Jesus is Lord Church Worldwide Anniversary Celebration is an annual event that gathers a celebration of the Roman Catholic religious group's anniversary since October 1979. Organized by Jesus is Lord Church, the City Government of Manila, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the National Parks Development Committee and the Philippine National Police since October 1990, the event is dubbed as "the annual biggest, the grand and the mammoth crowded celebration in the world".
About the celebration
In October 5, 1978, Bro. Eddie C. Villanueva invited his listeners for a Thanksgiving Mass and Healing Rally that was held in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Manila campus on the Thrusday nearest his birthday, October 6. About one thousand people attended the affair and experienced the miracle-working power of God!
Encouraged by the success of the rally, Bro. Eddie scheduled a monthly Mass and Healing Rally at the Araullo High School in Manila. Some time later, as more people came to be led back to the Lord Jesus Christ, the rally was held weekly. A monthly Catholic Life-in-the-Spirit Seminar (CLSS) and a weekly fellowship were also held at the Strata 2000 Building at Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center in Pasig City.
After a while, Bro. Eddie decided to air his program three times a week and began thinking of a new title and theme song for it. At this time, a friend gave him a magazine entitled "Jesus is Lord," which quickly aroused his interest.
It is the motto of the World Council of Churches.
At this point, he realized that God wanted His Holy and Almighty Name to be proclaimed and made known throughout the world. He thus changed the title of his radio program to "Jesus the Healer."
Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the weekly fellowship came to be called the DWRV Prayer Partners Worship and Healing Prayer Service, since Radio DWRV 860 was the broadcast medium, he and his first listeners became prayer-partners, and Jesus is Lord was the Divine Name revealed to him by God. Every week, God added thousands of new prayer-partners to this community by means of the Good News aired over the radio DWRV 860 kHz and the Mass and Healing Rallies held all over Metro Manila and nearby provinces. As the community grew, they voluntarily gave their tithes and miracle-seed-of-faith offerings to support the radio program "Jesus the Healer" and the Mass and Healing Rallies. Some prayer- partners even volunteered to serve without compensation.
Inspired by the outcome of events, Bro. Eddie thought it was time to formally organize the community. Thus, the Jesus is Lord Church Fellowship, Inc. was established, which in due time was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It was organized, primarily, as an institution where Bro. Eddie could channel his tithes and donations derived from his real estate business and other companies to support the religious activities of various Catholic charismatic groups and some projects of charitable organizations. These however were not enough to support the expenses of the newly-founded charismatic community, especially the radio programs of DZRV and the Mass and Healing Rallies. And so, he had to continue shelling out funds from his own personal earnings. For him, though, it was a great enough blessing from Jesus is Lord that his radio listeners came to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and were receiving answers to their prayer-requests.
In 1982, the first overseas chapter of the Foundation was established in Hong Kong. It started when Bro. Eddie, who was then in Hong Kong for a vacation, was invited to share the Word of God before a Filipino Prayer Group at the St. Joseph Church on May 15. After the meeting, a group of seven Filipino prayer-partners working there and who were at the affair bonded together and held their initial prayer-meeting at the Jones Health Club, a gym formerly owned by Bro. Kenneth and Sis. Tessie Wong at North Point, drawing thirty persons. On August 7, the group invited Bro. Eddie, together with Rev. Fr. Archie Guiriba, OFM, for a Mass and Healing Rally at the St. Joseph Church Hall. The rally was such a success that it paved the way for the formation of the Jesus is Lord Church Hong Kong Chapter with a core group of seven persons on January 7, 1982. On March 21, 1982 the first healing rally under the chapter's banner was held at the Christ the King Chapel of the St. Paul's College. An estimated 800 people attended the affair. The chapter increased in number as the years passed that venues for its succeeding anniversaries were held in bigger ones from the Caritas Hall in Central, Hong Kong to Queen Elizabeth Stadium, Ko Shan Theater in Kowloon, Hong Kong Coliseum, Kai Tak International Airport, and Hong Kong Stadium. At the chapter's 11th anniversary at the Hong Kong Stadium in February 20, 1994, approximately forty thousand people attended the affair.
