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Showing posts from December, 2017

Nuestra Señora de la Merced de Candaba - Candaba's Merciful Lady

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Nuestra Señora de la Merced de Candaba In the thriving town of Candaba, Pampanga, which is known for its famous swamp for it is the resting place of migratory birds that attracted bird watchers and tourist over the years, it is also one of Pampanga's historic towns. It is also in Candaba where a the Parish of Nuestra Señora de la Merced is enshrined and became a focal point of pilgrimage for years. The image The miraculous image of Nuestra Señora de la Merced of Candaba, Pampanga is a sculpted de tallado image of the Madonna and Child. The image is vested in White, a diagnostic color of the Virgin of Mercy of the Mercedarian Order. Oftentimes, the image wears a metal plancha. The Mother and Child wears splendid crowns, a doce estrellas for the Virgin and holds the White scapular of the Mercedarian Order. The unique feature of this image is that the Virgin holds a sword, which somehow shows her power, or most probably, as observed, she is in the position of knighting, wher

Wonder Worker even in Slumber - The devotion to the Sleeping St. Joseph in the Philippines

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Sleeping St. Joseph of the Diocesan Shrine of St. Joseph in Anonas, Quezon City During the recent Papal Visit of our current Pontiff, Pope Francis in 2015, Our Holy Father unconsciously sparked a new devotion to the  Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Foster Father of Jesus - St Joseph, this time in his sleep. It might be unusual, however when Pope Francis revealed this seemingly little information on his spiritual life, it created a massive effect to the Filipino faithful that as soon as the Papal Visit ended, almost every religious store where a plethora of images of the Sleeping St. Joseph are available were immediately sold out and these images are now seen in numerous altars, rooms, cars, chapel, churches and shrines in every part of the country. Le songe de saint Joseph at Cathédrale Notre Dame-et-Saint-Castor de Nîmes, France But how this devotion began, how it came to be and what were the effects of this devotion? Scriptural Basis The devotion to the Sleeping S

Nuestra Señora del Mar Cautiva - La Union's Star of the Sea

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Nuestra Señora del Mar Cautiva In the fishing town of Santo Tomas in La Union, there was a church that is currently becoming a pilgrimage site of the province - the Holy Guardian Angel Parish which is the home of the Miraculous image of Nuestra Señora del Mar Cautiva. The miraculous image of Nuestra Señora del Mar Cautiva is becoming known for the numerous miracles that were attributed to her intercession and pilgrims are now flocking the parish to ask for divine intervention through the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Star of the Sea. The image The beautiful image of Nuestra Señora del Mar Cautiva   is that of de vestir image of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a wooden bastidor body and the heads, hands and the Child Jesus is made of ivory. The image of the Mother and Child sports a set of crowns, doce estrellas for the Virgin. The Virgin and the Child Jesus is vested with simple yet beautiful vestments that adds to the charm of the image. What was unique to this image is

Santo Niño de Arevalo - The Third Oldest image of the Holy Child in the Philippines

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Santo Niño de Arevalo The historic town of Arevalo, Iloilo, where the town is known as one of the earliest Villas established by the Spaniards in the country. Yet, only a handful of the faithful knew that the parish of Arevalo houses the third oldest image of Santo Niño in the country - the miraculous and centuries old image of Santo Niño de Arevalo. This image of the Sto Nino De Arevalo, considered the third oldest in the Philippines after the Sto Ninos of Cebu (1521) and Tondo (1572), is venerated at the simple yet beautiful church at Villa Arevalo, Iloilo City. The image The centuries old image of Santo Niño de Arevalo is that of a wooden image of the Child Jesus in a kingly regalia: an embroidered set of vestments, wears a crown, holds a scepter and a globus cruciger which are diagnostic to most images of the Santo Niño in the Philippines. What was unique to this image is that the image has brown skinned yet his carved hair is that of blonde color and blue eyes. The His

Nuestra Señora de los Remedios de Odlot - Cebu's Lady of Numerous Miracles

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Nuestra Señora de los Remedios de Odlot (The weeping image) In a quiet yet scenic town of Odlot, Bogo, North of Cebu, known for its beautiful beach, it is one of the most visited pilgrim sites in Cebu because it was here that the Parish of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios de Odlot was enshrined and venerated in the area. For the last few years, Odlot became a place of miracles since the enshrinement of three images of Virgin in their shrine and became a must visit pilgrimage site in Cebu and it draw thousands of pilgrims from Cebu and other parts of the country. Our Lord must have chosen this quiet area to shower numerous graces to the people of Cebu by sending the Blessed Virgin to the area through finding of her image in plank, then another image covered with honeycomb and the most recent was the weeping of another image of the Virgin. These manifestations shows how much He cared for his people and by showering them with numerous graces. The three images of Nuestra Señora

St. Andrew Kim Taegon - Our Holy "Oppa" in the Philippines

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St. Andrew Kim Taegon of Lolomboy, Bulacan As what the title suggests, in our Philippine Church history, we were once visited by a Korean Saint, one of the most important to be exact. St. Andrew Kim Taegon is the First ordained Korean Priest in the history of the Catholic Church and it is considered a privilege that our country was once graced by an important Korean Saint and Martyr.  The life of St. Andrew Kim Taegon is a life of holiness with a twist, a life of courage and determination to bring the souls of his fellow Koreans to God, despite the risk of his life. With the current fascination of Filipinos to anything related to Korean Culture, let us have a look one of the most illustrious Koreans in history that most Filipinos failed to realized, or never heard of before. His Early Life Saint Andrew Kim Taegon  was born in August 21, 1821 in Nol-Mae (Solmoe), Chu’ung-Chong Province (in South Central Korea. At the age of seven, the Kim family moved to Golbaemasil Mankok-

Nuestra Señora de la O and Santo Niño de la O - The Unique Patrons of Pangil, Laguna

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Santo Niño de la O and Nuestra Señora de la O and  In the quiet yet historic town of Pangil, Laguna, there was a unique Marian Shrine in the country that Marian devotees flock in the recent years. The Parish of Our Lady's Nativity houses the venerated miraculous image of Nuestra Señora de la O, the Virgin of Expectation, the only image under this title venerated in the country as of this writing. The Madonna and Child of Pangil The images of the Virgin and of the Holy Child is one of the unique in the country that can only be found in Pangil, Laguna. The image of the Virgin depicts her as an Expectant mother who was about to give birth to her Son, Jesus. with her hands extended to emphasize her state of pregnancy. The Virgin wears the typical robe of venerated Marian images in the country, a nice robe, with blue cape/mantle with the signature palikpik on the shoulders, wears a crown and a correa. The image of Santo Niño de la O on the other hand is also a unique prese