Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora – The Virgin of Quiapo Basilica
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| The present image of Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora of Quiapo |
Once upon a time, during the peak of Old Manila grandeur, in the area of Quiapo where the iconic Quiapo Church stands today, there was once a flourishing Marian devotion that was fostered in the confines of the same church where the Black Nazarene is fervently venerated – the revered image of Nuestra Señora de Buena Hora still missing up to the present.
However, in recent years, there was a renewed interest to revive the devotion to the Blessed Virgin under this particular sobriquet so that our present generation could venerate the Virgin of the Good Hour.
The origin of the devotion
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| Nossa Senhora de Boa Hora in Matosinhos, Portugal and Brazil |
The devotion to Nuestra Señora da la Buena Hora derives from one of the popular devotions of Our Lady in Portugal, known as Nossa Senhora da Boa Hora, and considered one of the most popular and important in that country, along with the Nossa Senhora de Nazarre and Our Lady of Fatima.
The cult of Nossa Senhora da Boa Hora is so deeply rooted in the heart of the Portuguese people that the devotion was introduced in all Portuguese colonies, especially in Brazil. The centers of devotion to the Boa Hora are located in Matosinhos, near the city of Porto and Gafanha in Portugal and Aracaju and Maruim in Brazil.
There were at least two iconographies of Nossa Senhora de Boa Hora; one as a Madonna in Child in Portugal and the Virgin of the Assumption in Brazil. Prior to the dogmatic definition of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, the feast is widely celebrated in Europe reaching the Iberian Peninsula (where Spain and Portugal are located), and in Portugal and its colonies, the title of “Boa Hora” could mean the great hour before her glorious Assumption into heaven.
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| One of the rare existing photos of Nuestra Señora de Buena Hora |
For the Portuguese and Brazilians, Nossa Senhora de Boa Hora is invoked to intercede in the moments of the greatest afflictions: for the cure of the diseases of the body and the soul, and especially in the hour of childbirth, protecting the life of the pregnant women and infants. The Feast of the Virgin is celebrated every August 15 in Portugal while it is celebrated on the 40th day after the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Brazil.
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| Virgen de Buena Hora as seen in the book "La Virgen Maria en sus Imagenes Filipinas" |
The origin of the devotion to Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora of Quiapo was unknown, yet given the circumstances of the devotion to Portugal and its colonies, it can be theorized that the devotion came from either Macau or Moluccas, both Portuguese colonies, considering the fact that both are nearest to the Philippines.
There were two instances that can pinpoint the origin of the devotion, one is the existing trade between Manila and Macau during the Spanish regime which some of the missionaries could have brought the devotion to Quiapo in one of their stopovers. Another was the expulsion of the Missionaries to Macau and brought some images from there to the Philippines similar to the case of the arrival of the image of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario y Visitacion de Piat from Macau in 1604 and the image of Santo Niño de Ternate from old Ternate in the Moluccas in 1663.
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| The original image of Nuestra Señora de Buena Hora as the Virgen de las Flores of Quiapo Basilica |
As of this writing, there is a lone record of the existence of the said venerated Marian image in the book “La Virgen Maria Venerada en Sus Imagenes Filipinas”, published in 1904. The description of devotion to the Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora reads as follows:
“In the parish church of Quiapo {there} is a venerated ancient image of Our Lady of Buena Hora. She has her own altar to the right of the nave when one enters through the main front door. Her feast day is observed every August 15, the day dedicated to her Assumption to heaven. Her image is frequently visited by devotees, offering Novenas in her honor, as a response to the numerous favors granted to those who invoke her with faith and confidence. No one knows when devotions to this holy and venerated image started but it is very old, and even in the provinces devotion to her exists. In Taal, Batangas, a copy of her image is also venerated.”
In interviewing some devotees of the Black Nazarene who have actually seen the image of Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora in the 1950s-1960s, the image was made of a wooden bastidor body and ivory head and hands and sports a gold doce Estrellas and crown and stands approximately 3 feet, as far as they can remember. The original image was also said to be transferred to the main altar and be the Virgen de las Flores for the May “Flores de Mayo” celebrations.
