San Nicolas de Tolentino Church (Macabebe)
The San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish Church, commonly referred to as Macabebe Church, is a 17th-century, Baroque Roman Catholic church located at Barangay Santa Cruz, Macabebe, Pampanga, Philippines. The parish church, under the patronage of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, is under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando. History Augustinian friars established the early Catholic community of Macabebe on March 3, 1575 as a visita or sub-parish of the nearby Parish of San Juan Bautista Calumpit. Later the same year, Father Sebastian de Molina was named chaplain of Macabebe. On September 6, 1576, the administration of the church and convent of Macabebe was transferred to San Agustin Parish of Lubao with Father Ildefonso Heredero as administrator. The first church structure, believed to have been erected between 1576 and 1583, is attributed to Father Heredero. The exact date of the construction of the present masonry church is not specified although it has been documented that Father Felipe Tallada (priest of Macabebe in 1613) reinforced the church with stronger materials. Father Tomas Gresa expanded the church in 1864. Finally, the church was completed in 1880 under the administration of Father Eleuterio Ibeas. Two major events of the late 19th-century damaged the stone-and-brick