Maria Auxilidora de los Cristianos de Marawi - Marawi's Symbol of Faith and Hope

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Maria Auxilidora de los Cristianos de Marawi
In the quiet yet progressive Islamic city of Marawi, Lanao del Sur, although Christians are a minority in the area, they were able to live in peace and harmony. The quiet atmosphere of Marawi will be put on a screeching halt when recently, in 2017, the Muslim extremist groups, the Muates, a support group of the rebel extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or more infamously known as the ISIS attacked and destroyed Marawi City and became a subject of headlines of 2017.

The rebel groups attacked the whole of Marawi City, including the Seat of the Diocese of Marawi, St. Mary's Cathedral where the cathedral was dedicated under the Patronage of Mary, Help of Christians. The extremists destroyed the Cathedral, desecrating sacred images, including its patroness that when videos of the desecration spread online, everyone was in shock and saddened with this atrocious act, as if there is no hope. But recently, a new sign of hope was seen in the month of October 2017 were Marawi was finally liberated from these terrorists and a new image of Marawi's Patroness came right on time and this became a symbol of hope to the people of Marawi and the Nation.

The original image of Maria Auxilidora
de los Cristianos de Marawi that was
desecrated by rebel groups
The image 

The image of Mary, Help of Christians of Marawi City is a wooden de vestir image of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus under this said title. Both are vested in a simple and dainty vestments which shows the simplicity of the faithful of Marawi City. Both images wears crowns and the virgin holds a scepter, an allusion to her reign as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

The History

With the arrival of the devotion to Mary, under the title of Help of Christians in the 1950's through the efforts of first group of Salesians and its key propagator, Archbishop William Piani, SDB, then the Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines. After few years since the devotion was introduced, an Archconfraternity of Mary, Help of Christians was established and flourished that later led to the foundation of parishes and shrines of Mary Help in the country.

One of the earliest known shrines of Mary, Help of Christians in the country was in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur which was established in April 2, 1934. At that time, Marawi was under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro and the Jesuits were the first custodians of the Parish.

An early photograph of Maria Auxilidora de los Cristianos de Marawi 
On May 25, 1977, the Prelature of Marawi was established with Bishop Bienvenido Tudtud, DD was appointed as its first bishop. The parish later became the seat of the Diocese and became the Cathedral of Maria Auxilidora, or more popularly known as St. Mary's Cathedral. Decades later, in 2000, the name of the Prelature was changed into Prelature of St. Mary - Maria Auxilidora due to the popularity of the Patroness to the people of Marawi.

The Catholic Christians in the Islamic City of Marawi are a minority group with barely 1.5% of the population. One can imagine the challenge of maintaining peace and understanding between the Christians and the Muslims in the area. However, through the grace of God, with the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom the Muslims also honor, the people of Marawi were able to live without prejudice and discrimation to each other. With the Muslims outmost respect to the Mother of GOd, they also protected her Church in Marawi and she became a unifying force in the area and a mother to all who seek her help.

The desecrated Cathedral of Marawi and the
mutilated images of Maria Auxilidora
and Santo Cristo that was destroyed by
the Mautes.
The period of terror

On May 23, 2017, on the eve of the Feast of Mary, Help of Christians, a pro-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group called the Maute group attacked the city. Media reports stated that the militants have about over 500 men. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared Martial Law on the island of Mindanao, where the fighting was taking place.

During those horrible days, the rebel groups began destroying churches and shrines, including St. Mary's Cathedral where they desecrated the image of Maria Auxilidora and other holy images in the Cathedral. What makes the situation more disturbing is that Rev. Fr. Teresito Suganob, MSP along with the cathedral staff were taken hostage.  Videos of the desecration of the Maute group circulated online that caused much uproar that prayers to end Marawi's terrible days began.

The city was liberated from terrorism on October 17, 2017, a few days after the Centenary of the last apparition of Our Lady of Fatima on October 13 of the same year and battle operations officially ended on October 23.

