Holy Name Society is a Roman Catholic confraternity of Catholic Lay Men under the supervision of Dominican Order. The organization aims to promote the observance of the Commandment: “You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain” (Exodus 20: 7)
About the middle of 1959, Bro. Judge Didong Villanueva then newly-admitted to the Bar and extremely grateful to the Almighty for having been able to finish his studies despite trials he had to go through as a self-supporting student, approached Rev. Guerrero to find out what together they could do for the good of the parish. As it was observed that only a handful of men had been receiving Communion, they conceived of the plan to organize a Holy Name Society unit so that the young men of the parish could could be gathered and encourage to come to the Blessed Sacrament. With the cooperation of the late Bro. “Doming” Geneveo – may his soul rest in peace – who helped invite other young men who were mostly with the brass bands of the different colleges and universities in Manila, and after consulting Fr. Jaime N. Boquiren, O.P., then a young priest at Letran College but already the National Director of the Holy Name Society, and with the assistance of some brother Holy Namers from Silang, Cavite, notably Bros. Policarpio Carada, Bert Mercado and Hermie Santos, the HNS Immaculate Conception Unit was born. The new members had their first corporate Communion on October 11, 1959 and after completing a three months’ probation period, all the officers and members were formally inducted on December 13, 1959 led by Bro. Candido P. Villanueva as President, and Bro. Dominador E. Genoveo as Vice President, No less than the National Director, Fr. Boquiren, O.P. came for this memorable occasion. The late reverend Manuel S. Guerrero, then the Parish Priest of Dasmariñas, was the Spiritual Director. While they had their first meeting on the second Sunday of October, 1959, and were inducted on the second Sunday of December, 1959, their first big and religious procession in observance of the Feast of Christ the King from San Agustin up to the poblacion. It was held in the afternoon of the last Sunday of October, a celebration which was duplicated the following years, for which reason the members have considered the Feast day of Christ the King as their anniversary. And this affair used to be observed by the Society annually by holding procession and sports activities
culminating in a religious rally in the evening, with invited guest speakers thereby attracting hundreds of people to the town plaza. Among those they had been able to invite for such annual occasions were the late Supreme Court Justice Pastor Endencia and Court of Industrial Relations Judge Jose S. Bautista, Dean Jose Feria, Dean Marcos Herras, Dr. Jesus Tan, Sen. Francisco “Soc” Rodrigo, then radio commentator Mang Juan, and many others.(From the Souvenir Program of the 36th National Convention of the National Association of the Holy Name Society Philippines last April 24-26, 2009 at Betania Retreat House,Tagaytay City)
