Description of the attraction
The Baclaran Church, located in Manila, is one of the most popular Roman Catholic churches in the Philippines, as it houses the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, brought to the country in 1906. Every June a holiday is held in her honor.
Services in the church began in 1948, when the number of parishioners was measured in units. But by the end of 1949, the number of services had to be increased to 8 per day to accommodate everyone, and 10 years later, in 1958, the premises of the church were even expanded. Since then, the altar has never been closed - it remained accessible to all parishioners day and night. Today the Baklaran church accommodates about 2 thousand believers, another 9 thousand people can listen to the masses while standing. However, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, up to 120 thousand people come here to take part in a special Catholic service - "novena". You can confess every day.
The Baklaran Church is a 7-storey building with vaulted ceilings and hundreds of benches. The altar was donated by the Inchosti family, renowned patrons of art from the Manila region of Malate, in 1932. The architects who expanded the church in the 1950s wanted to add a high bell tower, but the proximity of the airport thwarted these plans.
The history of the icon of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help is interesting. During World War II, when the Japanese occupied the Philippines, the rector of the church, Fr. Cosgrave hid the icon in a family home near La Sane College. However, at the end of the war, their house was burned down, and no one knew what had happened to the icon. Only after the liberation of the Philippines by American troops, one of the former monks of the church went to the old building of the Bilibid prison, where the Japanese were hiding things stolen from local houses. There he saw the icon of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help.
There are kiosks near the church where you can buy candles, rosary beads, prayer books and icons.
