Bishop Buenaventura Famadico of San Pablo approved a petition to declare a parish church dedicated to Saint Isidore the Farmer in the city of Biñan a diocesan shrine.
The San Isidro Labrador Parish Church, which houses a centuries-old dark wood image of the saint, will be the 8th shrine in the diocese.
Biñan is one of the earliest Spanish settlements in La Laguna founded about 1571 with the arrival of Captain Juan de Salcedo.
The first structure of the Biñan church began construction in 1690 and was completed in 1694.
The church, however, had gone through several destructions and reconstructions due to calamities. The present look of the church was constructed in 1970.
The parish was first administered by the Augustinians, followed by the Dominicans until it was pastored by Filipino secular priests.
The church was declared a shrine as the parish currently celebrates the 400th anniversary of St. Isidore’s canonization on March 12.
In a resolution issued in February 2021, the city government of Biñan also endorsed and supported the petition to elevate the “local heritage site” into a diocesan shrine.
The diocese, which covers Laguna province, now has one national shrine dedicated to San Antonio de Padua in Pila town and six other diocesan shrines: Mary Help of Christians, Calamba City; Jesus in the Holy Sepulchre, San Pedro; Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba, Pakil; San Vicente Ferrer, Cabuyao City; Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pagsanjan; and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.
It is also the country’s third shrine dedicated to San Isidro Labrador after San Isidro Labrador Shrine in Talavera, Nueva Ecija in the Diocese of Cabanatuan and San Isidro Labrador Shrine in Pulilan, Bulacan in the Diocese of Malolos.
A date has yet to be announced for the solemn declaration of the shrine.
