Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church is a Roman Catholic and a Marian church located in Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines.
It is under the care of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, who are referred to as Redemptorists. The church is also popularly called Redemptorist Church. Its patroness is Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Table of Contents
History
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, the religious order who are the administrators of the church, had set foot in Cebu many decades prior. They put up their presence in the Philippines at a time when Spanish friars were leaving in the aftermath of the Philippine Revolution in 1898.
They established a community in Opon (the old name of Lapu-lapu City) on June 30, 1906. The following year, they created mission stations in Guadalupe and Camotes island, and they later moved to Cebu City in 1914.
It was in the same year that they began to fan out to different locations in the archipelago such as in Iloilo and Tacloban (Visayas), Lipa (Luzon), and Cagayan de Oro (Mindanao). In 1928, Cebu became a sub-province from which they would tend to their missions in Visayas and Mindanao. It would later become a separate province of the order in 1996.
Before the church was built, it was a monastery chapel that was unveiled on August 2, 1929. It played a pivotal role in the safekeeping of the image of the beloved Sto. Niño de Cebu towards the end of World War II.
Cebu was subjected to heavy bombardment by the American forces that caused widespread destruction. Sto. Niño Church was damaged and an explosive fell before the altar where the image was enshrined. While it was spared, it was dangling by its vestment snagged by an electric candle when it was found.
The priests of the Order of St. Augustine decided to move it to a safer place in the monastery chapel of the Redemptorists where it was kept in a vault that was bomb-proof, installed at the rear of the altar, and remained for seven months from September 1944 to April 1945.
Later, the Redemptorist Church was built under the leadership of Fr. Luke Hartingan, CSSR and completed in June 1950. It was declared a parish in 1971.
Architecture
Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church in Cebu City is a Romanesque church where the facade is flanked by two bell towers. A portico can be found before its entryway; each of its two pillars are decorated with cross symbols. In the middle of the portico is an emblem.
Above it, the church wall recedes in varying levels and its innermost panel is painted in white punctured with a rose window containing the image of the patroness. The cornice in the gable is ornamented with intricate details such as dentil and horizontal moldings.
On the other hand, the bell-towers are quadrangular with stained three sections of arch stained glass windows. In the gospel side, it is topped with a clock while the other side it bears rose windows with white tracery.
The interiors reveal three naves. Above the main nave is a ribbed, vaulted ceiling, arch windows in the clerestory, and an arcade supported by composite columns.
Celebration
The feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is held every third Sunday of June.
Services
The parish office is open from 9:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the evening every day.
Confession is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9:00 to 10:00 in the morning and 3:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon. On Wednesday, confession is heard from 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning and from 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon.
Mass schedule
Below is the weekly mass schedule of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church in Capitol, Cebu City from November 18, 2024 to November 24, 2024. Please reach out to the church for an updated schedule. Additionally, you may also want to view mass schedules of churches in Cebu City.
Monday
- 6:30-7:30 AM
- 8:30-9:30 AM (Facebook Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM
Tuesday
- 6:30-7:30 AM
- 8:30-9:30 AM (Facebook Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM
Wednesday
- 6:30-7:30 AM
- 8:30-9:30 AM (Facebook Live)
- 10:00-11:00
- 3:30-4:30 PM (Facebook Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM
Thursday
- 6:30-7:30 AM
- 8:30-9:30 AM (Facebook Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM
Friday
- 6:30-7:30 AM
- 8:30-9:30 AM (Facebook Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM
Saturday
- 6:30-7:30 AM
- 8:30-9:30 AM (Facebook Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM
Sunday
- 6:30-7:30 AM
- 8:30-9:30 AM (Facebook Live)
- 10:00-11:00
- 3:30-4:30 PM (Facebook Live)
- 5:30-6:30 PM
Church information
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church in Capitol, Cebu City |
| Address | R. Aboitiz Street, Camputhaw 6000 Cebu City, Philippines |
| Country | Philippines |
| Contact | (032) 463 0700 |
| saafco_par@outlook.com | |
| www.facebook.com | |
| Religion | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1914 |
| Age | 110 years |
| Status | Parish |
| Archdiocese | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu |
| District | District I - Metro Cebu North |
| Vicariate | Vicariate of the Most Holy Rosary |
| Patron | Our Mother of Perpetual Help |
| Feast day | Third Sunday of June |
| Religious order | Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer |
| Architecture | |
| Completed | June 1950 |
| Age since completed | 74 years |
| Builder | Fr. Luke Hartingan, CSSR |
| Style | Romanesque |
Nearby Churches
- Archdiocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora del Carmen La Limpia in Cebu City
- Archdiocesan Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Cebu City
- Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño in Cebu City
- Blessed Sacrament Parish Church in Cebu City
- Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral in Cebu City
- Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in Cebu City
- San Vicente Ferrer Parish Church in Cebu City
- Sto. Niño Chapel in Cebu City
References
- Redemptorists Celebrate Mother Of Perpetual Help Feast Amid Centennial Preparations. UCANEWS. Retrieved November 18, 2022
- The Philippines Mission. The Redemptorists. Retrieved November 22, 2022
- Redemptorists pay homage to the Sto. Niño a Cebu. Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. August 31, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2022
- District I – Metro Cebu North. Archdiocese of Cebu. Retrieved November 24, 2022