Sr. San Roque chapel

A fisherman’s weathered hands gripped a piece of driftwood. He was in Mambaling, Cebu City, long before the Sr. San Roque chapel existed. A mysterious voice urged him to carve the wood. Hesitant at first, the fisherman eventually yielded. He painstakingly carved a small statuette, unaware of its significance. Only later, the parish priest of San Nicolas identified it as San Roque. Sr. San Roque chapel now stands in Mambaling as a testament to this divine intervention. The Sr. San Roque chapel wasn’t always a shrine. The story goes that a devastating disease once gripped Mambaling. During a procession with San Roque’s image, the disease miraculously vanished. This cemented San Roque’s place in the hearts of the people. The Sr. San Roque chapel officially became a parish in 1973. Later, in 2008, Cardinal Vidal declared it the Archdiocesan Shrine of San Roque. It is the only shrine dedicated to San Roque in the entire Philippines. The Sr. San Roque chapel community actively encourages church attendance with their “Balik Simba” program. They are even installing electronic billboards as reminders. They dream of making Sr. San Roque chapel a pilgrimage site, welcoming devotees from everywhere.