Mary Immaculate Parish Church, also known as Nature Church, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

located in Apollo III, Moonwalk Village, Talon V in

Las Piñas Las Piñas (, officially the City of Las Piñas (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Parañaque. The church is known for its "nature theme" representing the ideas of Fr. Pierino Rogliardi and the architectural advocacy of

Francisco Mañosa Francisco "Bobby" Tronqued Mañosa (February 12, 1931 – February 20, 2019) was a Filipino architect considered one of the most influential Filipino architects of the 20th century for having pioneered the art of Philippine neovernacular archi ...

. When it was built in 1986, it was only capable of accommodating 100 people. Beside the main church is the San Lorenzo de Manila Chapel, which is a smaller version of the main church, suited for more intimate church gatherings.

History

The Mary Immaculate Parish originated from the Saint Joseph Parish located at Las Piñas' Barrio E. Aldana, well known for its

Bamboo Organ The Las Piñas Bamboo Organ in St. Joseph Parish Church in Las Piñas, Philippines, is a 19th-century church organ. It is known for its unique organ pipes; of its 1031 pipes, 902 are made of bamboo. It was completed after six years of work in 18 ...

, in an area where post-war new settlements were mushrooming and the need for spiritual nourishment was soon answered by a proliferation of chapels within villages. Sometime later, when the Holy Family Parish was established in BF Almanza which was close to Talon, its new parish priest, Fr. Ernesto Joaquin, took in these chapels, including the Sto. Niño Chapel in Moonwalk. This site was later chosen to house the new church to be built in honor of Mary Immaculate. On August 22, 1979, Jaime L. Cardinal Sin made the whole area of Talon, which comprises 40 subdivisions, into one parish under the name Mary Immaculate. He appointed Fr. Colin Apap and Fr. Victor Agius, both from

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, as Parish Priest and Assistant Parish Priest, respectively. Fr. Collin was installed on September 8, 1979, while the church was dedicated on December 8, 1979. Originally, the parish church was built out of the old Sto. Niño Chapel in Moonwalk Village, Las Piñas, but as the community and population grew, its later parish priest, Fr Pierino Rogliardi, saw the need for a larger church structure. Hence, the beginning of the building of the "Nature Church" complex, which would showcase Filipino organic architecture as championed by the chosen architect, National Artist Francisco "Bobby" Mañosa. On , the feast day of the Immaculate Conception, the new church was inaugurated.

Architectural features

Architect

, together with Linggoy Alvarez who served as the landscaper, executed a ''nature concept'' for the church as the church would serve as the signature structure of the location's mango orchard. The idea was conceptualized by former parish priest Father Pierino Rogliardi.Las Pinas Nature Church
The nature concept of the church is reflected in different parts of the church.

Altar

Tropical palms and plants served as its backdrop. It provided privacy for prayer and meditation. The altar is a rough-finished

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

marble slab resting on two madre cacao

driftwood Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...

pedestal A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

s. Flat-topped boulders of various shapes and sizes line the altar and are used as seats by altar servers. The flooring of the altar section, similar to that of the

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s, is interplay of wood tiles from tree trunks cut crosswise and white pebble washout.

Roofing

The roofing has a suspended,

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

-shaped form. It was covered with the woven network of 40,000

anahaw ''Saribus rotundifolius'', also known as the footstool palm, is a common fan palm found in Southeast Asia. It is a member of the genus '' Saribus''. Common names It is called ''anáhaw'' or ''luyong'' in Filipino. In Malay the palm is known as ...

leaves, considered as the biggest anahaw-covered roof in the Philippines. 176 dove-shaped

capiz Capiz (), officially the Province of Capiz (Capiznon language, Capiznon/Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon: ''Kapuoran sang Capiz''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the central part of the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines ...

lanterns spiraling towards the center of the ceiling were installed.

Structural components

Beams and

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

are made out of 50-year-old

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

trees. Six

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

posts provide additional strength. The flooring is composed of patchwork of stones and wooden slabs with pebble washout.

Seats

Three sections of the assembly area are divided for seats. They are made out of fallen logs while kneelers are made out of flat pieces of

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

Landscape elements

A rock garden is located below the altar. It is ornamented with greens of carabao grass, wild

bougainvillea ''Bougainvillea'' ( , ) is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees belonging to the family, Nyctaginaceae. They are native to Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and Argentina. There are between 4 and 22 species in the genus. The i ...

, pakpak lawin, and a collection of other

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

varieties grown on

s. A man-made

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

is also located at the boulders of the altar. The

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

underneath collects the water, decorated with

water lilies ''Water Lilies'' ( ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artistic production during ...

Present condition

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

occurred on

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

, 2007. A self-propelling firework called "kwitis" (rocket) ignited a fire at the roofing of the church along with its electrical and audio system while the wooden seats were scorched with falling embers. The church was rebuilt, integrating fire-resistant technology while still being faithful to Mañosa's original design. The church was re-opened and re-dedicated by Bishop Jesse Mercado on September 8, 2007.

Parish priests

Since its establishment, Mary Immaculate Parish has been administered by diocesan priests affiliated with the

Focolare Movement The Focolare Movement is an international organisation of spiritual and social renewal and Christian new religious movement that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brother/sisterhood grounded in the Golden Rule. It was founded by then e ...

Programs

Mary Immaculate Parish runs a K–12 school (), a

night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The scuol ...

for adults, a pediatric and

lying-in Lying-in is the term given to the European forms of postpartum confinement, the traditional practice involving long bed rest before and after giving birth. The term and the practice it describes are old-fashioned or archaic, but lying-in u ...

clinic, and a

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''columba'' (dove) and originally solel ...

within the premises. The parish also established housing projects for the poor, notably Emmaus Village in Barangay Talon Singko.

Gallery

Main Church

File:Kneeling area.JPG, Kneeling area File:Altar of Nature Church.JPG, Altar of Nature Church File:Ceiling of Nature Church.JPG, Ceiling of Nature Church File:Wooden seats at Nature Church.JPG, Wooden seats at Nature Church

San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila Chapel

File:Pamaypay-style ceiling finish.jpg,

Abaniko An abaniko (from the Spanish word '' abanico'', "fan") is a type of hand fan from the Philippines. Description The abaniko is common accessory for the baro't saya, the traditional ladies’ attire. Various ways of using and holding the ab ...

-style ceiling finish File:San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel.JPG, San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel File:San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel Altar.JPG, San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel Altar

Function halls

File:Banquet Hall.JPG, Banquet Hall

Ossuary Garden

File:Saint Anthony Ossuary.JPG, Saint Anthony

Ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...

File:Saint Mark Ossuary.JPG, Saint Mark Ossuary

References

External links

* * * *
Focolare Movement in the Philippines
{{DEFAULTSORT:Las Pinas Nature Church Roman Catholic churches in Metro Manila Buildings and structures in Las Piñas Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Parañaque