BY SUSAN B. JARA

Near the busy intersection of Marcos Highway and Sumulong Highway in Antipolo City, there stands a newly-built Catholic church known to many of its parishioners as the “People’s Shrine.”

It is called as such because it was built in honor of and dedicated to the French Carmelite nun St. Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face famous for her teaching of “the little way of spiritual childhood.”

In gaining sainthood, St. Therese did not travel for the missions. She did not place her life on the line. She did not defend the faith with magnificent oratory or writings.

And yet the Vatican declared her as the “Patroness of Missions” and “Doctor of the Church,” only the third woman saint to be conferred such honor after St. Catherine of Siena and St. Teresa of Avila.

Put simply, St. Therese lived by her teaching which was contained in her best-selling book “Histoire d’une Ame” (The Story of a Soul) thus: “It is to recognize your nothingness, expect everything from the good Lord, as a little child expects everything from his father. It is to worry about nothing, it is the complete abandonment of a baby sleeping without fear in its father’s arms.”

It was against this background that the church was built, officially called the St Therese of the Child Jesus Shrine, which was dedicated in solemn ceremonies by Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes on Oct. 1 with the theme, “A Parish One in Faith and Service.”

As Father Neil M. Tacbas, the parish priest, put it, the Shrine represented a “labor of love” in which parishioners from all walks of life contributed to its construction, putting into action the teaching of St. Therese in following the Lord in her own “little way.”

According to Dr. Ven Nieva, a lay leader and the parish historian, the Shrine was also the culmination of a dream initiated by then Antipolo Bishop Yalung, which coincided with yet another significant event – the celebration of the country’s 105th Independence Day on June 12, 2002.

Nieva said Bishop Yalung wanted to create a parish along the Marcos Highway because there was no visible Catholic church along its whole stretch from Katipunan Ave. in Quezon City to Sumulong Highway in Masinag Bishop Yalung set in motion that dream in a meeting with community and religious leaders of the mostly middle-class subdivisions in the area, initially consisting of Filinvest East Homes, Vermont Park, Vermont Royale, Golden Meadows, Samsonville, Town & Country Executive Village and Midtown.

Nieva said those in attendance unanimously agreed to have St. Therese of the Child Jesus as the patroness of the first parish in the Antipolo diocese under her patronage.

A group of devotees led by Father Venson “Bing” Valenciano, the first parish priest, flew to Lisieux, France and returned home on Oct. 26, 2003, bringing with them a primary relic of St. Therese now enshrined on a side altar.

While the diocese was looking for an ideal site where the Shrine was to be built, the Filinvest East Homes chapel was chosen as the temporary seat of the parish.The search ended, Nieva said, when former Finance Secretary Vicente Jayme offered for a generous discount a large chunk of prime property he owned along the Marcos Highway near Masinag and located near the Kingsville Executive village.

With the purchase, the ground-breaking for the construction of the Shrine started on May 14, 2005. But before that, Nieva said Bishop Reyes declared a change of status from a quasi-parish to the Parish of St. Therese of the Child Jesus by presiding over its canonical erection on Dec. 7, 2003.

Thus started the actual construction, Nieva said, with Father Neil as the new parish priest and lay leader Ed Bolinao implementing Phases 1 and 2 as the chairman of the finance council and assisted by a team of architects and engineers who volunteered their services and talent.

Those involved agreed they encountered no major hitches during the construction phase, especially on the financial aspect. They pointed out it was smooth sailing all the way which they attributed mainly to the intercession of St. Therese.
This was exemplified, they said, by the generous donations – in cash and in kind as well as services – from the parishioners and the outsiders who followed St. Therese’s “little way” in making that dream come true.

On Oct. 1, that dream culminated with the Eucharistic celebration with rites of solemn dedication and consecration of the Shrine officiated by Bishop Reyes.

Among those present were Rizal Gov. Junjun Ynares as well as Mayors Nilo Leyble of Antipolo City and Mon Ilagan of Cainta, Rizal as well as parish priests and lay leaders from the Antipolo diocese.

Highlighting the ceremonies were the canonical announcements approved by Bishop Reyes declaring St. Therese of the Child Jesus as a diocesan Shrine with Father Neil retained as the parish priest and also appointed as its first rector.