Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga - the Queen of Cavite

Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga

In the province of Cavite, located in Southern Luzon area, there lies a church in Cavite City, then known as Cavite Puerto where it has been, and still is, the center of pilgrimage in the whole province and outside, including Metro Manila and other provinces for the parish San Roque in Cavite City is the home of the famous Patroness of the Cavite - Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga, the undisputed Queen of Cavite.

For Caviteños, the Soledad will always be part of their lives for tremendous miracles were attributed through her intercession and it is no wonder that in almost every home in Cavite, altars and doorsteps are not complete without an image of the Soledad either in print, sculpture, reliefs and other media.

The icon has received several titles in its history, including "Queen of Cavite" and "Exalted Patroness and the Celestial Guardian and Protectress of the Province of Cavite and its Port" (Spanish: "Reina de Cavite", "La Excelsa Patrona y La Celestial Guardiana y Protectora de la Provincia de Cavite y su Puerto").

Features of the image

The original icon

The icon of the Soledad is that of the Blessed Virgin Mary garbed in black and white, kneeling as she contemplates the instruments of her Son's Passion and widowed on the night of Good Friday. Before her are the crown of thorns and the nails. The icon is painted on a canvas framed in carved wood. The painting itself is set in gold and silver accouterments with precious gems that are ex votos from her devotees.

A mark that is distinguished for the authenticity of the icon is that of an inscription found at the back of the painting that states: "A doze de Abril 1692 años Juan Oliba puso esta Stma. Ymagen Haqui" ("On 12 of April 1692, Juan Oliba placed this most holy image here"). It is considered an invaluable treasure inherited by the Caviteños, and is one of the oldest extant dated Marian painting in the Philippines. The icon of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga, crowned, ensconced in a silver frame, and clothed in a black and silver manto.

The appariotion to the sentinel

History

A legend narrates that during the Spanish colonial era, at the peak of Cavite's economic prosperity because of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, a small detachment of the Spanish Guardia Civil was stationed at a garita (little garrison, or sentry post) located at Porta Vaga of Cavite Puerto, at the end of the isthmus separating it from Barrio San Roque.

One stormy night, a Spanish sentinel was at his post when he saw a bright, shifting light. A dazzling apparition rose from the currents of Cañacao Bay and startling the sentry, who surmised that the light came from pirates out to raid the port. The frightened sentinel seized the bright light and asked to be halted, but a beautiful and gentle voice replied to the sentinel saying:   "Soldadito, ¿por qué el alto me das en noche tan fría? Dame paso. ¿No conoces a María?" ["Little Soldier, why halt me on a night so cold? Give me passage. You do not recognise Mary?"] The awestruck and confused sentinel humbly repented.

The founding of the icon

The following morning, some fisherman and workers at the Cavite Royal Arsenal passed through the Porta Vaga and found a framed image of the Virgin on the beach along Cañacao Bay, near the place of her apparition the night before. They brought the painting to the parish priest, who temporarily installed it in the parish church. Eventually, the Ermita de Porta Vaga (Chapel of Vaga Gate) was built along the port's walls, and for three centuries served as the shrine of icon. Since then, several miracles were reported once the image was enshrined. The icon was used to bless departing trade galleons plying the route between Cavite and Acapulco, Mexico, earning her the title "Patroness of the Galleons", while stories of its miraculous powers thus earned it the title, "The Virgin of Thousand Miracles".

Ermita de Porta Vaga

The Ermita de Porta Vaga

In 1929, a new parish priest, Fr. Pedro Lerena y Lerena of Logroño, Spain, was assigned to the Cavite Port. At the same time, he was appointed Rector of the Ermita. His great dedication to the cause of the Lady of the Port saw the beautification and the improvement of the Ermita through the years.

During the Second World War, Fr. Lerena rescued the icon from a junkyard that the Imperial Japanese Army had thrown it in. The image first stayed in the Arzobispado (Archbishop's Palace) in Intramuros before it was deposited in the vaults of the Philippine National Bank for safekeeping. The icon returned to Cavite after the Allied liberation of the islands in 1945, re-enshrined at its home in the San Roque Church because the Ermita was destroyed by bombardment during the war. Fr. Lerena served as the icon's guardian until his death in 1972.

Close up detail of the original icon

Miracles

Countless miracles have been attributed to the Virgen de la Soledad. Her mysterious apparition and the unexplained arrival of her image were initial revelations of her miraculous reign.

