Pulilan Church and a Family Farewell

By Marie. November 29, 2025

Faith and Memory: A Family Farewell

Last November 23, we laid to rest my uncle Tito Odong — the last of his generation — in the cemetery behind Pulilan Church, Bulacan. It was my first time to visit a church with burial grounds, and though the occasion was heavy with grief, I felt a quiet gladness that his final resting place was within such sacred compound.

Pulilan Church, a Bulacan Cemetery

After the burial, my sister and I wandered around the church. At first glance, there was little to see beyond the old adobe structures and the church itself. Yet the presence of the cemetery spoke volumes. In earlier centuries, Philippine churches often maintained burial grounds within their compounds, a practice rooted in the belief that the faithful should rest close to the altar, awaiting resurrection. Some even built crypts into their walls, binding the living and the dead in one sacred space. Pulilan’s cemetery, with its enduring stone gate and niches, is a reminder of that tradition.

Heritage Church, a Fine Remembrance

My uncle had lived in Pulilan for many years, despite our urging him to move closer to us. We often wondered why he loved it there. Perhaps the answer lies in the quiet dignity of this church and its cemetery, where history and faith converge. Now, Pulilan Church will forever be a fine remembrance — not only of heritage, but of a life that chose to stay rooted in a place of devotion and peace.

The San Isidro Labrador Church

Nestled in the heart of Pulilan, Bulacan, the San Isidro Labrador Church stands as a Baroque landmark built in the late 18th century. Beyond its façade and the famous kneeling carabao tradition during the feast of its patron saint, the church holds another layer of history: the cemetery at its rear, a relic of how faith and mortality intertwined in colonial life.

Campo Santo

Known locally as the campo santo, Pulilan’s cemetery is one of several in Bulacan that remained within church grounds despite a mid‑19th century Spanish decree requiring cemeteries to be moved at least a kilometer away for sanitary reasons. Before that order, burials were commonly placed beside or behind churches, symbolizing closeness to the sacred and the hope of resurrection. In Pulilan, the cemetery still bears adobe walls and a striking three‑level stone gate, unique in the country, with niches reserved for priests and prominent families. The last interment recorded was in 1968, for Don Catalino Castillo, whose niche crowns the cemetery’s gate.

Filipino Traditions

This practice of keeping cemeteries within church compounds reflects a worldview where the living and the dead shared sacred space. Some Philippine churches even integrated crypts into their walls or beneath altars, reinforcing the idea that community, ancestry, and faith were inseparable. Pulilan’s cemetery, with its Art Deco graves and enduring presence, invites us to reflect on how heritage sites preserve not only architecture but also the rituals of remembrance that shaped Filipino spirituality.