History of Pila

Since his Filipino predecessors had already completed the stone church, Fray Benito del Quintanar OFM, who served for the longest term as the pastor of Pila during the Spanish era (1839-52), concentrated on building the stone convent. Towards the later part of the project, it had to be suspended in 1846 when the cholera epidemic struck at Pila. Fray Benito reported that from the twelfth to the eighteenth day alone, 36 (28 men and 8 women) were laid low by the disease, 15 of whom died (11 men and 4 women). The cult of San Roque must have been very busy at this time with prayers, penitence and processions at all times of the day. The resourceful pastor also thought he had found an effective purgative against the infection consisting of olive oil, manzanilla and cognac, for 21 patients (13 men and 8 women) survived the epidemic after availing themselves of this novel concoction (Gomez Platero 1880:673, de Huerta 1855:130).(44)

After nine years of supervising the labor of the townspeople, Fray Benito finally finished the great undertaking in 1849. (45) In behalf of the faithful, he had the following prayer-poem in Latin inscribed in a rectangular stone tablet over the main gate of the convent:

“Fave, Protege, Custod., / Bened. Que S.c Antoni: / Domui Istam Novam / Quam Tibi Dedicavi.” (“St. Anthony, may you look with favor on, protect, guard and bless this new house which is dedicated to you.”)

It seems that St. Anthony has answered Pila’s fervent prayers. The stone church and convent have survived to the present and the latter now houses the parish college, Liceo de Pila.

To promote public worship, the energetic Fray Benito had also started the Archicofradia del Nuestro Señor Padre San Francisco most probably at the beginning of his term. This archconfraternity was next in rank to the Venerable Orden Tercera (VOT) of the Franciscan order, which was situated in Manila. Compared to an ordinary confraternity, the archconfraternity had been granted by the pope the power to affiliate with other groups of the same character. The earliest surviving record of the archicofradia of Pila dates to 1848 when the hermano and hermana mayor were Don Narciso de San Gabriel and Doña Magdalena de la Rosa. Their deputies were Don Tomas de Rivera and Doña Isabel Abella de Rivera who were later elected to succeed to them. Sadly, Fray Benito had to retire in 1852 due to a chronic illness, which had afflicted him for the past two years. [   ] The archicofradia became inactive six years later. However, it was resumed after the monstrous earthquake of 1863 shook the town mercilessly and apparently caused some damage to the church, convent and houses of the faithful.(46)