Pintakasi

San Dionisio de Parañaque The last week of October, we could see several ways to prepare for All Saints Day and All Souls Day in a very cookie way, from Halloween parties, the Church endorsed "Parade of Saints" type or the mainstream scary ones. Recently, in a "Parade of Saints" activity for children in a parish in Bataan province, a photo of a kid whose saint can come across both the holy and the unusual - that of St. Dennis, the famed Bishop and Martyr of France. Curiosity became eminent when mainstream media caught up with the photo. This is the perfect time to introduce this saint to this blog and we do have a venerated image of St. Denis, or San Dionisio in a barangay bearing his name in Parañaque City. The devotion to San Dionisio de Parañaque is still observed by the people of Barangay San Dionisio and its neighboring barangays due to numerous miracles attributed to his intercession. The image The venerable image of San Dionisio de Parañaque is...

The Saints who bilocated in the Philippines: St. Martin de Porres, St. Faustina Kowalska, Servant of God  Archbishop Teofilo Camomot Yes, you read it right! As the title suggests, we do have saints who did bilocate in our country. Over the past centuries we have well documented records of saints (even saw them in our lifetime) that either visited our country from Sts. John Paul II, Teresa of Calcutta, Maxilimilian Kolbe, Paul VI, Andrew Kim Taegon, Blessed Alvaro Portillo of Opus Dei or administered the Filipino faithful from Sts. Pedro Bautista, Ezekiel Moreno, the Dominicans, Augustinians, Augustinian Recollects, Franciscans and Jesuits missionaries who would later become martyrs in Japan, China, Vietnam, Guam, the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish Civil War. Interestingly, we do have existing reports that would attest that there were saints that bilocated in our country - that is being in two places, or for this case; two countries, at the same time. The bilocatio...

Madonna Salus Infirmorum of San Isidro, Bulacan In the town of San Isidro in Bambang, Bulakan, Bulacan, the parish of San Isidro Labrador soon became a budding Marian pilgrimage site in the province of Bulacan because of the presence of the replica of the miraculous icon of Madonna Salus Infirmorum that is widely venerated by the Camillian Order worldwide. Since the enthronement of the image fifty years ago, numerous miracles began to be reported and the news of miraculous cures became widely known. The icon The image of Madonna Salus Infirmorum or " Maria, Kagalingan ng mga Maysakit " is a replica of the famed image that is venerated by the Camillian Order in italy known as Madonna delle Sallute. The icon presents the typical early European Madonna and Child icon where the Blessed Virgin Mary is holding the Chld Jesus like those in early Eastern icons. The Virgin's hand is in her breats while the Child Jesus is in gesture of of teaching where he holds a book. T...

Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Morong Morong, Bataan, famous for its sea shores and beaches that easily became the province's tourist's spot. In this municipality, the centuries old coral stone church can be found dedicated to Morong's powerful patroness - Nuestra Señora del Pilar. The miraculous image of Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Morong became a silent witness to the history of the municipality and its development through the centuries. The Visage of the Queen The regal image of Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Morong is a wooden image of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Nuestra Señora del Pilar. The image is a de vestir statue of the Blessed Mother holding the petite Child Jesus in her amrs while standing on a pillar. Both Mother and Child wears a set of vestments given by her devotees over the yaers, sports a set of crowns while the Virgin wears her diagnostic doce estrellas and rostrillo. Both Madonna and Child have this sweet expression on their faces that evo...

San Clemente de Angono (altar image) Angono, Rizal, famously known for two things, the Art Capital of the Philippines with numerous artists and national artists that were born there, the art galleries that can be found throughout the municipality and its famed Higantes Festival held every October in honor of the town's patron saint and patriarch - San Clemente de Angono, Pope and of the Great Martyrs of the early years of the Catholic Chruch. The Patriarch's Visage There were two known images of San Clemente that is venerated in Angono, Rizal: the original bust image and the full bodied church image. The first image of San Clemente is a wooden bust image of the Martyred Pontiff where he wears the standard iconography of a Pope-Saint: the Tri Regnum or the Papal Tiara, the three barred Cross, the fisherman's ring, and the upper half of the red Papal Regalia. The image is has this expressive eyes that commands veneration to its beholder. The image is kept in an urna...

A bas relief image of the two images of Apung Mamacalulu venerated in Holy Rosary Parish and the Archdiocesan Shrine of Apung Mamacalulu, both located in Angeles City, Pampanga In the previous blog posts, we have featured the history of the images and its accompanying devotion to Santo Angel Custodio and Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario - La Naval de Angeles , the titular and the Queen of the highly progressive Angeles City in Pampanga respectively. As what we've mentioned in the previous articles, the month of October is big celebration in Angeles City with the feasts of Holy Guardian Angels every 2nd of October, Our Lady of the Rosary - La Naval de Angeles every Second Sunday of October and the Feast of Apung Mamacalulu (A Kapampangan term for  'Merciful Lord'), an image of the dead Christ celebrated every last Friday of October. One cannot help but wonder, why Angeleños celebrate a feast dedicated to the dead Christ in the month of October and why there w...

Sts. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross wearing the Carmelite Scapular as part of the habit Whenever we see an image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we always see that she is holding the famed Brown Scapular - arguably the most indulgence and highly recommended sacramental Our Church would recommend - even by heaven itself through messages from different approved apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But one cannot help but wonder, how does the Brown Scapular came to be and why it enjoyed much importance and popularity. Most importantly, in our local setting, how it arrived in our shores and how this simple sacramental and its devotion attached to it played a role in our history? The Brown Scapular Before we present what a scapular is, we must know what a scapular really is and its original purpose. A scapular is a garment worn by religious over the shoulders (scapula), and hanging down in front and back, usually to about the bottom of the habit. It developed as a pr...