Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonoy - The Miraculous Brown Lady of Hagonoy, Bulacan

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Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonoy
In the historic and pilgrimage town of Hagonoy, Bulacan which is known as the home of the famed National Shrine of St. Anne, there is also another site that is a point of local devotion over the centuries since the Spanish era - the Parish of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary where the image of the patroness is deemed to be miraculous from the day it arrived in Hagonoy.

The image

The image of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonoy is classified as a Brown Madonna due to her complexion. The image is that of Our Lady with the Child Jesus where the Child is in her arms while the hand of the Virgin seems to presenting her Son to the beholder and holding a rosary. This particular depiction of the Virgin is similar to those other famed Marian images in the country from the Virgin of Manaoag in Pangasinan, Virgen del Pilar of Santa Cruz, Manila, La Virgen Milagrosa of Badoc, Ilocos Norte among others.

The Virgin's carved cloak and mantle was painted in estofado style, wears a wig and both faces of the Mother and Child are deemed to have Filipino features. This image at times wears a set of vestments given by her devotees over the years.

Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonoy
The miraculous arrival

The origins of the images happened between 1770 to 1800 where it is said that the image was found floating near the riverbanks of Barrio Caingin. It was believed that right after they have found the image, the people have started their devotions through a lutrina, which is a nine-day candlelight procession. A chapel in front of the river where the image was found was built to house the image of the Virgin.

The bell, which was still placed at the belfry of the present parish church, can serve as the basis of the existence of the chapel since the start. It was seen that a date was etched in the bell with the words “Mayo 1858”. Along with the progress of the community was the progress of the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario.

Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonoy
The development of the devotion

Years later, the barrio saw the expansion and development of the Chapel due to the increase of number of devotees and pilgrims flocking her chapel. During the 19th century, there is only one chapel under the patronage of the Virgen del Rosario within the barrios under Barrio Caingin. They are joyfully celebrating the fiesta every second Sunday of May, which is the old fiesta of the barrio. The elderly residing in the barrio the during the old times, the procession reaches the bridge near the town proper since Barrio San Jose is under Barrio Santo Rosario.

Between the years 1900-1930, the areas under Barrio Santo Rosario were able to build their own chapels, which became the root of the foundation of the new barrios today. In 1952, the chapel was soon elevated as an independent parish with the Decree of Erection of the New Parish from then Manila Archbishop Gabriel Reyes issued on January 16, 1952.

Through the years, the devotion to the Virgin of the Rosary developed over the years and these became part of the very culture of the people of Hagonoy. Two fiestas were then celebrated in Hagonoy, one every third Sunday of May and October 7th, the Liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.

Several rites and traditions were introduced to the devotees of the Virgin of the Rosary that continues to be observed at present, the Dalaw Patron where the a replica of the Virgin visits the homes of the parishioners, the solemn processions in her honor on her fiestas and  the fluvial procession to commemorate her finding in the river. The Cofradia del Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonoy was established in 2002 as a fitting honor of the Year of the Rosary and the propagation of the devotion to the patroness.

Church recognition

Through the efforts of the parishioners, devotees and the local clergy, they petitioned for the Episcopal Coronation of their miraculous patroness and it was granted by Bishop Honesto Ongtioco, DD, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Malolos. The Coronation was held on October 7, 2019, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The crowning rites were officiated by the His Excellency Bishop Dennis Villarojo, DD, the current Bishop of the Diocese of Malolos.

The devotion at present

The devotion to Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonoy continues to flourish up to this day. Devotees continued to flock her parish as numerous miracles were attributed to her intercession. The main feast of the Virgin is celebrated every 7th of October, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary in the General Roman Calendar. The devotion of the Rosary in this narrative showed us once again how the Blessed Mother and her rosary shaped the history of the locality and helped t oboost its morale as the devotees continued to foster this devotion from the day she miraculously aarived in the town. In these dark times, we have to cling more to her rosary for her rosary is proven to be community builder and also a weapon against the evils that hounds in our midst.

 References:

Aguinaldo, Rev. Msgr. Jose B."Ika-400 Bantayog ng Simbahan. Hagonoy: Parish of St. Anne. 1981.
Lunod, Rev. Fr. Roberto G. Bakas ng Ala-ala: Parokya ng Santisimo Rosario, Hagonoy, Bulacan". Hagonoy: Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario Parish. 1997.
Manahan, Rev. Msgr. Macario R. "Hagonoy sa Taon ng Jubileo". Hagonoy: National Shrine and Parish of St. Anne. 2000.
Raymundo, El Gideon and Panganiban, Kendrick Ivan, "The History of the Parish of Nuestra Senora del Santisimo Rosario and of the Devotion to the Patrona", unpublished manuscript, 2019.
Reyes, Most Rev. Gabriel M. “ERRECION DE LA NUEVA PARROQUIA DEL SANTISIMO ROSARIO EN HAGONOY: Mediante desmembración de la Santa Ana, Hagonoy, Bulacan” in Curia Diocesana. Manila: Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas Heritage Library. 1952.

Credits to the owners of the photos that were utilized for this blogpost.
Special thanks to Bro. Kendrick Ivan Panganiban for providing the documents and some photos cited in the this blogpost.
+AM+DG+

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 1, 2019 at 11:18 PM

    Good day sir!

    I'm a silent reader of your blog because it is very educational not just spiritually but also because a lot of our religious relics are tied to our country's arts, history, culture and traditions.

    For future entries, might I suggest featuring the Sto. Rosario de Bacoor (Bacoor, Cavite) and the Sto. Rosario de Ugong (Ugong, Pasig City) ?

    The Rosario de Bacoor is almost an identical twin of the Milagrosa de Badoc, and by extension, the Pilarica de Sta. Cruz and the Rosario de Hagonoy while the Rosario de Ugong (not to be confused with the Rosario de Pasig which is another different image of the same title in the same city) looks like an almost perfect match to the Rosario de Manaoag if one removes the vestments of Manaoag to reveal the de-tallado image beneath.

    I think it's interesting to also compare and contrast these aforementioned titles of the Virgin which are very similar yet quite distinct in appearances, styles, histories, devotions, locations (all of them are in the western side of Luzon), etc.

    ReplyDelete

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