Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Binangonan - The Queen and Mother of Binangonan, Rizal

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Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Binangonan
In the lake side area of Pilapila, located in Binangonan, Rizal, a few kilometers from the Parish of Sta. Ursula of Binangonan town proper, there was a parish in the area that is the home of the gracious Lady of the Angels that became a solace of her devotees for centuries.

The Miraculous image of Nuestra Señora delos Ángeles of Pila-pila became a silent witness to the growth of the faith in her chosen abode became a source of hope to the People of Pilapila.

The image

The image of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles of Pilapila is that of a de vestir Image of Our Lady of the Angels, the Patroness of the Franciscan Order. The presents the Madonna and Child standing on base with with angels and both are wearing a set of crowns and jewels, the Virgin wearing her diagnostic doce estrellas, holds a sheaf of flowers and sports a long wavy hair and facing the Child Jesus. The Child Jesus on the other hand is being held by the Virgin and his left hand is in a gesture of blessing and facing the beholder.

The origin of the devotion

The estampa of Nuestra Señora
los Angeles de Binangonan
The devotion to Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Binangonan  began in 1892 when Teniente Ambrosio Blanco saw a brilliant light in the wee hours in the morning and then he saw an estampa (a print image) of the Blessed Virgin Mary that he immediately prayed the "Salve Regina". As he got a hold of the image, rain began to pour and he immediately covered the image as he went home to Pilapila.

As the teniente placed the estampa in the altar, an unusual fragrance filled the room and the whole townsfolk of Pilapila also got a hold of the fragrance and later they saw the same brilliant light that the teniente saw when he got the estampa.

When one of the fisherman saw the image, he related to townsfolk of Pilapila that the image on the estampa has the likeness of that of the patroness of Santa Maria, Laguna, which is on the other side of the lake.

When he asked the townsfolk of Santa Maria, Laguna for the name of the image, they told him the name of their patroness as "Nuestra Señora de los Angeles". Since then, the townsfolk of Pilapila chose the Virgin as their Patroness.

Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Binangonan
In 1892, the present statue of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles was commissioned by Juan de Plamenco in Malate, Manila and it took inspiration from the estampa. The image was immediately enshrined in the chapel of Pilapila for the veneration of the people.

Over the years, the image underwent numerous restoration work due to unfortunate circumstances like the fire of 1970 during a Pabasa in a sitio and in 1992 when the image was again loaned for a Pabasa where it fell from the andas and it was heavily damaged. Another restoration work took place  in 2009 for preservation purposes and the image only comes out of her church every Flores de Mayo rites, her feast day August 2 and September 8. The chapel of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Binangonan was elevated to a parish in 2013.

The devotion at present

Since the 1950's the Feast of the Vrign is then celebrated every March 15 to commemorate its discovery yet it was later moved to its liturgical feast day, every August 2  that is currently celebrated at present. The people of Barangay Pilapila celebrated her feast with much solemnity in thanksgiving to all the graces they received from their beloved patroness.

In the story of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Binangonan, we saw once again one of the common patterns on how the Lord chooses the patron of a town, in this case, it is the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Queen of the Angels. This narrative shows us how Our Lord cared so much to its faithful by sending His Mother as our help and Mediatrix where she distributes graces from her Son to the faithful. We should cease to ask for Our Lady's help, the August Queen of the Angels for it is a known fact that her help is efficacious.

Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Binangonan , Ipanalangin mo kami!

References:

Landrito, Simplicio, "Mga dahong pag-alaala ng Pagdiriwang sa Pintakasi Nuestra Señora de los Angeles" Our Lady of the Angeles Parish, Pilapila, Binangonan, Rizal, 1953.
Villegas, Jaymar, "Munting Kasaysayan ni Nuestra Señora de los Angeles ng Brgy. Pilapila", Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Binangonan, Rizal, 2018.

Special credits to Mr. Jaie Ison for the use of the photographs that are utilized for this blogpost
+AM+DG+

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