Sanctuario de Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia

Brief History

The OUR LADY OF MERCY RENEWAL CENTER is under the special patronage of Our Lady of Mercy. It is intended for the renewal and formation of catholic families, youth and children within the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga. It will offer a place conductive for physical and psycho-spiritual renewal and formation of families, youth and children.

The Retreat Farm will also cater to other groups coming from other dioceses in Pampanga and nearby provinces for renewal and formation.

The Our Lady of Mercy Retreat Farm, originally named as Malugud Kekayu Retreat Farm started when, Most Rev. Leonardo Z. Legaspi, O.P., D.D., the then Archbishop of Caceres where the motherhouse of Daughters of Mary Mother of the Church (DM) is located, requested the said Religious Institute to establish a local mission community in a Retreat Farm located within the Parish of St. Bartholomew, Magalang, Pampanga. This lot which was formerly an orchard garden was purchased from an old lady Mrs. Cresida Canlas Tueres, a devote catholic and lover of the poor, to provide them an affordable venue for psycho-spiritual foundation, renewal and seminars. This orchard garden was turned into a Retreat Farm, the MALUGUD KEKAYU FARM (a Kapampangan word for "LOVING YOU"). With the consent of Archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines, the local community of the Daughters of Mary was established in 1993 to manage the Retreat Farm, to administer an Early Childhood Formation Center known as the LITTLE FLOWER CHILD CENTER, and to provide religious instructions in public and private schools of Magalang in coordination with the pastoral program of the parish of St. Bartholomew, Magalang, Pampanga.

The Retreat Farm offers a serenity of the place and closeness to nature. It caters to various civic and religious groups: children, youth and adults coming from low to middle class families who cannot afford the luxury of expensive retreat house and renewal centers for spiritual exercises, retreats, seminars and training.