacred Heart of Jesus Chaplaincy in Sangat, San Fernando, Cebu
- San Agustin de Hippo Parish Church in Magsico, San Fernando, Cebu
- San Isidro Labrador Parish Church in Calidngan, Carcar City, Cebu
- San Jose Church in Rosario, Aloguinsan, Cebu
- San Roque Parish Church in Valladolid, Carcar City, Cebu
- San Vicente Ferrer Chapel in San Fernando, Cebu
- Theotokos Archdiocesan Shrine in Perrelos Hill, Carcar City, Cebu
References
- Taguchi, Yasunari Ramon Suarez (April 14, 2019). The Churches of Cebu South. The Freeman. Retrieved June 3, 2022
- Balaanong Bahandi: Sacred Treasures of the Archdiocese of Cebu. Cathedral Museum of Cebu, Inc. and University of San Carlos Press. 2010. ISBN 978-9715390187.
- Oaminal, Clarence Paul Oaminal (June 8, 2017). Juan Diyong, Founder of San Fernando, Cebu. Retrieved June 6, 2022
- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu. Retrieved June 6, 2022
- Galende, Pedro G (1987). Angels in Stone: Architecture of Augustinian Churches in the Philippines. G.A. Formoso Pub.
- San Fernando Church. Filipinas Heritage Library. Retrieved. June 6, 2022
- Abatayo, Rosalie O. (March 24, 2019). San Fernando allots P1.1 M budget for ‘simpler’ town Fiesta in May. Cebu Daily News. Retrieved June 6, 2022
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu. Retrieved June 12, 2022
- Abatayo, Rosalie O. (March 24, 2019). San Fernando allots P1.1 M budget for ‘simpler’ town Fiesta in May. Cebu Daily News. Retrieved June 23, 2022
- Cullinane, Michael (2016) A Time Between Times: Situating the 1815 Uprising in Cebu. Philippine Quarterly of Culture & Society Vol. 44, 3 & 4 (2016):211-300, University of San Carlos Press. Retrieved July 19, 2022
- Elizaga, Troy. The Formation of Towns and Parishes in Cebu, Philippines. Retrieved via Academia on July 20, 2022