San Fernando Rey Church, also known as San Fernando El Rey Church, is a 19th-century Roman Catholic church located in Liloan, a northern town in the province of Cebu, Philippines. Under the patronage of St. Ferdinand III of Castille, it is also called Liloan Church.
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History
Liloan Church used to be part of the parish of Mandaue. It gained parochial status on June 27, 1847. Its first parish priest was Fr. Vicente Dorocel. Construction of San Fernando Rey Church in Liloan began in January 1859 and finished in 1880. It was larger than its matriz, Mandaue Parish, when it was completed in comparison to the town’s population at that time.
Erected in front of the town plaza, it is considered one of the few surviving Spanish-era heritage sites in Liloan. One other unique feature is that the church was built with its entrance not overlooking the eastern seaboard but instead it faces inland to the west.
Architecture
The flock enters the church through a portico of vaulted ceiling and pointed arch gable that leads to the arched entrance door. Its piers are thick, and arch entryways are found on either side even though flanking it are small, well-tended gardens. The pilaster on the epistle side contains the channel-letter signage, “Año de 1847”.
The church’s stonewall makes up the rest of the facade bounded by pilasters on either side. A pair of shorter pilasters are found in the central section aligning with the length of the portico and extends above it, giving way to molding that is shaped into a gable. Two sets of cornices with relief decors on the friezes run horizontally along the facade.
The uppermost level of the church is its pediment flanked by belfries. Below the pediment is a row bounded by cornice moldings bearing the channel letters, “San Fernando Rey Parish Church”. The pediment is pierced in the niche of the patron and so one can see the roof of the church. The belfries are quadrangular with arched openings on all sides and topped with red pyramidal roofs.
The outside walls in the gospel side were reinforced by concrete beam and buttresses.
In the interiors of the church, an archway separates the narthex (above which is the choir loft) from the nave. On the nave are stained glass windows of holy figures: (epistle) St. Francis of Asisi, St. Isidore the Worker, Our Lady of Fatima, St. Roch, and St. Michael the Archangel; (gospel) St. Vincent Ferrer, Virgen de los Remedios, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, and St. Anthony of Padua. Its ceiling contains rafters, and the cornices bear the same rosette motif that can be found in the facade. The clerestory also has depictions of the patron, although a few of the windows are without any decorations.
A latticework forms a dome above the crossing. The transept in the epistle side contains the altar of St. Joseph that was made through Quibranza family in 1978. In the transept of the other side are the altar of the Blessed Mother. On the transept walls, one can see the stained glass windows of the four evangelists (a pair in each side.)
Two interesting features are the stained glass window of Jesus up in the apse wall and the wooden pulpit with winding staircase facing the crossing in the gospel side.
Celebration
The feast of St. Ferdinand is held every May 30 in a celebration called Rosquillos Festival.
Services
The parish office is open every day from 8:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon and from 1:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon.
Baptism is held every Sunday at 9:30 in the morning. Registration starts at 7:30 in the morning and the seminar begins at 8:00 in the morning every Sunday.
Confessions are heard half an hour before every afternoon masses from Monday to Saturday.
Pre-Cana seminar is held every first Sunday of every month.
Mass schedule
Below is the weekly mass schedule of San Fernando Rey Church in Liloan, Cebu from May 12, 2025 to May 18, 2025. Please reach out to the church for an updated schedule. Additionally, you may also want to view mass schedules of churches in Liloan.
Monday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - FB Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM (Cebuano - FB Live)
Tuesday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - FB Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM (Cebuano - FB Live)
Wednesday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - FB Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM (Cebuano - FB Live)
Thursday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - FB Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM (Cebuano - FB Live)
Friday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - FB Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM (Cebuano - FB Live)
Saturday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - FB Live)
- 6:00-7:00 PM (Cebuano - Anticipated Mass - FB Live)
Sunday
- 4:30-5:30 AM (Cebuano - FB Live)
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - FB Live)
- 8:00-9:00 AM (Cebuano - Misa Propulo - FB Live)
- 10:30-11:30 AM (Cebuano - FB Live)
- 12:00-1:00 PM (Funeral Mass)
- 1:00-2:00 PM (Funeral Mass)
- 2:00-2:45 PM (Funeral Mass)
- 2:45-3:45 PM (Funeral Mass)
- 4:00-5:00 PM (English - FB Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM (Cebuano - FB Live)
- 7:00-8:00 PM (Cebuano - FB Live)
Church information
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | San Fernando Rey Church in Liloan, Cebu |
| Address | Poblacion, Liloan, Cebu 6002 |
| Country | Philippines |
| Contact | (032) 424-4218 |
| sfrpliloan@gmail.com | |
| www.facebook.com | |
| YouTube | www.youtube.com |
| Religion | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Established | June 27, 1845 |
| Age | 180 years |
| Status | Parish |
| Archdiocese | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu |
| District | District VII – Near North Cebu |
| Vicariate | Vicariate of San Fernando Rey |
| Patron | St. Ferdinand III of Castile |
| Feast day | May 30 |
| Architecture | |
| Completed | 1880 |
| Age since completed | 145 years |
Nearby Churches
- Poor Clare Monastery of the Sto Niño de Cebu in Tayud, Consolacion, Cebu
- San Isidro Labrador Parish Church in Garing, Consolacion, Cebu
- San Narciso Church in Consolacion, Cebu
- San Roque Parish Church in Yati, Liloan, Cebu
- San Vicente Ferrer Parish Church in San Vicente, Liloan, Cebu
- St. John Bosco Parish Church in Cotcot, Liloan, Cebu
- St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Parish Church in Tayud, Consolacion, Cebu
References
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu. Retrieved July 1, 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.
- Elizaga, Troy. The Formation of Towns and Parishes in Cebu, Philippines. Retrieved via Academia on July 1, 2022
- Abatayo, Rosalie (May 26, 2019). Liloan celebrates 12th Rosquillos festival. Cebu Daily News. Retrieved July 1, 2022
- Sollano, Jose (May 28, 2012). Rosquillos Festival in Liloan today. The Freeman. Retrieved July 1, 2022
- History. Municipality of Liloan, GOV.PH. Retrieved July 1, 2022