St. Ferdinand Parish was founded by Fr. Mariano Granja, the first Parish priest of Lucena, way back March 1, 1881 then the construction of the church itself started in 1882 and was finished by 1884.It was Monsignor Alfredo Verzosa, then Bishop of Lipa, who paved way for having a diocese here in Lucena when he built a minor seminary in 1942. This seminary became the foundation of building the Diocese of Lucena. On March 28, 1950, Pope Pius XII issued a bull Quo Aeternae Dominici Gregis establishing the Diocese of Lucena and was expedited on May 20, 1950. And finally on September 8, 1950, the Diocese of Lucena was canonically erected.
The St. Ferdinand cathedral is located at the heart of Lucena City’s Poblacion (town proper) it is a common stop and meet- up place for everybody in the town. Some will just pass through the church and some religious persons will allot a little amount of time to go inside the church to visit and pray.
Why it was name as “St. Ferdinand Cathedral”?
First thing is that, the patron saint of these church is St. Ferdinand. Also, the construction of these church was dedicated to St Ferdinand. Second, it is called “Cathedral” because of it’s very significant feature. The “cathedra”. Cathedra is a latin word meaning “chair”. The cathedra is the chair, or we can say the throne of the elected bishop of one diocese. And as the cathedra of Most. Rev. Emilio Z. Marquez DD. is located at St Ferdinand it is right to call the church as a cathedral.
According to some staffs in that place, when tourists are visiting the church they always says that the ceiling of the church was so amazing, they feel like they are at a one cathedral in Rome. Before, the ceiling of the church was really beautiful and mesmerizing. But as time pass by the paint is already blurring and disappearing which lead the leaders and administration of the church into worries because as what I have said, the paint on the church’s ceiling is one of it’s features. If you look at it, it really looks like a very vintage Latin church which people likes the most. So, when they notice that it’s paint is already losing they quickly find a solution, and make a project for this. As of now, the ceiling is fully renovated but still having the same design like before.
Even though this Cathedral is only one of many beautiful churches in the Diocese, it is still the FAMOUS church in the whole Diocese. Though there are more beautiful churches than this, it is still he most famous. WHY? Aside from the fact that it is the only cathedral and the fact that the Bishop of the Diocese is assigned in this place. It is also the holder of a very important event in the Diocese’s calendar. For example, all ordinations are being held in this Cathedral. Ordination of seminarians into deacons, ordination of deacons into priest, and the most important and very special event is the ordination of one priest in being the new Bishop. Like as of now, Bishop Emilio Marquez is already in his retirement period, so it is expected that a new elected bishop will be ordained in this and only in this cathedral.
See? Isn’t that this things are already enough for the Cathedral of St. Ferdinand to be a one significant church in the Diocese? In the Philippines? But of course being famous and “significant” is not really the thing. The main point of building a church like this is to teach and proclaim the word of God to everyone, and to help many peoples to deepen their faith and trust to God.
Dora's Diary 