San Agustin Church is an old Roman Catholic parish church located in San Juan, a sowthwestern town in the province of Siquijor, Philippines. It is also called Saint Agustine Hippo Church.
Table of Contents
History
The town of San Juan was called Makapilay, also spelled Macapilay, in pre-Hispanic times. It was established by virtue of the Acta del Año 1863, which was the result of the conference between the chiefs of Lazi and Siquijor and attended by civil government and ecclesiastical officials.
San Agustin Church used to be part of the Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Siquijor. It became a separate parish on September 14, 1863 under the administration of the Augustinian Recollects. It is not known how the town is named after St. John while its parish is under the advocacy of St. Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo. Among the church’s properties is a bell that was blessed in 1881. Fr. Nicanor Archiniego, its first parish priest, began the construction of the church, convent, school, and casa real. However, the Spanish-era church was ruined in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that occurred on September 21, 1897.
Architecture
San Agustin Church is modern minimalist and stands in stark contrast with the age-old coral stone bell tower erected in its gospel flank. Made of concrete, the church’s facade is symmetrical: a gable with a slanting side edges. Its midsection is characterized by decorative concrete bands that rise from and flank the entrance, form a gable on top, and conjoined by an overhang over the rectangular entrance. Its upper register has a central ridge line that splays into two oblique diagonal lines joining the band just above the overhang, and the ridge crosses a rose window. In the epistle side are five pilasters joined by interlinked gable-decors. In the gospel side, three pilasters abut from the ground and extend beyond the gable, crossing over a rose window, and the middle pilaster is crowned with a cross.
Celebration
The feast of St. Augustine is held every August 28th in a celebration called Bugwas Festival.
Mass schedule
Below is the weekly mass schedule of San Agustin Church in San Juan, Siquijor 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 Juan.
Monday
- No mass schedule found.
Tuesday
- No mass schedule found.
Wednesday
- No mass schedule found.
Thursday
- No mass schedule found.
Friday
- No mass schedule found.
Saturday
- No mass schedule found.
Sunday
- No mass schedule found.
Church information
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | San Agustin Church in San Juan, Siquijor |
| Address | San Juan, 6227 Siquijor |
| Country | Philippines |
| Religion | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Established | September 14, 1863 |
| Age | 162 years |
| Status | Parish |
| Archdiocese | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu |
| Diocese | Diocese of Dumaguete |
| Vicariate | Vicariate of St. Paul |
| Patron | St. Augustine |
| Feast day | August 28 |
Nearby Churches
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Enrique Villanueva, Siquijor
- Our Lady of Providence Church in Maria, Siquijor
- San Isidro Labrador Church in Lazi, Siquijor
- San Vicente Ferrer Church in Larena, Siquijor
- Santa Barbara Church in Campalanas, Lazi, Siquijor
- St. Francis of Assisi Church in Siquijor, Siquijor
References
- Cuesta, A. M. (2020). Augustinian Recollect History of Siquijor (1794-1898). Philippine Social Science Journal, 2(2), 173-178. https://doi.org/10.52006/main.v2i2.87. Retrieved July 15, 2022
- Countryside in Figures 2021: Siquijor. Siquijor Provincial Statistical Office: Philippine Statistics Authority, Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved July 16, 2022
- Sembrano, Edgar Allan M. (November 14, 2016). Siquijor’s healing sights: Churches made of ancient ‘tabique pampango’. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 16, 2022
- Siquijor Island. Panublion. Ateneo de Manila University. Retrieved via Archive.org on July 15, 2022