Santuario de San Jose

Santuario de San Jose (Sanctuary of Saint Joseph) is a parish church found inside the Green Hills East Village in Mandaluyong City, Philippines. It is designated as the Shrine of Saint Joseph the Patriarch. It is run by the Oblates of St. Joseph (OSJ). It is the home parish of different chapels: the Holy Family Chapel (inside Green Hills Shopping Center) and Crame.

It is named after its principal patron, St. Joseph, husband of Mary. Secondary patron saints include St. Joseph Marello, founder of the Oblates of St. Joseph, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Its principal feast day is on March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Secondary feasts include the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the feast day of St. Joseph Marello.

History

During the 1960s, the Ortigas Company donated 5,030 square meters of land to the Catholic Church in a hilly and green place called Green Hills for the building of a semi-concrete church. Fr. Guido Coletti, OSJ would travel all the way from Batangas City, where he was assigned, to look for financial support to build the church. For the first few months, Fr. Guido was not able to produce money even from those who pledged.

But in March 1964, Fr. Guido’s prayers were answered. Fr. Guido was able to gather P827,000.00. The construction began. It took 25 months to finish the church. Architect Manuel Mañosa, Jr. visualized the splendid building and Nemesio Montenegro of Taal, Batangas gave it structural form and substance.

The newly built church, with the seminary and rectory behind it, was blessed on April 2, 1966. The first "Misa del Gallo" and all Sunday masses were held inside the unfinished church.

In March 1967, it became a parish with the initial population of 3,500 parishioners coming from the Wack-Wack and White Plains subdivisions and from some areas near Camp Crame. Fr. Guido was assigned the parish priest. People began to flock the parish for weddings and baptisms.

In June 1989, Fr. Constantino Conti, OSJ was assigned as Parish Priest. Fr. Guido served as the assistant parish priest with the help of the other OSJ priests in Batangas. When Fr. Guido died on November 1996, he was replaced by Fr. Napoleon G. Jiñon, OSJ.

Santuario de San Jose now has more than one hundred thousand parishioners. The laymen and the birth of different religious organizations gave significant contribution in the propagation of faith through their evangelization, catechism, charitable projects and other various activities.

Parish Administration

As of April 26, 2007, the following comprise the administration of Santuario de San Jose:
Rev. Fr. Noel Magtaas, OSJ - Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Napoleon Jinon, OSJ - Assistant Parish Priest and Economo Rev. Fr. Allen Vic Cartagena, OSJ - Attached Priest Rev. Fr. Nathaniel Mariano, OSJ - Attached Priest Rev. Fr. Adonis Mamuyac, OSJ - Resident Priest