The Parish of Saint Blaise

The parish of St. Blaise was founded on August 25, 1897 with Rev. Fr. Domingo Carrera from the order of St.  Augustine as its first parish priest. The parish got its name from the place where its patron saint St. blaise came from, who was later made a bishop of this town in Armenia.

Formerly, Sebaste was called Ipayo, named after the river that flows through it. Ipayo was believed to be a municipality during the Spanish time in 1800. Pestilence and calamities wrought misfortunes upon the community that later, the heavy toll forced Sebaste to be annexed to Pandan. Thereafter, what once the seat of the municipality became“ Arabal Of Sebaste.

The image of St. Blaise was a gift of Dona Matilde, wife of the Duke of Seville, to his son, Father Mariano Zapata, then the parish priest of Pandan who transferred his residence in Sebaste. He took along with him the image of St. Blaise and installed as patron of Sebaste. He thought that the place was cursed, so the statue of St. Blaise was made the patron saint of Ipayo when his miracle was claimed were manifested not only in preventing calamities but also in healing the sick. The news of his miracles spread throughout Panay, Negros, Mindanao, and other places.