Nuestra Señora de los Remedios de Malate - Manila's sought after Remedy

Nuestra Señora de los Remedios de Malate

In the historic scenery near Manila Bay, where the waves of the bay crash against the rocks of Manila Coast nestles the modern Roxas Boulevard and its booming business, restaurants and shops that comprises the modern Manila Metropolis. However, amidst the modern scenery, there is an age old Church stood within these areas where mothers use to flock for cure of their post childbirth ailments and other miracles that are attributed to its felicitous patroness - Nuestra Señora de los Remedios de Malate.

The Virgin of Remedies venerated in Malate is one of the most celebrated Marian devotions in the country and people flock her church, most especially during her festival in the month of November to seek refuge and remedy to their physical and spiritual ailment and the Virgin in turn did not turn a deaf ear and continuously shower them with miracles up to the present. Our Lady of Remedies was the title given to our Blessed Virgin Mary by the devotees who attributed their fast recovery through her intercession.

The image

Close-up detail of the present image

The present image of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios of Malate is that of wood done in a de vestir and de bastidor type of image where the image is meant to be vested with real clothing.

The image has a serene and childlike face and her hands were open as if offering her remedy to those who are in need. a number of cherubs are also seen in the first base that are nestled in the clouds and wears a crown and doce estrellas. The present statue, which is very graceful in its lines and has a very distinctive beauty. The costume, with large puffed shoulders, the palikpik style became her signature look.

The present image of the Remedios was a replica of the smaller original image that is said to have come from Spain through an Augustinian friar, The original image was that of ivory and also meant to be vested. This ivory image however was destroyed during the Second World War.  The new statue was made as close as possible to the original.

The original image of Nuestra Señora
de los Remedios de Malate that was destroyed
during World War 2

The origin of the devotion

Around 800 years ago, Christians in Europe were being captured and sold into slavery by the thousands. Nobody knew what to do about this problem until a Frenchman, St. John of Matha, came up with a solution.
Together with St. Felix of Valois, they founded the Trinitarian Order which received Papal approval in 1198 and whose principal mission would be to go to the slave markets, buy the Christian slaves, and set them free. To do this, they needed large amounts of money so they placed their fund-raising efforts under the patronage of Mary as the Lady of Remedy. In gratitude for her assistance, John  honored Mary with the title Our Lady of Good Remedy. She is often depicted in the act of handing a bag of money to St. John of Matha. The Church and the Trinitarian Order celebrates her feast day on October 8.

History

Of the 17 listed churches in the Philippines honoring Mary with the title “Nuestra Señora de los Remedios”, Malate, the oldest, was established by the Augustinian friars on September 8, 1588. The image of the Virgen de los Remedios was brought from Spain to Malate by Friar Juan de Guevara of the Order of Saint Augustine (more popularly known as the Augustinian Order) in 1624.

It survived the Chinese invasion of 1662, the British occupation of the church in 1762, the Great Earthquake of 1863 and the destruction of the church in February, 1945. From that time onwards, the faithful have displayed a great love and devotion to Our Lady of Remedies.  

Down through the centuries, Malate Church has been associated with women’s ills and children’s diseases. On Saturdays, mothers bring their little ones to place them under the care and protection of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios. Young Filipino mothers recovering from childbirth or with sick children would come to pray for fast recovery. 

The practice became habitual through the passing of years and the image came to be known as the Virgin of Remedies and Patroness of Mothers and Children. Devotees would come to the church and offer gifts and prayers in thanksgiving for the favors they received.

The Church of Malate - the home of the Virgin

The recently restored facade of Malate Church

In 1588, the Augustinian friars built a church in honor of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios. The stone church and convent, built in 1591, suffered heavily during the earthquake of 1645 and 1863, while both buildings were pulled down in 1667 on orders of Governor General Manrique de Lara, who feared an invasion by the pirate Koxinga. But the Chinese corsair died in Formosa or Taiwan just before the invasion, and the church was rebuilt later that year, and during the next three years, with with the use of the same stones and bricks.

When the British landed in Manila in 1762, they made the church their headquarters. Repairs had to be made after the British left the following year. But both church and convent were destroyed beyond repair by the typhoon of June 1868.

The present church was then rebuilt for the third time in its entirety, thanks to the parish priest, Fr. Francisco Cuadrado, who, together with the poor fishermen of his parish, toured the city and nearby provinces to raise the much-needed funds. The upper façade of the church was completed three decades later, from 1894 to 1898.

The Japanese occupation proved disastrous to the church in Malate. Both church and the convent were burned, with just the walls left standing. Fortunately, the Columban fathers rebuilt the roof, the main altar, the dome and the transept around 1950, and in 1978, the interior of the church was painted, the bricks and the stones outside were made to look new. The bell to be found at the entrance of the convent bears this inscription: “Nuestra Señora de los Remedios. Se fundio en 30 de Enero de 1879.”

The façade of the present church of Malate is a “good blending of Muslim and baroque architecture; the solid compact stone structure is enhanced by the cylindrical end buttresses, the few openings and the overall ornateness of the design. The three-story façade integrates with ingenuity the cylindrical end buttresses, hexagonal forms converted into belfries.” The Church was first administered by the Augustinians for centuries until the Philippine Revolution until World War 2, several religious orders became custodians of the Shrine until the Irish Columbans took over the Shrine and currently the custodians of the church and the venerated image.

Devotion

The feast day of Our Lady of Remedies is celebrated every Third Sunday of November. It is capped by a procession winding all over the streets of Malate, Manila. The devotion to Our Lady of Remedies has been a time-honored tradition. She has made Malate Church a historic place of worship of such character where devotees through the centuries have easily found God and with many answered prayers, made them not to forget Him.