Immaculate Conception Parish Church (Santa Maria)

Santa Maria Church was founded by Franciscan Friars as a visita by the priest Francisco Javier under the parish of Saint Martin of Tours in Bocaue. The materials was initially made of cogon and bamboo and later stronger materials. Then by 1792, Santa Maria de Pandi gained independence from its matrix and the construction of a bigger church commenced. The church was renamed Parroquia de la Purísima Concepción dedicated to the Virgin Mary.^[2]

The church is home to an image of the Virgin Mary that is believed to be miraculous. There are two local legends as to how the image arrived in Santa Maria: first is that it was brought to the town by the Franciscan Friars, second is that it was sculpted out of wood from a galleon. The image has been stolen in the 1930s and was retrieved in Nueva Ecija by a man named Teofilo Ramirez who claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared in his dream and gave instructions as to where the image can be found. The image was returned to the town on a February and the townsfolk accordingly adjusted their feast day to the first Thursday of February except when its falls on February 2 (the feast of Our Lady of the Candles).^[3] The image was first granted an episcopal coronation on March 3, 2018, by Bishop Jose Oliveros of Malolos.^[4] On March 28, 2019, Pope Francis granted the canonical coronation of the image of La Purisima Concepcion.^[5] The coronation took place on February 1, 2020.

The facade of the church has a marker dated 1939 from the Philippines Historical Committee, now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. The marker bears the name "Church of Pandi".^[6] The nearby town of Pandi has its own church, dedicated also to the Immaculate Conception, and is located about 5 kilometers from the minor basilica in Santa Maria, Bulacan.^[7]