A HISTORY OF THE LLORENTE PARISH CHURCH

By Msgr Lope C. Robredillo

  

      When Lanang (now Llorente) became a visita (barrio) of Borongan in 1783, its chapel, dedicated to St Anthony of Padua, was still of wood and nipa.  But eager to meet the requirements for its elevation to a pueblo (municipality), the people themselves started building a coral stone church.   Lanang became a parish independent from Guiuan on May 14, 1851.  In 1853, Father Jose de Lillio, the first parish priest, continued the undertaking, and by 1863, through the efforts of Father Isidro Gomez Aquino and Father Geronimo Asenjo, the church could brag of its quite impressive size of 107 ft long and 43 ft wide, with buttresses.  When Father Eusebio Ibañez took over in 1877, he added 6 ft more to its original height, though the entire project was not yet through in 1885 when Father Angel Pulido was the pastor. 

        In 1889, a tropical cyclone greatly damaged the church, but efforts were made to put up the roof, doors and windows.  Father Felipe Vasquez finished the construction before he left the parish in 1898 on account of the Revolution.  Unfortunately, however, the

beautiful edifice was totally burnt in 1901 by Filipino revolutionaries under Gen Vicente Lukban who ordered to set on fire all the churches to prevent the inhabitants of the town from fraternizing with the western invaders and deny the enemy the support of the townsfolk.  During the American period when peace was restored in 1907, rebuilding started and continued just before the war; the original beauty of the old church, however, was never restored.  In the 1950s, the buttresses were lopped off and the walls were overlaid with cement. 

        Though the rehabilitated building was of plastered corals, its retablo was of wood.  Nevertheless, from funds collected through popularity contest, Father Jose Lentejas set up a concrete retablo to replace the old one in 1959.  It was also in the same year that the grotto in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes was raised.  In 1961,

Father (later Bishop) Angel Hobayan erected a tripod belfry on the gospel side of the church, a project undertaken by the CWL Parish Unit.  After typhoon Undang (Agnes) struck the church in 1984, Pablo Bandilla supplied Msgr Magdaleno Latoja the needed GI sheets to repair the roof.  It might be of interest to recall that the wall behind the altar donned an indigenous look when, in 1985, Msgr Latoja eclipsed the retablo with a background dominated by bananas and coconuts, made of concrete, the tabernacle itself lodged on top of a palm tree, to showcase the main products of the town.  The surface of the altar table rested on varnished mangrove roots.  He also installed stained glasses on the two windows of the wall behind the altar. 

        The year 1990 saw the re-emergence of the concrete retablo when Father Lesme Afable carted off Msgr Latoja’s native embellish-ments.  But another typhoon damaged the church in 2004.  The following year, Father Joberto Picardal directed the replacement of the roof and the installation of the ceiling.  In 2005, on the epistle side of the façade, through the monetary contributions of his parishioners, he constructed a semi-baroque belfry, designed by Lutgardo Bano.  Two stained glasses were fixed on the windows, hewn from the facade.  Awning windows of wood and glass, were set in place on both sides of the church.  A new wooden altar table, gifted by Josefa Yape, replaced the old one.  In the reredos, Father Picardal enshrined a new tabernacle that was purchased by Myrna Berend. A canopy was added over the main entrance.  The Lanangnons in Italy purchased a bell that now hangs with the others on the bell tower.  Standing near the campanile is an Adoration Chapel, entirely donated by Mrs Teofista Alde-Anos, and blessed in 2004.  

          In 2012, new tiles were installed in the sanctuary, with Mr & Mrs Juan Bagon, Sr as sponsors.  In 2015, through the generosity of Myrna Berend, Asuncion Cayode, Zita Acas and family, the two windows behind the altar were transformed into niches to encase the images of St Anthony and Our Lady of the Rosary, the latter also a gift to the church by these hermanas.  Under Father Marlon Gacho's lead, the old pews were withdrawn to set the new ones, all of hard wood, on the entire nave.  New doors and windows were put in place in 2014 through the contribution of the parishioners.  A legacy of Father Gacho's, the “Domus Sanctorum” that houses images of devotion was opened to devotees in 2015.  These three projects were made possible by the contribution of parishioners.