Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary Parish of Sogod
"SOGOD", Cebuano term meaning "to start" and this word aptly describes this booming town located at the innermost part of the bay on the southern portion of Leyte Island. One look at the map of the island, and one certainly cannot miss this town.
Aptly so, because Sogod is where thousand start their journey to other parts of the archipelago. In other words, this town is a junction to many places. One can take a ride to the capital town with ease, for buses and jeepneys go there by the hour. You need to go to a regional office in Tacloban City, and several buses a day can take you there. The ferry terminal in Liloan is just an hour's ride away, and Mindanao is almost at the doorstep from there. A Trip to Manila is not a problem, for long-distance transport is available. Indeed, Sogod is a good place to start when one wants to go to somewhere.
Demised Mariologists may turn in their graves, but the patroness of Sogod can also be said to be a Sogodnon. For, technically speaking (may God allow the use of this phrase in His divine plan), Immaculada Concepcion speaks of the beginning of the Incarnation. The Blessed Virgin, chosen by God to become the Mother of his Son, is starting her earthly life through an "Immaculate Conception" in her mother's womb. Aptly chosen as the patroness of the parish as well by the community, indeed.
Of course, under the mantle of Our Lady, the Sogodnons have already begun their journey towards salvation. It all began when the people of Sogod started building a church of light materials. But Moro pirates, as legend tells it, razed the structure to the ground. Unfazed, the people again started to build another church – now made of strong materials- and a watch tower. The Moro invaders returned and burned and destroyed the church and the watch tower. In spite of these tragedies, the people remained where they were. It is regarded as a test of faith to see their churches burned time and again, the Sogodnons transformed their community into a church with a capital C. This community – God's people became a parish on May 14, 1866 under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by virtue of a Real Aprobacion. Another leg of the journey had been overcome.
The history of Sogod Parish seems to be an endless cycle of starts and beginnings (Even its present church building which was started in the early 1960s and considered one of the biggest in the diocese is still unfinished.) But this is where one can find the charm of the place and its people. Undaunted by events that somehow destroy what they had begun, the Sogodnons can always be counted to rise up and start all over again. (Atoy Manlunas III (NORTHERNHASHBERRY) - October 17, 2010)
| Priests who served the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish of Sogod | ||
|---|---|---|
| Period of Tenure | Parish Priest | |
| June 1869 – April 1882 | Reverend Father Don Tomas Logroño | |
| April 1882 – November 1902 | Reverend Father Ramon Abarca | |
| November 1902 - December 1903 | Reverend Father Domingo Javier | |
| December 1903 - June 1908 | Reverend Father Diego Paras | |
| June 1908 - December 1910 | Reverend Father Pelagio Aviles | |
| December 1910 - February 1916 | Reverend Father Segundo Espiritu | |
| March 1916 - June 1921 | Reverend Father Pablo Cui | |
| June 1921 - October 1924 | Reverend Father Roman Enciso | |
| January 1924 – June 1925 | Reverend Father Januario Cordobes | |
| July 1925 – December 1925 | Reverend Father Francisco Sacro | |
| December 1925 – July 1926 | Reverend Father Pedro Morfe | |
| July 1926 – October 1933 | Reverend Father Abino B. Abrera | |
| October 1933 – November 1933 | Reverend Father Januario Cordobes | |
| November 1933 – March 1944 | Reverend Father Pedro Aruta | |
| April 1944 – April 1957 | Reverend Father Luis Caintic | |
| August 1957 – November 1957 | Reverend Father John Li (Co-adjutor) | |
| November 1957 – April 1961 | Reverend Father Sergio Osmeña | |
| September 1958 – April 1961 | Reverend Father Juan Gaborni (Co-adjutor) | |
| May 1961 – May 1963 | Reverend Father Licerio S. Oledan | |
| May 1963 – April 1972 | Reverend Father Porfirio P. Suarez | |
| April 1972 – May 1981 | Reverend Father Vicente S. Lora | |
