San Sebastian Convent and Community @ 400

Founded on February 16, 1621, the San Sebastian Convent is one of the oldest Recollect communities in the Philippines. The brothers of the community are into parish works through the San Sebastian Parish Basilica and into educational apostolate through the San Sebastian College- Recoletos.

A chapel where the basilica now stands was constructed in that land donated by Don Bernardino Castillo, a St. Sebastian devotee. It had the image of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel brought by the Recollects in 1618 from Mexico. The school, meanwhile, was established in 1941.

According to Fr. Martínez Cuesta, a Recollect historian, the San Sebastian convent was built “as house of solitude, where the religious, already tired from their ministries and desirous of getting away from all noise and enjoy solitude with the permission of their superiors, would find consolation.”