The Our Lady of the PillarParish Church, commonly known as the Santa Cruz Church and also designated as the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament, is a baroqueRoman Catholic parish church in the district of Santa Cruz, Manila, Philippines. It was built when the arrabal of Santa Cruz was established by the Jesuits in the early 17th century. The church had undergone many repairs and reconstruction, with the last reconstruction done in the 1950s. It is the first Mission and Mother house of Filipino Sacramentinos, making it as the center of Congregation Activities and events The church façade is topped with a statue of Our Lady of the Pillar, the patroness of the church, whose feast is held every 3rd Sunday of October. On 7 December 2017 Pope Francis granted the Canonical coronation of the venerated image. The current parish priest is Fr. Rudsend P. Paragas, SSS. On June 3, 2018, as part of the Church-wide celebrations of Corpus Christi, it was officially raised to an Archdiocesan Shrine by the decree of the Archbishop of Manila, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, in the Archdiocese-wide holiday mass held in the church.
Architecture
The Jesuits built the first Catholic church in the area where the present Santa Cruz Parish stands on June 20, 1619. The original church design was made of stone and wood. The Jesuits enshrined the image ofOur Lady of Pilar in 1643 to serve the predominantly Chinese residents in the area. The first church was made of stone and wood was built in the 17th century. On June 3, 1863 an earthquake destroyed the church. Fr. Agustin de Mendoza began reconstruction work on the church in 1868. The church facade is characteristically Baroque with Ionic piers vertically dividing the first two levels in three parts. Three semicircular arch doorways form as main entrance to the church. A Celtic-like window flanked by small semicircular windows is found at the center of the second level. Forming as the pediment, the topmost level has its raking cornice in undulating liens emanating from the broken pediment found above the statued niche. The domed belfry rises on the right in six levels. The original structure of the church was twice damaged by earthquakes and then completely destroyed during the Battle of Manila. The present building of the church, reconstructed in 1957, was designed to reflect the Spanish baroque style that Resembles, Architectural style of Spanish missions in California. Art Deco and Romanesque influences the Interior of the Church. =Notable priest= Saint