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| Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora venerated at St. Joseph Chapel, Bagumbayan, Taal, Batangas |
As what the “La Virgen Maria Venerada” wrote, a replica of the Virgin of Buena Hora is venerated in Batangas. In the centuries-old Chapel of St. Joseph in Bagumbayan, Taal, Batangas, the image of Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora is still enthroned and venerated by the faithful to this day.
The sudden oblivion
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| Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno and Nuestra Senora de la Buena Hora of Quiapo |
The devotion came to a screeching halt during the aftermath of the Second World War. The Philippines suffered much, the economy slumped and the country was in shambles. This incredible loss was felt years after. The Post War years were a trying time for the country to pick itself the pieces to recover and survive. Several measures, good and bad, were done for the sake of physical, emotional, and most importantly, economic recovery.
In the case of Quiapo Church, years after the War, sometime In the 1960s, according to reports and recollection of those who have seen the Virgin of Buena Hora in their lifetime, a certain parish priest at that time unceremoniously sold almost every surviving part and artifacts of Quiapo Church, from its beautiful marble columns, reliefs, antique images, precious metal paraphernalia among other things. Given this dire situation, it is said that the venerated image of Nuestra Señora de Buena Hora was sacrilegiously sold as well to an unknown antique collector, others would say that the image was stolen.
After that sorrowful fate of this Venerated image, nothing was heard about her and the devotion immediately died down and the majority of the Filipino people hardly knew about her. Fortunately, over the next decades, a handful of Quiapo faithful knew the existence of the devotion and image, especially those who have seen the image personally or had access to the archives and libraries that kept a record about her. At present, the whereabouts of this particular Miraculous Virgin are still unknown.
The revival of the devotion
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| The first modern image of Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora de Quiapo now kept at the Rector’s Office of Quiapo Basilica |
Sometime in the early 1990s, there were pious groups that spearheaded the movement to revive the devotion to Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora and an image of the Buena Hora (which was similar to the size of the original image ) was commissioned for this purpose with the support of then Rector of Quiapo Basilica, the late Msgr. Jose Abriol, yet due to the change of the administration of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene at that time, the planned revival was not materialized.
Nearly 30 years later, in 2017, upon learning the existence of the devotion to Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora thru a earlier edition of this feature on this blog site, the Hijos de Nazareno, with the approval of the current Rector of Quiapo Basilica, Msgr. Hernando Coronel, the devotion to Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora formally revived with a new image for public veneration.
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| The first fiesta procession of Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora de Quiapo on August 15, 2017 |
The first modern image of Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora for the planned revival was a 6-foot Marian image found in a room of discarded or seasonal images in the Basilica that was kept during the term of Msgr. Clemente Ignacio was rector. The 6 feet image was originally fashioned as the image of the Immaculate Conception and the Virgen de Alegria for the Easter celebrations and referred to the image as “Birhen ng Quiapo”. This image served as the first modern image of Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora of Quiapo that will be exposed for public veneration.
The revival of the devotion to Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora of Quiapo was formally inaugurated at the Basilica on August 15, 2017, on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the traditional Feast of the Virgin. A solemn procession was held around the vicinity of Quiapo Basilica for the feast attended by the faithful.
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| The present venerated image of Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora de Quiapo |
Months later, a new venerated image of the Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora was commissioned in the later part of 2017 and was blessed on December 8, 207, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and was later enshrined on her current altar in the Basilica for public veneration. Since the enthronement of the new image, devotees began to flock to her altar to ask for her intercession.
As soon as the devotion to Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora was revived, she once again became the focal point of Marian devotion in Quiapo Basilica as her image is enthroned at the Main altar on several Marian feasts, and consequently resumed the tradition of the Virgin of Buena Hora as the Quiapo’s Virgen de las Flores of the “Flores de Mayo” tradition.
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| Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora de Quiapo |
With the revival of one of Quiapo’s once celebrated devotions to the Virgin as Nuestra Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora, a renewed Marian piety is still in progress as the years go by since 2017. Devotees of the Black Nazarene are now gradually developing their devotion to the Virgin of the Good Hour of Quiapo as she once again dispenses the graces that her children needed from her Son that would lead them closer to her Son, the Great Nazarene, the Lord and Savior of Mankind.