| June 1981 – May 1986 | Reverend Father Juanito Arreglo | |
| May 1986 – June 1986 | Reverend Father Amado D. Olayvar | |
| July 1986 – June 1992 | Reverend Father Manuel S. Nueve | |
| June 1992 – February 1999 | Reverend Monsignor Amado D. Olayvar | |
| February 1999 – May 2004 | Reverend Father Lorenzo Suarez | |
| May 2004 – April 2011 | Reverend Monsignor Felix Paloma | |
| May 2011 – Present | Reverend Monsignor Nestor Astillo | |
| List of Barangay Chapels under the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish of Sogod | ||
|---|---|---|
| Barangay | Patron Saint | Feast Day |
| Balintulay (Kahupian) | Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary | December 6 |
| Benit | Our Lady of Perpetual Help | June 27 |
| Cabadbaran | Saint Isidore the Laborer | May 5 |
| Casao, Bontoc town | Holy Cross | May 20 |
| Curva (Dagsa) | Holy Cross / Saint Isidore the Laborer | May 19 |
| Dagsa | Saint Joseph | March 19 |
| Dampoy (Pancho Villa) | Saint Augustine of Hippo | August 28 |
| Hagna (Kahupian) | Saint Isidore the Laborer | May 20 |
| Hibod-Hibod | Saint Isidore the Laborer | May 22 |
| Hindangan | Saint Isidore the Laborer | May 25 |
| Hipantag | Saint Isidore the Laborer | May 15 |
| Hon-ob (San Francisco Mabuhay) | Saint Roch | August 15 |
| Kabernal (Kahupian) | ||
| Kahupian | Our Lady of Perpetual Help | June 26 |
| Kauswagan | Saint Vincent Ferrer | Last Saturday of April |
| Lawgawan, Bontoc town | Holy Infant Jesus | January 21 |
| Layog (Benit) | Our Lady of Perpetual Help | June 27 |
| Libas | Saint Isidore the Laborer | May 16 |
| Lubong Sapa (Kahupian) | Holy Infant Jesus | January |
| Lum-an | Holy Infant Jesus | January 20 |
| Mabicay | Saint Isidore the Laborer | May 15 |
| Magatas | Saint Philomena | August 11 |
| Matalwa (San Miguel) | Holy Cross | May 17 |
| Milagroso | Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary | Third Saturday of October |
| Pancho Villa | Saint Augustine of Hippo | August 27 |
| Pandan | Holy Infant Jesus | Last Saturday of January |
| Pangi, Bontoc town | Saint Isidore the Laborer | May 18 |
| Paril (Mabicay) | Saint Isidore the Laborer | May 21 |
| Rizal | Holy Infant Jesus | January 16 |
| San Francisco Mabuhay | Saint Vincent Ferrer | April 25 |
| San Isidro | Saint Isidore the Laborer | Last Saturday of May |
| San Jose | Saint Joseph | March 19 |
| San Miguel | Saint Michael the Archangel | September 29 |
| San Pedro | Saints Peter and Paul | June 29 |
| San Roque | Saint Roch | August 16 |
| Santa Cruz, Bontoc town | Holy Cross | May 24 |
| Santa Maria | Holy Infant Jesus | Last Monday of January |
| Silao Bato (Kahupian) | Sacred Heart of Jesus | June 16 |
| Ta-a, Bontoc town | Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary / Sacred Heart of Jesus | October 7 |
| Tampoong | Holy Cross | May 3 |
| Tinina-an (Magatas) | Holy Cross | May 3 |
| Tigao (Magatas) | Saint Philomena | August 10 |
| Tuburan, Bontoc town | ||
| Zone I | Saint Anthony of Padua | June 13 |
| Zone II | Saint Roch | August 21 |
| Zone III | Saint Lorenzo Ruiz | September 28 |
| Zone IV | Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary | Third Saturday of October |
| Zone V | Our Lady of Light | September 8 |
Read more about this topic: Sogod, Southern Leyte, Catholicism in Sogod
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“I know that there are many persons to whom it seems derogatory to link a body of philosophic ideas to the social life and culture of their epoch. They seem to accept a dogma of immaculate conception of philosophical systems.”
—John Dewey (1859–1952)
“I know that there are many persons to whom it seems derogatory to link a body of philosophic ideas to the social life and culture of their epoch. They seem to accept a dogma of immaculate conception of philosophical systems.”
—John Dewey (1859–1952)
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—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“The world ‘s a bubble, and the life of man
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—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
—Bible: Hebrew Exodus, 20:8-11.
The fourth commandment.
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“When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls, and the stars begin to flicker in the sky,”
—Mitchell Parish (1901–1993)