During the terrible typhoon in 1830, a fire caused by lightning bolt hit the wooden altar of the Ermita and razed the chapel to the ground, but the image of the Virgin remained intact among the ashes. In 1856, another terrible typhoon flooded the houses, churches and public buildings within the Port but the Ermita, as well as its patio were found dry so the people took refuge in the Church. In 1857,

On June 30, 1857, a Spanish frigate based in Cavite and named “Lucero” was caught by a violent typhoon off the coast of Albay. It ran aground on the rocky place known as Rawis, legaspi. For twenty two days, the ship was unable to move not only because of the low tide, but also because of the absence of even a slight breeze. The crewmen were worried because their provision was running low. It happened that one of the crew members was a devotee of the Virgen de la Soledad. He took out Her picture and asked his fellow sailors to pray before Her. One night, the Virgin appeared before the crewmen in the light of the pale moon. As they fell to their knees, the tide rose higher and higher and the wind began to blow. The frigate floated free from its rocky trap and was able to return safely to Cavite. There was so much jubilation. As the crewmen set foot on the ground, they proceeded right away to the Ermita. There, to the tune of the Te Deum, they expressed their gratitude to the Virgin.

Apparition to Don Juan Salcedo y Manilla delos Rios

In 1882, a terrible cholera epidemic spread in Cavite Puerto.It was said that Caviteños died by the hundreds and the streets had been a scene of daily funeral processions. The Spanish politico-military governor of Cavite, Don Juan Salcedo Y Mantilla de los Rios, ordered the spraying and burning of gunpowders on the streets so that the fire and the smoke they produce might drive away the virus of the disease.By mid-October, the epidemic was placed under control.

During this epidemic, the Governor himself fell ill.One afternoon, as he was about to take his siesta, he ordered his soldiers not to admit any visitor.After some time, he heard a persistent knock at the door. To his surprise, he found an old woman dressed in black.

After the customary greetings, she asked him to give orders that the fiesta of Cavite be celebrated with the greatest pomp possible. The Governor, eager to send the intruder away, agreed to the request. Then, the unwanted visitor left.The Governor, filled with fury at his soldiers, reprimanded them for admitting the old lady. The guards replied that they had not allowed anyone to enter the house. Then the Governor remembered the request. He realized that it must be the Virgin Herself who appeared to him.He also realized that after talking to the woman, the fever had left him. There have been other miracles attributed to the Virgin with the passing of the centuries

Theft and return

The condition of the icon after its recovery

On March 16, 1984, the icon of the Virgin was sacrilegiously stolen from its altar. After tedious months of search, it was recovered on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1984, albeit divested of all its original gilding and precious stones. Every effort was made by devotees to restore the image to its former glory, and on August 19, 1984, it was re-enshrined in the altar amidst much rejoicing.

The Confraternity of the Virgin of Solitude of Porta Vaga

By decree of then Imus Bishop, Most Rev. Manuel C. Sobrevinias, the Cofradia de la Virgen de la Soledad de Porta Vaga was founded in August 10, 1998. The group was officially inaugurated in November 17, 1998 as a gift to the Virgin of Solitude on the 20th Anniversary of Her Coronation.  Since then, the Cofradia de la Virgen de la Soledad de Porta Vaga has led numerous devotees of the Virgen de la Soledad in the strengthening and greater propagation of more than three centuries of ardent filial devotion to Her.

The Caracol

Devotion

The Fiesta of the Soledad continues to be one of the most important in Cavite and a fulfillment to the request of Our Lady that they still celebrate up to this day. The Fiestas in honor of the Soledad is celebrated every second and third Sunday of November in Cavite City. She is also associated with annual Lenten rites and the All Saints-All Souls Day observances where she is alluded to in Tagalog as "Ináng Mágkakandila" Devotees include Overseas Filipino Workers and other foreign nationals who flock to the country to join the Porta Vaga Festival.

The Procesion de la Reina

The Festival of the Soledad lasted for almost two and a half weeks that started with a Motorcade on ante- Visperas on a Friday before Second Sunday of November. The Caracol dela Tierra and Caracol del Mar then took place on the Visperas of the Fiesta that it is one of the most awaited where the devotees danced all throughout the day and the Virgin is carried in an Andas. On the day of the Day of the Primera Fiesta - the Second Sunday of November, people from all over the country flock the Shrine and join the grand Procesion dela Reina in the evening. The Primera Fiesta is dedicated for Pilgrims and devotees nationwide. On the Segunda Fiesta - the Third Sunday of November, is dedicated to Caviteños and a procession of the patron saints of different parishes and chapels of Cavite City caps the grand festival.

