In honor of the founder, Angeles was named after Don Angel Pantaleon de Miranda. However, the convention was that new towns were to be dedicated to saints who were namesakes of their founders. Thus, Los Angeles Custodios, or the Guardian Angels (‘Angel a Talaingat’ in Kapampangan), became the town’s patron saint.
During the making of the patron saint’s image, Don Angel singularized it to San Angelo or Holy Angel for pragmatic reasons. The image is currently kept at the Holy Angel University Chapel. Don Angel had passed it down to his descendants among the Nepomucenos.
Fascinatingly, however, the Holy Guardian Angel stands to be the titular patron saint of the city. Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is said to be the town’s true patron saint due to Rosalia de Jesus, the founder’s wife, carrying this specific image during the clearing operations.
The Philippines knows this image as La Naval, as the victory of a Spanish fleet against Protestant Dutch ship invasions in 1646 was led by this Marian icon. A pivotal role in that battle was played by Kapampangan soldiers, hence why Bacolor and Angeles are the only places to celebrate La Naval outside Manila.
sunburst altar, (Pintakasi, 2019).
Angeles City has its fair share of barangays, 32 of them to be exact! The image below shows their locations in the city:
Angeles City: Home of Guardian Angels 