Some refer to it as the San Marcelino Church because it is located at San Marcelino Street in Ermita, Manila. Then there is the reference to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal because the Miraculous Medal apostolate is promoted by the Vincentians who also runs the parish of San Vicente de Paul. And then there are those who refer to it as the church at Adamson University even if the university is a separate entity altogether. Really, the proper name is San Vicente de Paul Church, a parish manned by the Congregation of the Missions, a.k.a. Vincentian Fathers.
I prefer to call it the Paules Church as it brings back the time when the area was quiet and the neighborhood of genteel folks. It was one of the favorite wedding venues but most important was the presence of this aging Vincentian who heard confessions. To my surprise my children liked going to confession to Fr. Jesus Cavanna, C.M. Perhaps because he was patient, or he gave good advice, but definitely not because of the long penance he gave.
Fr. Cavanna speaks Spanish, English, Tagalog and Latin fluently. He wrote "Rizal's Unfading Glory" and "Basic Christian Doctrine."
During the debate on the bill that passed R.A. No. 1425, known as the Rizal Law, Fr. Cavanna speaker to many a symposium reacting against the mandatory reading of Rizal. He argued that the novels belonged to the past and that teaching them would misrepresent current conditions in the country.
He spent his last years as formation and spiritual director to Vincentian Seminarians. Fr. Cavanna died in San Juan De Dios Hospital in 1994.
Saints Philip Neri, John Mary Vianney, Padre Pio, Leopold Mandic., and John Francis Regis are some of the saints that spent long hours in the confessional.
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