Sorsogon is no doubt a Catholic province. I myself, who was born and raised here was baptized as Catholic. That is why it just feels right to create a Visita Iglesia Bicol, Sorsogon edition for fellow Sorsoganons and even those outside the province to get to know the historical Catholic churches of Sorsogon province. I have been googling where are the churches in Sorsogon but do not find a lot of these features online so we took a leap according to our very limited resources.
Every Holy Week, I grew up seeing my older family members to visit at least seven churches. Also known as Visita Iglesia, this is a Roman Catholic lenten tradition to go to churches during Holy Thursday. Why seven? This is the number that represents the seven holy sites related to the arrest and trial of Jesus.
Sorsogon province has 14 towns and 1 city with 30 official parishes. We started documenting our Visita Iglesia Sorsogon a week before the Holy Week to avoid the crowd. Of course, the top reason is for you guys to help your research about churches to visit in Sorsogon this Semana.
Because of bad weather, we were able to visit 13 only. We want it to be exactly 14 but maybe next year it is. We are from Irosin so that is the start then we went to nearby Bulan, Casiguran and Juban. The next day, I and my sister went separate ways. The plan is Bulusan, Gubat, Barcelona and Prieto Diaz with her boyfriend on motorcycle. It was raining so hard that the boyfriend’s mom told him to not go so my sister went alone to Gubat. She wanted to go to Prieto Diaz then stop over to Bulusan and Barcelona but the last trip schedule is so near that she went back home after.
While me and my dog, went to Magallanes.
See below what churches to visit in Sorsogon that will make your Visita Iglesia Sorsogon edition memorable:
- Saint Michael Archangel Church in Irosin - the only church located on a hill in the middle of the town center
- Saint James The Greater Church in Bulusan - the church in Sorsogon with the oldest bell tower dating back to 15th century
- Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church in Bulan - the biggest church in Sorsogon
- Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church in Casiguran - at the back of this church is the newly-unveiled giant Statue of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary facing the sea
- Holy Infant Jesus Church in Matnog - a Baroque church in Sorsogon that is located just a few walks away from the busy port of Matnog
- Saint Joseph Parish in Barcelona - the oldest church in Sorsogon
Nothing much is mentioned about these churches but they are also worth visiting.
- Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Juban
- Saint Mary Magdalene Church sa Santa Magdalena
- The Annunciation Parish sa Bacon, Sorsogon
- Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Gubat
- Saint Joseph Church sa Gabao, Irosin
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church sa Magallanes
Note: If you know anyone connected to these churches above, feel free to let them know that I am open to send them questions. I would love to feature these churches over here especially the history. We have a very empty gap of lack of information of many important historical pieces here in Sorsogon
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