Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Sta. Maria - The Wandering Lady of Ilocos Sur

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Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion de Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur

In the historic town of Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, it is here that a UNESCO heritage sited is often visited by tourists and pilgrims in Ilocandia, the historic Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption. The beautiful well preserved church enshrines this miraculous image which one of her miracles became an integral part of the construction of this magnificent church.
Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Sta. Maria
The image

The statue of Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion of Ilocos Sur is made of wood in ornate sculptural style with ivory face and hands. It is 112 centimetres (44 in) tall.

Her hands are extended wide and her head is looking upward portraying her assumption into heaven. Her blue cape is decorated with silver floral designs and her white dress is embroidered with gold thread motif. She stands on a pedestal of cloud surrounded by angels’ heads.

This image with her bejeweled dress was kept in an elaborate carved wooden chest believed to have used for cargo in galleon ship.

The history

The story of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, or more popularly known as "Apo Baket" began in 1567  when the parish of Santa Maria started as a visita of Narvacan, its neighboring town to the north. The influx of the settlers after the full conquest of the Ilocos Region by the Spaniards greatly increased the population of Santa Maria. The chapel became an independent ministry in 1769 and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Assumption.

The bas relief at the Church's wall depicting the wandering
miracle of the Virgin in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur
The Wandering of the Virgin

According to the legend, before the Santa Maria Church was built on its present site, the Virgin Mary was enshrined at a different place called Bulala. The frequent disappearance of the Virgin Mary from her previous place of enthronement only to be found perched on a guava tree that grew where the present church is located, had led the townspeople to move the church to its present location.

Father Mariano Dacanay, the Ilocano parish priest from 1902 until1922 has another variation of this legend which he assures, was gathered from reliable sources. He relates that the Blessed Virgin was enthroned in another chapel that was formerly erected below the present church and what is now the East Central Elementary School compound. Father Dacanay adds, that from this chapel, the Virgin Mary made her peregrinations to that guava tree on the knoll. This mysterious wandering of the Virgin on a guava tree was later immortalized in a bas relief that can be seen on the left side of the church outside wall.

 The devotion

 The devotion to Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Sta. Maria continues to grow and flourish up to this day, just like its magnificent church. The August 15 feast is kept with much solemnity. The Assumption of Mary is important for many reasons—for the glorification of God, the completion of His redemptive work, the theology of the Incarnation, to name a few. A post could be dedicated to each of these. But what does it mean for our personal faith journeys? Other than inspiring further devotion to the Mother of God, there’s an additional reason that the Assumption is important.

the Assumption offers us additional assurance that we too, who have been baptized into Christ’s death and shared in His Body through the Eucharist, also will experience a resurrection of our bodies. Christ wasn’t the exception for the human race in this sense. Rather, He points the way forward to a greater, more glorious future in which we are all invited to share. This is reinforced by the truth that already another one from the human race has already followed Him into Heaven—Mary.

References:

"Nuesta Senora de la Asuncion". World Monuments Fund. Retrieved on August 14, 2019.

Special thanks to Dr. Fritz Rinaldi Bernardo, MD for the photographs of the image of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Sta. Maria that was utilized for this blogpost
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