From 1983 to present, other chapters were formed in Abkhazia, Afghanistan, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Åland Islands, Anguilla, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bonaire, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos Islands, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Egypt, Estonia, Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, Finland, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Gibraltar, Greenland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guernsey, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Maldives, Martinique, Marshall Islands, Mayotte, Mauritania, Mauritius, Melilla, Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Nauru, Navassa Island, Nepal, Netherlands, North Korea, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Cyprus, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Nueva Esparta, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Réunion, Russia, Rwanda, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Andrés and Providencia, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Somaliland, South Korea, South Ossetia, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Transnistria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These were formed by Filipino and foreign prayer-partners working abroad, who were motivated by the desire to bear witness to the love and goodness. With the emergence of the chapters abroad, the corporate name registered with the SEC was amended to Jesus is Lord Church Worldwide, Inc.
In February 1979, thousands of people received deliverance from sin, vices and ailments during the DWRV-JILF Healing Rally at the Araullo High School in Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, with Bro. Eddie Villanueva as speaker. On the second quarter of 1979, the Foundation held Catholic Life-in-the-Spirit Seminars and fellowships in the following places: Cabuyao Parish, Laguna; Concepcion, Malabon; Balagtas, Bulacan; and Abucay Catholic Church in Bataan. On October 6 to 7, 1979, during its First Anniversary Celebration of Jesus is Lord Fellowship at the Araullo High School in Manila, about five thousand people witnessed and experienced the miracle touch.
In 1979, monthly Catholic Life-in-the-Spirit Seminar (CLSS) of the Foundation was moved to the Folk Arts Theater (FAT) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, Pasay City, because the venue on Amorsolo could no longer accommodate the increasing number of participants. About twelve thousand people witnessed and experienced the tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the first CLSS held at FAT. Following this, even more people attended the succeeding seminars, so they had to be conducted in three shifts until the FAT itself could no longer hold the crowds. Consequently, the CLSS was held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, wherein close to twenty-five thousand people participated.
Some eight thousand people gathered together on the Second Anniversary of the Foundation at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on October 5, 1980. Even the seemingly indifferent PICC staff were surprised because the affair lasted one whole day and it was the first time that its Reception and Plenary Halls were filled to capacity.
Before the year 1980 ended, a crowd of more or less 100,000 attended a Foundation-sponsored CLSS and Mass and Healing Rally at the Rizal Baseball Stadium in Manila. That was then the biggest crowd ever gathered by a Catholic Charismatic Renewal Community in the Philippines.
On February 9, 1982, Most Rev. Bishop Gabriel Reyes, Overall Spiritual Director of the CCRM of Manila, appointed Rev. Fr. Archie Guiriba, OFM, as the Spiritual Director of the Foundation.
The Fourth Anniversary of the Foundation was celebrated with an Overnight Mass and Healing Rally at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Vito Cruz, Manila, from October 9 to 10, 1982. It rained heavily throughout the affair, but the estimated two hundred thousand attendees stayed until it ended in the morning.
As early as 9:00 a.m. of October 8 to 9, 1983, members and followers of the Jesus is Lord Fellowship began trooping to the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Vito Cruz, Manila to participate in its Fifth Anniversary Celebration. By midnight, the entire stadium was jammed with over half a million people from all over the Philippines to take part in an overnight activity of praise and worship dedicated to God. Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin together with some priests from the different parishes in the Archdiocese of Manila, led the Holy Mass.
From October 6 to 7, 1984, the Sixth Anniversary of the Jesus is Lord Fellowship was held at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila.
The scenario of the Seventh Anniversary of the Foundation held at the Araneta Coliseum, Cubao, Quezon City, from October 5 to 6, 1985, was identical to that of its Sixth Anniversary. Nevertheless, the almost half a million attendees braved the monsoon rains and knee-deep flood to give thanks, praise and worship to God.
On the occasion of the Eight Anniversary of the Jesus is Lord Fellowship held at the Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park, Manila, from October 4 to 5, 1986, more than one-and-a-half million prayer-partners attended the affair. Her Excellency, Philippine President Corazon S. Cojuangco-Aquino, gave his greetings to the congregation.