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| Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora de Quiapo at present |
As we conclude this blogpost, here is the official prayer to Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora de Quiapo taken from her novena that is prayed at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, Quiapo Manila.
Panalangin sa Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora ng Quiapo
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| Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora de Quiapo |
Birheng Kalinislinisan, Mariang pinagpala, Ina namin at Ina ng Simbahan, kami ay lumalapit sa iyong kandili at kalinga dala ang pag-asang hindi mo kami bibiguin kung ito ay makabubuti sa amin. Sa Iyong pagmamahal at habag na sa Diyos nagmula. O magiliw na Ina, sumasamo kami na sa pamamagitan mo ay maipagkaloob ang mga biyayang aming hinihiling.
(Tahimik nating sambitin ang mga ating mga pansariling kahilingan)
O Mahal na Birheng Maria, sa iyong walang bahid na dungis na pamumuhay, buong puso mong tinugon ang panukala ng Diyos sang-ayon sa ibinalita ng Anghel Gabriel. Dahil dito, lubhang nalugod ang Diyos at si Hesus ay iyong ipinaglihi sa iyong kababaan. Sa pamamagitan mo, Birheng Maria, ikaw ang nagbigay daan upang maganap ang aming kaligtasan. Sa payak mong pamumuhay, kasama ng iyong Anak; isang magandang halimbawa ang iyong ipinamalas. Sa paanan ng Krus, naging matatag ka at nakihati sa paghihirap ng iyong anak. Tulungan mo kami na matulad sa iyo, na sa kabila ng mga paghihirap na dinaranas namin ay matanggap namin ang kalooban ng Diyos.
Sa kamatayan, niloob ng Diyos na hindi ka magdanas ng pagkasira ng katawang lupa, sapagkat kailanma’y hindi ka nabahiran ng kasalanan. Iniakyat ka sa langit ng buong luwalhati sa pagbubunyi ng mga anghel at mga banal at doon ay sinalubong ka ng iyong Anak sa gantimpalang buhay na walang hanggan. Mapalad ka na nakinig, nag-ingat at tumalima sa salita ng Diyos.
Kaya nga kalinislinisang Maria, aming Ina, akayin mo kaming malayo sa tukso at umiwas sa kasalanan. Sa aming pamimintuhong ito, nawa’y matulad kami sa iyong mga halimbawa ng pananalig at pag-ibig, bilang huwarang disipulo. Ikaw na Ina at unang tagasunod ng aming Poong Hesus Nazareno.
O Maria kalinislinisan, ipanalangin mo kami at ipamagitan sa iyong anak upang sa pagsasama nating ito bilang katawang mistiko ni Kristo, ay magkasama tayo sa kaluwalhatian sa langit na minithi naming bayan. Amen.
Nuestra Señora de la Buena Hora de Quiapo, Ipanalangin mo kami!
Boxer,Charles R. (2012), The Affair of the Madre de Deus. A Chapter in the History of the Portuguese in Japan (Routledge Library Editions: Japan. London and New York: Routledge, 2011). In: Interdisciplinary Journal for Portuguese Diaspora Studies, vol. 1 (2012): 203-6.
Sanchez, Francisco (1904). La Virgen Maria Venerada en sus Imagenes Filipinas, Manila: Imp. De Santos y Bernal.
Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (2012), The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500-1700: A Political and Economic History, John Wiley & Sons.
Nossa Senhora da Hora, Retrieved from https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nossa_Senhora_da_Hora.
Our Lady of the Good Hour, Retreived from http://rezairezairezai.blogspot.com/2011/08/nossa-senhora-da-boa-hora.html.
Our Lady of the Good Time, Retreived from Http://www.a12.com/santuario-nacional/formacao/ details / our-lady-of-good-hour.
Photos:
Angeles, Allain
Canapi, Benedict
Daquioag, Michael of Buen Viaje PH
Delizo, Patt Lawrence
Malabanan, James Benedict
Maturan, Dennis
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