Cebu Philippines: St. Michael Archangel Church in Argao
Argao became a parish in 1703, which prompted the construction of a beautiful rococo-baroque church structure in 1734 and was completed in 1788. The church was renovated for its bicentennial celebration in 1988. Despite some renovations and modernizations done to it, the San Miguel Archangel Parish still remains one of the richly furnished churches in the South.
THE centuries-old parish of St. Michael the Archangel in Argao, Cebu is now an archdiocesan shrine. In a decree of conferment issued last Sept. 23, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal officially declared the parish as the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Michael Archangel. Church laws afford special rights and privileges to a shrine, which include special blessings and indulgences to devotees visiting it. This makes a shrine a center of special devotion for a particular place.
St. Michael Archangel is depicted in the paintings and sculptures outside and inside the church. At least twenty figures of angels line the walls and poles leading to the altar or retablo, which is still the original. The domed ceiling erupts into a canvass of religious motifs, the centerpiece being the archangel Michael winning the fight over the fallen Lucifer. The murals on the ceilings were done by two of the best church muralists of the early 20th century: famous artist Canuto Avila for the biblical events and Reynaldo Francia for the great Michael-Lucifer battle.
Although it is not in use now, the church has a choir loft and a pipe organ which is one of the fourteen Spanish era musical instruments in the country. The organ is made up of wind chests constructed from a massive solid wood. It has channels patiently carved out of this massive Narra wood and two wind chest blocks connected by lead tubes to accommodate all the stops. The organ also has white naturals and black sharps of ebony wood and toe pedals, and has a wedge bellow with 4 folds supplied by a 1-fold wedge pump bellow.
Prominent on the church’s facade is the carved figure of the parish patron saint. Oversized urn-like finials placed in strategic areas of the church entrance provide a decorative element. Also outside the church is an altar with an image of the town’s patron saint, St. Michael the Archangel. The church’s original roof was destroyed by a fierce storm in 1876. It was fixed in 1924 but its original tisa roofing was replaced with galvanized iron sheets. The church was also renovated for the bicentennial celebration in 1988, and its outer walls were scraped. Despite some renovations done to it, the St. Michael the Archangel Parish Church remains one of the richly furnished churches in the south. To the church’s right is a tower where its bells are kept and rung to this day and to its left is a two-storey convent that was turned into a seminary during the mid 1900s.
St. Michael Archangel Church is located in Argao, Cebu which is in the southern part of the island. it can be reached by bus, car or van. Public busses that ply the route are at the South Bus Terminal. Visitors can also hire cars and vans to reach the church.
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