On February 25, 1987, for the first time, Jesus is Lord Fellowship, along with the Roman Catholic Church, Jesus Miracle Crusade of Pastor Wilde Almeda, El Shaddai DWXI Prayer-Partners Foundation of Bro. Mike Velarde, Ang Dating Daan of Bro. Eli Soriano and Kingdom of Jesus Christ of Pastor Apollo C. Quibolloy participated in the First Anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People-Power Revolution.
For the first time in the history of Rizal Park and the whole of Metro Manila for that matter, about three million people joined the Twelfth Anniversary of the Jesus is Lord Fellowship at the national park from October 6-7, 1990. The participants crowded the 50-hectare park and adjacent areas-Roxas Boulevard, Taft Avenue, UN Avenue, T.M. Kalaw St., Port Area, and Jones Bridge. Some of them came to the venue as early as three days before the event. They came not only from Metro Manila, but also from Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, the Ilocos Region, Quezon, the Bicol Region, Sorsogon, Leyte, and other distant provinces. Also present were members from different overseas chapters of the Foundation.
For the twenty-eighth time in the history of Rizal Park and the whole of Metro Manila for that matter, about five million people joined the Thirty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration of the Foundation at the national park from October 27, 2013.
The participants crowded the 61-hectare national park and adjacent areas-Roxas Boulevard, Taft Avenue, United Nations Avenue, Padre Burgos Drive, T.M. Kalaw St., Port Area, and Jones Bridge. Some of them came to the venue as early as three days before the event.
They came not only from Metro Manila, including the cities of Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan, Pasay, Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasig, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Parañaque, Valenzuela, Malabon, Taguig, Navotas and San Juan and the municipality of Pateros, but also from provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Isabela, Cagayan, Batanes, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Kalinga and Apayao, northern Luzon provinces of Pangasinan, La Union, Baguio City and Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija, central and southern Luzon provinces of Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon and the island-provinces of Catanduanes and Masbate, Aklan, Antique, Roxas City and Capiz, Iloilo City and Province, Guimaras, Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, Dumaguete and Negros Oriental, Cebu City & Province, Siquijor, Bohol, 4th and 5th Districts of Leyte, Tacloban City, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Districts of Leyte, Western Samar, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Biliran and Southern Leyte, Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental, Ozamiz City and Misamis Occidental, Iligan City and Lanao del Norte, Marawi City and Lanao del Sur, Malaybalay City and Bukidnon, Dipolog City and Zamboanga del Norte, Pagadian City and Zamboanga del Sur, Camiguin, Butuan City, Surigao City, Bislig City, Tandag City, Bayugan City, Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Davao City, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, Cotabato City and Maguindanao, North Cotabato, General Santos City and South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani Province, Zamboanga City, Dipolog City and Zamboanga del Norte, Pagadian City and Zamobanga del Sur, Isabela City and Basilan, Ipil and Zamboanga Sibugay, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
Also present were members from different overseas chapters of the Foundation including: United States, Canada, Mexico, Abkhazia, Afghanistan, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Bonaire, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos Islands, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Egypt, Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Greenland, Georgia, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Maldives, Martinique, Marshall Islands, Mayotte, Mauritania, Mauritius, Melilla, Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montserrat, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Nauru, Navassa Island, Nepal, Netherlands, North Korea, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Cyprus, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Nueva Esparta, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Réunion, Russia, Rwanda, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Andrés and Providencia, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Somaliland, South Korea, South Ossetia, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Transnistria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Most of the attendees were already in the venue days before the overnight affair beamed live nationwide via satellite over ABS-CBN Channel 2, PTV-4, ABC Channel 5, GMA Channel 7, RPN Channel 9 and IBC Channel 13 and on radio DZXL RMN Manila 558, GMA Super Radyo DZBB 594, DZMM Radyo Patrol 630, DZRH Nationwide 666, DZRB Radyo ng Bayan 738 and DZRV Radio Veritas 846.
Each year, the anniversary celebration of Jesus is Lord Church and the birthday celebration of Bro. Eddie Villanueva makes its way the participants crowded along the streets of 61-hectare Rizal National Park, Port Area, Ermita and the Quiapo district, with attendees reaching up to 6 to 8 million. In recent years, the traffic re-route was altered due to a rise in vehicular and stampede accidents, and to afford other neighbourhoods a chance to participate in the festivities.