The new image of Maria Auxilidora
de los Cristianos de Marawi 
A Mother that cares 

Despite the atrocities that Marawi City suffered for months, it seemed that Our Lord, through the Blessed Virgin, wanted to give hope and consolation to the people of Marawi and at the same time wanted to end the reign of terror in the area.

When the news of Marawi's horrible fate reached national headlines, Mr. Nolan Angeles, a devout Marian devotee and known as the staunch propagator of the devotion to Mary, Help of Christians, was deeply distraught with the situation and wasted no time to have a new image of Marawi's Patroness to commissioned. He immediately tapped the help of Mr. Ian Vicente, a well known sculptor of religious images for this important endeavor. Basing from the photographs of the original image that were taken by the representatives of the National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians of Paranaque City, the end result was a beautiful replica of the Maria Auxilidora de Marawi that captures the same elements, features and beauty of the original image.

A soldier who fought for the liberation of Marawi venerated
the new image of Mari Auxilidora de Marawi
The new image of Maria Auxilidora de los Cristianos de Marawi made its first public appearance at the 38th Grand Marian Procession in Intramuros, Manila - the biggest Marian Procession in the country - and pilgrims, Marian devotees, government officials and tourist were in awe and in tears with the participation of the new image.

The Salesian family and devotees of Mary, Help of Christians accompanied the Queen of Marawi, waving their Philippine flaglets and whispering their prayers for peace in Marawi and the rest of Mindanao. The image was be donated to the faithful of Marawi for the veneration of the faithful there.

The Triumphant Return

The solemn welcoming rites of the Virgin of
Marawi headed by Bishop dela Pena
After months of negotiations between the Mr. Angeles, the Salesian Order and the Bishop of Marawi, on May 5, 2018, a few months since her debut at the Grand Marian Procession in Intramuros, Manila and a tour in selected parishes and institutions in the country, the Virgin of Marawi made a solemn yet triumphant arrival in Mindanao. The image was greeted with the faithful of Marawi and other parts of Lanao del Norte, headed by Bishop Edwin dela Peña in a simple yet moving rites and they accompanied the Virgin from the tarmac to her new home in Sto. Tomas de Villanueva parish in Balo-i, Lanao del Norte, which is under the Prelature of Marawi.

The image at present is enshrined at the aforementioned parish until Marawi Cathedral is fully renovated and reconstructed and the city itself to be recovered from the devastation of the siege as of this writing. The Mother of Marawi is at this point visiting all the parishes that are under the said prelature for a few days before the novena begin in May 15, 2018 and celebrate her feast day, on May 24, 2018, a year since the terrible Marawi siege broke out.

The tumultuous yet inspiring journey of the image of Maria Auxilidora de los Cristianos de Marawi shows us that even though everything was in shambles, our faith will prevail as Our Lord promised to us that He will watch over His church until the end of time and no one cannot destroy the Church the established. Also, her journey also showed us that despite all the atrocities that all of us will face, Our Blessed Mother, the Queen of Peace, will be always there for us in every step of the way, guiding us to her Son, Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Maria Auxilidora de los Cristianos de Marawi, Queen of Marawi, Queen of Peace, Pray for us!

Reference:

Chua, Clifford, (2017), Marian images may be destroyed... but our devotion to Mama Mary will never diminish, Confradia de la Inmaculada Concepcion 2017 Souvenir Program, Intramuros, Manila.
Nazario, Dhel (2017), Marian image from Marawi symbolizes unwavering faith, Retreived from https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/12/04/marian-image-from-marawi-symbolizes-unwavering-faith/ on December 13, 2017.
Nolasco, Bernard, BDB, (2016), Mary Help of Christians in the Philippines, Don Bosco Press, Makati City.

Special thanks to Mr. Nolan Angeles for the photographs of Maria Auxilidora de los Cristianos de Marawi

Comments

  1. Le-anDecember 13, 2017 at 7:34 AM

    Viva Maria!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cris VacalSeptember 16, 2018 at 5:59 PM

    Catholic faithful should help in building her a grander Cathedral in place of the destroyed one.

    ReplyDelete

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