The Procesion de Silencio

On the Eve of Good Friday, a unique procession took place after the traditional Good Friday Procession , the Procesion de Silencio, where the devotees of the Virgen de la Soledad come out after the traditional Santo Sepulcro Procession for a time of profound penance and prayer. Devotees, mostly clad in black, barefoot and silently praying with their candles in hand, accompany the age-old icon of the Virgen de la Soledad on a short route to symbolize the Virgin's lonely walk back home after bringing Christ's body to the Holy Sepulcher.

Church and Civil Recognition

Through the joint efforts of Monsignor Baraquiel Mojica and Bishop Felix Pérez of the Diocese of Imus, the image was crowned on November 17, 1978 by then Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Bruno Torpigliani, DD, as a form of recognition of the Virigin under this title as the "Queen of Cavite".

The Canonical Coronation of
Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga

On 19 March 19, 2018, Pope Francis officially granted the decree of Canonical coronation towards the venerated image and the coronation rites took place on November 18, 2018. The Canonical Coronation, along with the elevation of her church as a Diocesan Shrine coincided with the 350th anniversary of the arrival of the icon in Canacao Bay in Cavite City, Cavite.

On August 30, 2017, the image recieved a nomination as national cultural treasure by the Cultural Properties Regulation Division of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Manila. A few months later, it was granted on a few months later on September 28, 2017. The rite of conferring the original icon and it's intangible properties (i.e. devotion, historical significance, traditions and customs) as National Cultural Treasure took place on November 24, 2018.

The Legacy of the devotion

The devotion of the Caviteños to their Queen is one that is admirable, from the way they celebrated their fiesta in her honor, the increasing number of devotees of the Soledad and the presence of the images of the Soledad, whatever the medium that was utilized that are seen in different residences, churches, chapels, business establishments within and outside Cavite is a living testament of their love and devotion to the Queen of Heaven in her Solitude. She has truly captivated the hearts of many devotees through the centuries and she in turn continues to shower them with numerous miracles that are still persistent to this day. It is no wonder that she is also known as the "The Virgin of Thousand Miracles."

We will end this entry to the miraculous Sovereign of Cavite with the popular hymn "Reina de Cavite" that was composed by Julian Felipe in 1892 based from the poem "Himno a la Virgén de Cavite" (Hymn to the Virgin of Cavite) by Fr. Tomás de Andrade that is still being sung by her devotees with much love and devotion and the perfect summation of the strong devotion of the Caviteños and non-Caviteños to the Virgin of Solitude.

Reina de Cavite

Reina de Cavite
per siempre seras:
Es prenda tu nombre
de jubilo y paz. (2x)

Madre Immaculada,
prez del serafin,
Luz de Filipinas,
protegenos sin fin. (2x)

Luz de Filipinas,
protegenos sin fin!

References:

Books:

Aviado, Lutgarda, (1972), Madonnas of the Philippines, Manlapaz Press, Quezon City.
Barcelona, Mary Anne.(2004) Ynang Maria: a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines. Ed. Consuelo B. Estampa, P.D. Pasig City, Anvil Publishing Inc.
Delos Reyes, Michael P. (2015) Salve Regina: On Crowning image of the Virgin Mary, Diliman,  Quezon  City, Claret Communications Foundation Inc.
Romanillos, Emmanuel Luis A. (2006). "Chabacano studies: essays on Cavite's Chabacano language and literature", pg. 125. Cavite Historical Society.
Saenz Mendoza, Virgilio (2017), La Virgen de la Soledad de Porta Vaga: Reina de Cavite, La Excelsa Patrona y La Celestial Guardiana y Protectora de la Provincia y la Ciudad de Cavite. Diocese of Imus, Imus, Cavite.
Sanchez, Francisco (1904). La Virgen Maria Venerada en sus Imagenes Filipinas, Manila: Imp. De Santos y  Bernal.

Souvenir Programs:

Declaration of the Diocesan Shrine and Solemn Pontifical Coronation of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga Souvenir Program, San Roque Parish - Diocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga, 2018.
Misa ng Pasasalamat para sa Opisyal na Pagpapahayag sa Orihinal na Banal na pintang larawan ng Mahal na Birhen ng Soledad ng Porta Vaga bilang Pambansang Yamang Pangkalinangan Souvenir program, San Roque Parish - Diocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga, 2018.