Since 1993, the celebration held on the first Sunday of October now commences at 9:00 a.m. with the praise and worship, followed at 9:30 a.m. by the standing assembly in singing the Philippine National Anthem and followed by the singing of the city's tradition Awit ng Maynila. Representatives of various religious groups then lead the Invocation.
Jesus is Lord Church Worldwide members started flocking to the Quirino Grandstand as early as 4:00 a.m. Despite the lechon tables, the mood was made festive with balloons and banners.
Radio sets and loud speakers have been placed in strategic areas on the grounds up to the Rizal Park.
Traffic on Taft Avenue, Padre Burgos Drive, Roxas Boulevard, T.M. Kalaw, United Nations Avenue, Ayala Boulevard to Natividad Almeda Lopez to D. Romualdez Sr. was snarled as the Jesus is Lord Church Worldwide members from the provinces parked their buses and other vehicles on the thoroughfares.
Members of the Western Police District, which is overseeing traffic and security until the President arrives, were forced to close the Luneta part of Roxas Boulevard, Padre Burgos Drive, Katigbak Drive, South Road and T.M. Kalaw.
Before the noon of October 6, in observance of Bro. Eddie's birthday, the attendees feasted on roasted chickens, pigs and calves as a gift of the family and friends for his natal day. Early in the afternoon, the crowd jubilantly caught with their umbrellas inverted thousands of miracle-souvenir handkerchiefs thrown into the air from several helicopters. A thanksgiving prayer was offered by Bro. Eddie for his birthday and for the anniversary of the Foundation. He also led the congregation in prayer for their prayer-requests, which were tied to balloons and released to the air at the signal of Bro. Eddie.
In the 2013 celebration last Sunday, October 27, 2013, His Excellency, President Benigno S. Aquino III, the guest of honor in the occasion, gave his greetings and message to the crowd. The President was with presidential sisters Ballsy Aquino-Cruz, Pinky Aquino-Abellada, Viel Aquino-Dee and Kris Aquino-Yap. In attendance also were some members of the cabinet; several senators led by Senate President Franklin M. Drilon; several congressmen led by House Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte Jr.; and friends of Bro. Mike Z. Velarde of El Shaddai DWXI Prayer Partners Foundation International from the business, entertainment, media, legal, and religious sector.
A Thanksgiving Mass was led by Pope Francis, Archbishop of Rome and the Worldwide Leader of the Catholic Church, together with His Eminence Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop-Emeritus of Manila, Luis Antonio Cardinal G. Tagle, Archbishop of Manila; Jose S. Palma, Archbishop of Cebu and Ricardo Cardinal J. Vidal, Archbishop-Emeritus of Cebu, Very Rev. Msgrs. Mariano T. Balbago Jr. of Antipolo Diocese and Mario A. Castillo; and Rev. Fr. Anton Pascual and Rev. Fr. Sanny de Claro, spiritual directors of the El Shaddai DWXI Prayer Partners Foundation International. Joining them also were several spiritual directors from the international chapters of El Shaddai DWXI Prayer Partners Foundation namely Reverend Fathers Bernard J. Nolan of Brisbane, Australia; Leo E. Steinbock of Los Angeles, California, USA; and Thomas Kawamura of Tokyo, Japan, as well as from the Philippines namely, Dwight de Jesus; Remigio Mendoza of Mabini, Batangas; Manheim Abellana, SDB; Eligio Santos of San Ildefonso Parish, Makati; and Stephen Punnakal and Victor Maung Thit of the Our Lady of Assumption Parish, Malate, Manila.
Highlighting the Mass was the mass wedding of 35,000 couples from Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Panay Region, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Bohol, Eastern Visayas, Southern Mindanao, Northern Mindanao, CARAGA and Western Mindanao who had been living together for a long time without the blessing of the Church.
The Papal Altar
Inspired by the bamboo arches seen in Philippine fiestas, the Quirino Grandstand was dressed up to evoke this festive feeling and give Pope John Paul II a reception that embodies the Filipinos fondness for His Holiness. A fabric canopy with Tagalog Stencil patterns marks the main portion of the dais where the Pope celebrated mass. All furniture were done in rattan to maintain the indigenous feel of the altar designs. The Papal Altar was designed by Francisco Manoza.
.jpg)
