Nuestra Señora de la Presentacion de Colegio de Santa Isabel - The Watchful Mother of Santa Isabel College

Nuestra Señora de la Presentacion
de Colegio de Santa Isabel

Santa Isabel College, one of the oldest existing girls school (now a co-ed college) in the country is known for honing its students with knowledge that can use to pursue their future careers and the faith to hold on to. The Colegio's chapel is also known as the throne of the miraculous Señor Santo Cristo del Tesoro, one of the Palladium images of Old Manila, the two processional tableaux of the apparitions of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and the petite image of Nuestra Señora de la Presentacion.

The image

The petite image of Nuestra Señora de la Presentacion of Sta. Isabel College is a de tallado image of the Blessed Virgin Mary where she stands in column-like base, her hands in a prayer postition, her vestments of white and blue alludes the fashion of the Spanish court: a wide cone-shaped white dress, a blue cape, a white veil and a crown. The Virgin looks directly to the beholder as if she wanted to convey a message.

The image at present is currently enthroned at the retablo of the chapel of Santa Isabel College in Manila. She was placed above the image of Santo Cristo del Tesoro.

Nuestra Señora de la Presentacion de
Colegio de Santa Isabel

The origins

The origins of the image of Nuestra Señora de la Presentacion is unknown due to scant records regarding the image yet it is believed that the image arrived together with the venerable Señor Santo Cristo del Tesoro in 1631. Although nothing much was said about this particular image of the Virgin, she became the patroness of the students of the Colegio. A medal was struck in 1931 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the enshrinement of the Santo Cristo del Tesoro. On the other side of the medal is the "Virgen de la Presentation" who represents the "colegiala". As a Jewish tradition has it, when children were presented to the Temple of God, so were the little girls presented in the Colegio de Santa Isabel in the service of the Lord.

The devotion

The devotion to Nuestra Señora de la Presentacion continues to be observed up to this day, although not that much known, unlike that of Santo Cristo del Tesoro. The Feast of Nuestra Señora de la Presentacion of Colegio de Santa Isabel is commemorated every November 21. The students of Santa Isabel are placed under the patronage of the Virgin Mary so that they will consecrated to her like what she did when she was presented in the Temple.

The secular world of today is a powerful force in luring young people away from the practice of virtue. First and foremost, parents must entrust their children, from the cradle, to Mary’s care and protection. There is no possible way to combat this cultural decadence unless children are grounded in devotion to our Mother at an early age, so that they can build their lives on a secure foundation, especially in imitation of her unblemished chastity.

Reference:

"Santo Cristo del Tesoro Fiesta 2019", Santa Isabel College, Manila, 2019.

Special thanks to Mr. Richard Losanta for the recent photograph of Nuestra Señora de la Presentacion de Colegio de Santa Isabel that was used for this blogpost and to the sisters of the Sisters of Charity of Santa Isabel College, Manila for providing us the information about the history of Nuestra Señora de la Presentacion.
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