I grew up with the impression that all Catholic kids in the Philippines received the Sacrament of Confirmation while they were in grade school. This notion was proven false after I accompanied LJ for his kumpil, together with a couple of friends last Sunday. There were close to a hundred participants, from varying age groups, but majority were definitely way past 12 years old.
A confirmation certificate is one of the major requirements of the church for you to get married. If you were confirmed when you were younger, you will need to go back to the church where you got confirmed and request for a new certificate which shows an annotation that says “for marriage purposes.”
If you are like LJ and you didn’t get to go through it when you were a kid, you can head over to the Shrine of St Michael & the Archangels near Malacañang. You don’t even need to call ahead and reserve a slot; the church accepts "walk-ins," just make sure you have your complete requirements with you. Our coordinator referred us to this church as the “takbuhan ng mga ikakasal.” True enough, a huge chunk of the crowd were there because they're planning to get married. The church staff are very much aware of this reality, and upon seeing the restless crowd, jokingly assured them that “bago mag alas-dose asa inyo na pinakaasam-asam nyo na certificate.”
National Shrine of St Michael and the Archangels
Aka Malacañang Church/Villa San Miguel
Confirmation Schedule:
Thursdays 2:30pm
Sundays 10:00am
Things to Bring:
Original Baptismal certificate
Copy of Baptismal certificate
Copy of Birth Certificate
Sponsors/Witness (Ninong and Ninang)
Confirmation fee of 600 pesos
Pen (to fill up the form)
What to do:
Get a form from the guard. Questions include your full name, birthday, names of your parents, date and place of your baptism, names of your sponsors and their address, and your current parish church.
Line-up inside the parish office. A member of the church staff will review your documents -- completed form, baptismal certificate, birth certificate.
Pay Php600, they will issue a receipt and will also give you a name tag
Proceed to the church for the orientation and follow the instructions of the church staff in terms of sitting and what to do during the mass. This includes when to stand to line up, where to kneel, what to say and when to say it.
Tips! we are no expert, but hopefully this can help...
- We didn’t have the original with us, so we called ahead to inform them that it will be difficult for us since LJ’s family already migrated, and getting a new one will need to be scheduled because we have to get it from the province. They were kind enough to accommodate LJ even without the original document.
- Make sure that you have photocopied the baptismal certificate; you will keep the original and leave the copy with the church. Otherwise, they will ask you get it photocopied outside first and then just come back
- If your ninong/ninang is not available, you can ask a friend to be the proxy.
- You can have 'just' one sponsor, it doesn't have to be a pair. Bibo lang kami, so we got one ninong and one ninang, but most participants only had one.
- Part of the questionnaire is the home address of your sponsors
- Proper church attire is expected, it doesn’t necessarily have to be white. Pinanidigan lang naming kaya naka-white si LJ =)
- Be there by 9am so that you can fill-up the form, line-up and attend the orientation which starts at 10am
- Arriving early will also give you enough time to go to confession.
- Certificates will be handed out after the mass
- If you need to have the annotation “for marriage purposes,” your baptismal certificate should already have that annotation. Otherwise, you will need to come back once you have the updated baptismal certificate.
Overall, it was a great morning. We didn't experience any major hassles. This particular church is so used to the process I guess, that's why it was just cut down to the basics. It was like, we were in, sat through a one hour homily (yes, it's that long), then we were out. It also helped that our friends accompanied us.
Here's the church info that we were able to get from blissful-weddings, just in case you'll also need it.
National Shrine of St. Michael Archangel
thanks for this, we will visit this on sunday :) papakasal na rin po kami :)
ReplyDeleteglad to help :) I hope you guys are enjoying your wedding preps :) congratulations and best wishes!
Deletetnx for this info its was a big help for my sister wedding this year:)
ReplyDeleteyou're welcome! best wishes to your sister :)
DeleteThanks for the info :)
ReplyDeleteAsk ko lng, do we need to register days before ng kumpil?
