Nuestra Señora de la Caridad de Bantay

In the historic town of Bantay in Ilocos Sur, famous for its Tower, is one of the most frequented pilgrimage site for centuries because of the town's miraculous Patroness - Nuestra Señora de la Caridad de Bantay, or more popularly known as "Apo Caridad". Since her enthronement in Bantay, she had showered her devotees with numerous miracles that she merited the title as the "Queen of Ilocandia".

The Visage of the Queen

Nuestra Señora de la Caridad de Bantay
at present

The miraculous image of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad de Bantay is said to be the first image of Our Lady in Ilocandia. The image of the Virgin is that of Nuestra Señora de la Consolacion y Correa since the she wears the Augustinian Chord and her shrine is one of many Augustinian founded churches in Ilocos region.

The Virgin is represented theding the Child Jesus, the source of all consolation and charity, in one hand and in one hand and with the other hand open, as I'd to shower favors upon her devotees. The image is that of a de vestir image that is intended to be vested with a wooden bastidor body, head and hands of the Virgin and the Child Jesus made of ivory. The Mother and Child wears a set of crowns while the Virgin wears the diagnostic Doce Estrellas and a rostrillo on her face.

What was interesting to this image that the the Virgin's head and hands were that of a Polynesian style of carving with an elongated neck and disproportionately large eyes. (It is said that the original eyes of the image is made of black diamonds). The Image also has a distinct piece of clothing which is a delantar, an apron-like piece, which is placed on her waist along with the Augustinian Correa.

Nuestra Señora de la Caridad de Bantay
with its original head

The origins

According to local history, the image was said to be found inside a wooden box floating in Bantoay River in Ilocos Sur and many attempted to fetch the image but to no avail until the folks of Bantay were able to fetch the image easily. The image was later enthroned by Rev. Fray Juan Bautista de Montoya of the Augustinian Order in the Parish of St. Augustine in Bantay "with his own hands."

During the Easter Salubong, the image of Apo Caridad becomes the Virgen de Alegria that will meet the image of the Resurrected Christ and the image of the Child Jesus was kept for some time. This was the reason that why for some replicas and photographs of the Virgin, she was solitary.

Nuestra Señora de la Caridad de Bantay
as a solitary image

The Virgin of Charity of Bantay celebrates two feast days, first is every January 12, to commemorate her Canonical Coronation in 1956 and every First Sunday of September known as the "Fiesta de la Correa" since she was after all an image of Nuestra Señora de la Consolacion y Correa, the Mother of the Augustinian Order. The feast of the coronation of Our Lady of Charity is one of the most awaited and equally important feast for the Catholic Ilocanos because this Lady was considered as the Mother of Ilocandia.

Apo Caridad de Bantay with the
original head that was stolen in 1973

The sacrilegious theft

An unforseen tragedy would take place years later when the original ivory head of the Virgin was stolen on November 4, 1968 and her ivory hand was later stolen on June 15, 1973. As of this writing, the stolen parts were not yet recovered yet in 1994, the Archdiocesan Museum donated an old unfinished head of the Virgin to the Church of Bantay and it was later reconstructed and presently serves as it's appropriate replacement.

The miracles

Since the enthronement of the Virgin in Bantay, numerous miracles were attributed through her intercession that would later be a key factor to name her as Our Lady of Charity or "Apo Caridad."

Apo Caridad became the "Guardian of the Fields" of Ilocos due to her constant assistance to the farmers and protection from pests that would harm the crops. It is also said that devotees would place an image or photograph of Apo Caridad in front of the fields to ask for her help and they would testify that there were no pests that are infiltrating their fields. Devotees would recount that there were amorseco burs stuck to the lower hem of the dress of the Virgin and they would speculated that Apo Caridad went out for a walk to the fields.

The ex votos that are pinned to the
Correa of the Virgin

Apo Caridad also became known as healer of the sick due to the numerous reported and duly recorded cures of her supplicants from numerous diseases up the present. Those that were cured would give numerous ex votos to the Virgin from vestments, set of crowns and accessories among others. It is also interesting to note that if we are going to look closely to the Correa of the Virgin, there were ex votos of pins of different body parts that are attached to the Correa which tells which ailment of the body that were cured bwcause of Apo Caridad's help.

Some of the known and recorded miracles of the Virgin made an impact to the history of Ilocandia. In 1660, Andres Malong, a Pangasinan chieftain, led an army of 3,000 men consisting of Calansans, Tingguans and Aetas of Zambales that invaded Ilocos and Cagayan. The following year, they sacked the town of Bantay, leaving 800 dead. The Zambals attempted to set fire to the church for three times. But fortunately, the fire would not start even if the cogon roof was very dry. This incident was well documented by Rev. Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde, SJ in his book "Historia de Filipina de la Compania de Jesus" which he vividly recounts: "They (the rebels) burned Bantay, and though they set the fire three times to the Church, it was delivered by the Nuestra Señora de la Caridad through her special protection."

Nuestra Señora de la Caridad de Bantay

During the revolt of Diego Silang from 1762 - 1763, he imprisoned Bishop Bernardo Ustariz of Nueva Segovia and all the priests of the diocese were imprisoned in the Church of Bantay and threatened them with execution. Out of desperation, they sought the intercession of the Virgin of Bantay to save them and promised to compose a novena in her honor. When Silang ordered one of his men to kill the bishop, they held back and opted to consult the spirits of the jar and await the flowering of the adaan tree. On the third day of the novena in May 1763, Silang was assassinated by Miguel Vicos.

In another recorded rebellion of December 24, 1772, the rebels, in their blindness, committed many atrocious acts to the people of Bantay and the rest of Ilocandia until May 1773. However, out of reverence to Apo Caridad, they desisted from harming the ministers of God who had taken refuge in the sanctuary.

During the Second World War, three bombs fell on the roof of the church but not one of them exploded. When other bombs exploded, the walls were distructed and in the middle of it, found the statue of the Virgin, unscathed as if nothing happened.

The Canonical Coronation of Nuestra Señora
de la Caridad de Bantay in 1956

Church Recognition

The Virgen de Caridad de Bantay became the source of hope and charity to the people of Ilocos region due to numerous miracles that were attributed to her that she was Canonically Crowned on January 12, 1956 by then Apostolic Nuncio, Most Rev. Egidio Vagnozzi and was declared as the Queen of Ilocandia.

The devotion

The devotion to Apo Caridad de Bantay continues to be stronger in the recent years with more miracles that were reported through her intercession. Despite of the ups and downs in the history of Apo Caridad of Bantay, she became an integral part of the lives of every Ilocano and she continued to nurture the region with graces from her Son, the source of all Consolation.

References:

Aviado, Lutgarda, Madonnas of the Philippines, Manlapaz Press, Quezon City, 1972.
Barcelona, Mary Anne, Ynang Maria: a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines. Ed. Consuelo B. Estampa, P.D. Pasig City, Anvil Publishing Inc., 2004.
Our Lady of Charity (Mother of Ilocandia), Retrieved from https://chracejourney.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/our-lady-of-charity-mother-of-ilocandia/ on January 3, 2019.
Sanchez, Francisco, La Virgen Maria Venerada en sus Imagenes Filipinas, Manila: Imp. De Santos y Bernal, 1904.

Interview:

Kenneth Adrian dela Cruz of the Parish of St. Martin of Tours, Diocesan Shrine of Mahal na Krus ng Wawa, Bocaue, Bulacan.

Special thanks to Mr. Kenneth Adrian de la Cruz for the photographs of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad de Bantay that were utilized for this blog. +AM+DG+