Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion de Dauis: the Miraculous Pensive Lady of the Assumption

Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion de Dauis

Within the historical paradise of Bohol, the faith of the Boholonas is kept alive through the ages. This is evident to the churches that they preserved that unfortunately destroyed by a powerful earthquake of 2010. The earthquake might destroy their temples, but the faith is still resilient. Our Lord God, through their beloved Patroness, the Blessed Virgin Mary, showed them an example through this astounding series of miracles, the retablos with the miraculous images of the Virgin are still intact and unscathed.

One of the Miraculous Marian images that was miraculously preserved in the devastating earthquake is the Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion de Dauis. The Virgen de Asuncion is one of the best known images of Bohol and part of the collective group, known by the knowledgeable Marian devotees as "The Miraculous Virgins of Bohol" which composed of the Virgen sa Kasilak, VIrgen de Guadalupe de Extremadura, the Virgen de Asuncion of Dauis among others.

Close up of the image

Features of the image

The de tallado image of the Virgin is that of the Assumption, as the title implied. However, upon looking at the feature of the image, the hands are together in prayer form, as if in contemplation which is unusual to the iconography of the Assumption where both hands are extended either upwards or downwards.

The face of the Virgin is of exquisite pensive beauty which the beholder will be struck with much awe and veneration. The image wears the diagnostic Doce Estrellas, a Crown and always vested.

History

History is silent on where the image came from and who carved the image. However, the town of Dauis ,once called "Mariveles". has a popular story of the Virgin that she have requested an unnamed fisherman to take her to this island called “Mariveles” . When they neared the coast, the lady said, “Duol na ang Mariveles” (We are nearing Mariveles).

She got off the boat and went toward the beach where the palms now abound in Poblacion, Dauis. The fisherman revealed that the lady passenger disappeared and in her place saw an object, the image of which evoked the likeness of his passenger. It has been said that the name of the place is derived from the word “Lawis” which means a “sand bar”. It may also come from the word “dawi” which means “a fish biting the bait of a fishing hook and line.”

Recorded history of Dauis began with the arrival of two Jesuit priests, Fr. Diego de Ayala and Fr. Joseph Gragorio. Since then, there was a succession of Jesuit missionaries until 1786, and were later replaced by the Augustinian Recollect fathers until 1888. Since then, Filipino priests have taken over.

The Church

The Dauis Chruch before the Earthquake

The 18th century Dauis Church, dedicated to the “La Señora de la Asuncion” or Our Lady of the Assumption underwent so many changes starting from its inception when the first Spanish missionaries arrived in the town in 1697. The church was believed to be built of light materials. The church was consecrated by Bishop Juan Gorordo of Cebu on August 23, 1923. 61 years after Fr. Saldana laid its cornerstone, a cross was installed over the pediment in the year 1924. The convent constructed in 1884 was eventually renovated and utilized as Formation and Day Care Centers.

The Retablo and the Virgin after the earthquake

In 2004, the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption was declared a Shrine honoring the patroness not only of Dauis but for the whole province of Bohol. On October 15, 2013, one of the largest earthquakes to hit Bohol struck the island with epicentre near Sagbayan, Bohol, severely damaging the centuries-old churches in Baclayon, Dauis, Dimiao, Loay, Loboc, Loon and Maribojoc. The church was severely damaged, however, the retablo where the Virgin was enshrined was miraculously spared. Years later, in August 15, 2017, after much repairs needed to the damaged church of Dauis, the Parish of Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion was formally re-opened to the faithful with much rejoicing. As of today, pilgrimage to the Virgin of Dauis resumed and grew over time.

The Miracles

The church of Our Lady of the Assumption is a center for Marian pilgrimages emanating from the different towns of Bohol. On certain occasions, the Tagbilaran faithful hike the distance from their city to the site to invoke special petitions or mainly to honor Our Lady of the Assumption.

The Virgin manifested abundant miracles through time, many petitions of her devotees are granted. Tales from time to time crop up that the patron saint’s attire is filled with amorseco, a vexing weed. The faithful believe that their Mother goes around Her domain as she watches over Her children. Dauis church is a pilgrimage site, with the pilgrims carrying empty containers to take home water from the miraculous well.

On August 31, 1928,  many young girls who were playing before the image of our lady seen her waving her hands as if bidding them to come near Her.

The Miraculous Well

A well, known for its water’s healing power, lies at the foot of the main altar. Local history tells that this well originated from the Spanish era. Pirates often attacked Christian settlements and it was during one such attack that the people took refuge behind locked doors of the church. Besieged by the enemy for days, the people run out of food and water. The well miraculously sprang up and since then has become the source of drinking water for the populace nearby, especially during droughts. The water tastes truly fresh, despite the well’s closeness to the seashore. The waters of the well was tested and it shows no harmful chemicals found in the water and suitable for drinking.

The Feasts of the Virgin

There were two Feast Days of the Virgin that is observed though the years, First is the Solemnity of the Assumption every August 15 and a second Patronal feast is celebrated in the last Sunday of January.

Devotees from as far as Dalaguete in Cebu province would often attend the virgin’s feast day every August 15th . It was from the Dalagueteños where stories of the lady’s sojourn and blessings were gathered. One of the stories tells of a man who possessed great healing to a “camiseta” he found in his fishing boat after a lady passenger whom he accommodated disembarked at Mariveles (former name of Dauis). Up to this time, Dalagueteños continued to venerate and pay homage to Our Lady of the Assumption as a manifestation of their gratitude and appreciation after being healed of their ailments through the “camiseta”.

So we say, "Well then, why give glory and honor and devotion to Mary?" Because we do whatever Jesus tells us. And we do whatever Jesus does because the fundamental axiom of Christian morality is the imitacio Christi, the imitation of Christ, and he is the best of the best when it comes to being a son. Not only a Son of his heavenly Father but a Son of his earthly mother. When he accepts the mission of his Father to become a man and to obey the law, he obeys it more perfectly than anybody could have ever imagined it being obeyed. And when he gets to that commandment, "Honor your father and your mother," that Hebrew word, kabodah, means bestow glory, comes from kabod weight, glory. So he honors his Father and obeys his command by bestowing unprecedented glory upon the one that he has chosen from all eternity to be his mother. The only time that the Creator created a human creature, created the one destined to be his mother. And he filled her with his own life and grace because he began honoring as soon as she was created his mother.

So what do we do? We honor Christ and we glorify him and we imitate him. If we really imitate him, we do what he does and we honor and bestow glory upon his mother. Not instead of him. It isn't undermining devotion to Christ. It's to express our devotion of Christ, our worship of Christ by imitating him. And if we do it we're going to be able to see in her face, the face of our mother, because Jesus has taken on her flesh and blood and given us his own Divine nature. Peter says, "We are partakers of Divine nature through Christ" so that his mother can become our mother, spiritually, supernaturally, but actually and really. And so in devotion to him, we can be devoted to her without any compromise, without any tug of war, without any diminution or decrease of our honor to Christ.