Thank you :)
hi! happy to help. :) we didn't have to register in advance, we just called early that week to verify the schedule and the requirements. Sayang kase if andun ka na tapos cancelled pala or kulang yung docs, di ba? Just make sure you get there early so you have time to fill up the form, line up and not miss the orientation. Good luck and take pictures :)
Deletehi, this really helped a lot.. we will also go there on the 28th to have our kumpil. is it necessary to have the confession? thanks
ReplyDeleteHi! thanks for the note, I'm glad to help. You can have the confession there before the confirmation. Just get there early, target a good hour before the confirmation time so you are not rushing the forms and the confession too. :)
DeleteAsk ko lang po kung pano yung may problema sa birth cert mali kasi yung isang letter ng name pero yung baptismal nya tama, ok lng po ba yun? 2 po kmi kumpil ng asawa ko isang ninang ok na po ba para samin 2 yun? Pag napaschedule po ako ok lang po ba na ako lang di ksama yung asawa ko? Kasi po may pasok sa work dami nya ng absent dahil nagayos kmi ng ibang requirements.. 600 pesos para sa isang tao lang po ba yun o samin 2 na po..thanks
ReplyDeletehi! yup the rate is per person. :) no need na magpaschedule, just call to verify the sked para sure at hindi sayang byahe, and then you can go there on the day itself ng kumpil. Regarding the name sa birth certificate, call them muna to ask ano instruction nila, critical kase ang documents, it's best na you get it right para di sayang fees. :)
Deleteuntil now po tuloy parin po yung kumpil every sunday po? ksi nghhanap yung friend ko kung saan pwde ksi need nila requirements for there up coming pweding po
ReplyDeleteok lang ba magpakumpil kung di naman dyan residency namin, d2 lang din kami Manila....
ReplyDeleteHi... traffic po ba papunta dyan? Is it different from St. Jude church? thanks in advance.
ReplyDeletehi, medyo traffic, papasok sa compound, maliit kase kalsada. Give enough allowance for the travel para di kayo ma-late kase sayang naman. :)
DeleteNice info :) Appreciate couples who helps others. God bless.
ReplyDeletethanks for dropping by! :)
DeleteThanks for the info :) ... ask ko lang ung part na "If you need to have the annotation “for marriage purposes,” your baptismal certificate should already have that annotation." alam nyo po ba pano kumuha ng baptismal with that annotation? yung fiancee ko po kasi meron n confirmation pero wala pa annotation for marriage purposes so that means po ba need nya parin kumuha ulit? ung baptismal dn po namin parehas walang annotation ng for marriage purposes. please advise :) thanks in advance po..
ReplyDeletehi Jeffrey! need nyo balik sa church where you guys got baptized... in our case bumalik ako Marikina, and my husband sa Olongapo (ang layo di ba? pero ganun daw talaga to get copies of the Baptismal na with the annotation.). You can try calling first para do sayang effort. In my case naka three times ata ako na balik sa Calumpang because they had trouble with the records and they required pa a copy of my birth certificate. As for the Baptismal ni LJ, we were also asked to come back the ff. day kase mali din name, we just explained na Manila pa kami so pumayag na LBC na lang nya pag tapos na. Then I went to Laguna to get a copy of the Confirmation na may annotation.
DeleteHi Jane! Thanks for the reply. I see. We were able to request already for new baptismal cert with annotation for marriage purposes. Pina LBC dn namin ung baptismal namin from Cam Sur and Sorsogon p..Layo din dba? I'm not sure lang kung pano pumunta don..hehe. Do you how to get there from LRT Buendia? Galing padn kasi kami ng Laguna. I will call them tomorrow kasi baka wala sila because of the holiday [Labor day]. Sana available sila..Thanks again!
DeleteHi Jeffrey... sorry didn't get to reply sooner, did you guys make it? :)
DeleteI may not be the best person to ask how to get there, the first time kase though we did commute pero alay lakad from Mendiola. It's not so bad, kaya lang summer now :) We took MRT to Cubao, LRT to Legarda, then we walked all the way to the church, roughly 15 to 20 minutes, I underestimated the distance, akala ko kase katabi lang sya St Jude. The succeeding visits, a friend drove na for us. :)