Calumpit is recognized as the first site of the evangelization by the Augustinian Order in Northern Luzon. The mission field covered present-day Bulacan province and some areas of Pampanga such as Macabebe, Apalit, and Candaba together with other Alcaldias such as Betis and Lubao. Calumpit was established as a prior in May 3, 1572 along with the churches of Lubao and Betis. On March 3, 1575, Fray Gaspar de San Agustín did not provide the town's first minister. The convent of Calumpit was established with the towns of Candaba and Macabebe annexed to it as its visitas. Its first titular patron is Saint Nicholas of Tolentine but on December 31, 1576, its convent was referred to as La Casa de San Juan Bautista. It has been recorded that Fray Martin de Rada with Fray Diego Vivar Ordóñez from Calumpit who first poselytised in Bulakan, Malolos, and Hagonoy. On June 11, 1580 Malolos was separated as convent and Hagonoy on April 22, 1581. In 1619, Paombong was ceded from its original matrix which annexed in Calumpit, but in 1664 it was returned to Malolos again. Calumpit was by then a vital mission center due to its proximity to river systems that enabled transport for missionaries. Despite its important role in the Christianisation of Bulacan, reports show that its convent was once declared vacant due to a lack of priests.
Architectural history
Some available references do not specify the priest responsible for constructing the present parochial structures although it is assumed that both buildings were completed in the middle of the 17th-century. Other references say that Father Diego Vivar-Ordoñez erected the current church. Father Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga, prior from 1794-1797 noted that at his time, the small convent has been made with cut stone and tile roofs. The convent was damaged by the merging of two great rivers in the area: the Río de Quingua and the Río Grande de Pampanga. Besides the convent, the belfry of the church is reportedly “low and not well-shaped”. It was said that locals disliked the shape of the tower and urged numerous parish priests to alter it. Finally, Fray Antonio Llanos rebuilt the tower in 1829. The entire church complex was razed by fire during the Philippine Revolution of 1899.
Architecture
The church is small than those of Hagonoy and Malolos. The façade is an example of how local artisans experimented with various ornamentation to come up with a lavish, seemingly Mannerist style. The facade is arranged simply, with four rounded columns with Corinthian capitals supporting the pediment and dividing the entire front into three segments. Floral motifs and scrolls abound on the façade and link the round columns before undulating back into the cornice. Reliefs can be found of the lowest level of the façade depicting lives of saints. The flamboyance of the trefoil arch main portal is matched by the swaying motion of the original pediment and the volutes framing a circular window. Besides the main doorway and the central oculus, the facade is pierced by a pair of rectangular windows framed by ornate reliefs. To the left of the church is the simple, four-tiered bell tower: a great contrast to the profusely ornamented façade. Much renovation has been done into the church, one of which concerns the extension of the façade, transforming the original swaying motion of the pediment into the simple triangular one seen today. In recent years, a new, heavily-carved wooden door was installed in the main portal.
