Pintakasi

Santa Rosa de Lima In the our country, the Philippines, we are very fortunate that we are under the Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary . However, most Filipinos wrongly associate the Virgin of Guadalupe of Mexico as the Secondary Patroness of the country, which in fact, her patronage was higher - La Patrona Celestial de Filipinas (The Heavenly Patroness of the Philippines) as declared by Pope Pius XI. If we are looking back at our own history, one might be surprised that our actual Secondary Patroness of the country were two: the Roman Martyr Santa Potenciana , and the First Saint of the Americas, St. Rose of Lima. Though it is quite unlikely that she will be named as such yet if we look in our history, the Philippines was once considered as part of the Americas and when she was declared as the Patroness of the Americas, she was also declared as the Secondary Patroness in our country. Now we should have a lo

Venerable Francisca del Espiritu Santo rendered by Bro. Mervin Lomague, OP During the high times of the Spanish regime where men were usually seen wearing their habits from different religious orders and there was a strong restriction of women and local inhabitants who wanted to be part of religious life, there were few women at that time stood from the status quo and founded their own congregations, which was unthinkable at the time. These women were Venerable Madre Ignacia del Espiritu Santo and her Religious of the Virgin Mary, Servants of God Madre Cecilia and Dionisia Talangpaz with the Augustnian Recollect Sisters and this woman who was a widow and later one of their contemporaries, Venerable Francisca del Espiritu Santo of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena. The life of Madre Francisca is full of trials and hardships yet she endured it all as she did her best to answer the call of the Lord. St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic de Guzman appeared to

San Andres Apostol de Parañaque In La Huerta, Parañaque where old Traditions are still observed up until the present, the place of abode of the Patroness of Paranaque, Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso, there is also another dear Saint of the Parañaqueños held dear, St. Andrew the Apostle, one of the Great Apostles of Jesus Christ and one of the most well known in the world. It was his home that was chosen to be the Seat of the Diocese of Parañaque for its antiquity and for being a watchful Patron of the City for centuries. The Life of St. Andrew Andrew, like his brother Simon Peter, was a fisherman. He became a disciple of the great St. John the Baptist, but when John pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" Andrew understood that Jesus was greater. At once he left John to follow the Divine Master. Jesus knew that Andrew was walking behind him, and turning back, he asked, "what do you seek?" When Andrew answered that he would like to know where Jes

Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Sinalhan In the quiet baranggay of Sinalhan, located in Santa Rosa City, Laguna, where the people were living the simple life, there is a holy place where locals flock to throne of their miraculous petite patroness - Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Sinalhan. This petite image of the Virgin became a source of hope to her devotees that they held their patroness with high regard that is evident on how the Virgin is presented in her altar and how her fiesta is celebrated. The image The Virgin in her full regalia The image of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles of Sinalhan, Santa Rosa City, Laguna is actually ang image of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal that were commercially produced at that time. The Virgin is standing on a peana with cherubs on its clouds.The stance of the Blessed Virgin is that of Our Lady of Miraculous Medal with both hands extended downwards as said to be due to the overflowing grace of God. Nuestra Señora de los Angele

St. Philomena of Masambong In Catholic Philippines, there were several saints aside from the Blessed Virgin Mary, that became the "go-to" persons to ask for their miraculous intercession and their shrines became the center of devotions and pilgrimages over the centuries since the Spanish conquest. However, there were some saints that were known because of their miracles that they wrought worldwide that it took sometime that the Filipino faithful to catch-up. One of the these saints is St. Philomena. St. Philomena is one of the few saints that are associated with Miracles that happened immediately through her intercession. Though there were earlier shrines that were dedicated through her, it was only in the recent times that the devotion to this young miracle worker thrived over the years and fair enough, miracles were reported through her miraculous intervention. Almost every Catholic altars began to have an image of St. Philomena and pilgrimages to her shrines increase

Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Atimonan In the quiet yet thriving area of Atimonan, located in Quezon Province, there is a place of local pilgrimage where the people sought her maternal protection for centuries up to the present - the miraculous image of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Atimonan. This unique image of the Virgin is one of the most revered in the province and news of her miracles continued to multiply through the years. The image  The unique image depicts that of the Blessed Virgin Mary with wings standing on a globe and lifting the Child Jesus as an offering. There were two images of the de los Angeles, the altar image which serves as the processional image and a second de tallado image that meant for the traditional fluvial procession. This unique image of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles of Atimonan was based from the image of Nuestra Señora de Apocalypsis carved by Bernardo Legarda found in the camarin of the Convento de San Francisco in Popayan, Colombia.