San Miguel Arcangel de Bacoor & Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Bacoor - The Patrons and Protectors of Bacoor, Cavite
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| Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario and San Miguel Arcangel de Bacoor |
The visage of the two patrons
The image of San Miguel Arcangel de Bacoor is that of a de tallado wooden image of St. Michael the Archangel sporting a wig, wearing his armor with his metal breastplate, wings and a soldier's hat with feathers which akin those of colonial depictions of St. Michael the Archangel in Mexico (where his cult is well known due to a reported apparition there) and other Latin American countries. The image also holds a metal banner on his left and a scale on his right hand and his feet stepping on Satan
On the other hand, the image of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Bacoor is a de tallado image of the Blessed Virgin Mary which it was carved in a similar style like those in Manaoag, Pangasinan, Ugong, Pasig City (As Our Lady of the Rosary), Santa Cruz, Manila, Alaminos, Laguna (as Our Lady of the Pillar) and Badoc, Ilocos Norte (as Mary, Cause of Our Joy) : The Virgin stands upright, holding the Child Jesus in her right arm while her left hand is at the feet of the Child and it depicts the Virgin presenting her Son to the beholder.Both Mother and Child wears a set of crowns to signify their role as King and Queen. The Virgin sports a wig and also being vested with real clothes from tunics, vestidas among others that were made from different materials and designs.
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| San Miguel Arcangel de Bacoor |
The beginning of the devotion to St. Michael the Archangel marks with its establishment in 1669 and was constructed using bamboos, straws and nipa leaves and it was later created as a separate parish from Kawit in 1792 by virtue of the Royal Cedula issued by Ferdinand VI, King of Spain, to the Spanish Governor General in the Philippines. It was during the term of Fr. Mariano Gomes from 1824 - 1872 that the church, was renovated with the present architectural structure made of adobe and tegula. Unequipped with modern-day concrete cement mix, thousands of duck egg whites were utilized to bond the huge boulders of adobe. The parish at present is one of the oldest existing parishes in Cavite.
It was around 1750 - 1755 that the image of San Miguel Arcangel de Bacoor arrived from Mexico thru the Manila - Acapulco Galleon Trade and was enshrined in his church in Bacoor, Cavite. It is also noteworthy that that the devotion to St. Michael the Archangel became popular due to the reported apparitions in Tlaxcala, Mexico in 1631 where it became known as the apparitions of San Miguel de Milagro.
Since the arrival of the image to Bacoor, the devotion grew and the townsfolk sought his intercession in times of need and grave danger that devotees would call him "Tata Igue" . It is also said that the image would be carried and made its rounds to the whole town of Bacoor to bless the salt beds for a good harvest. It is said that St Michael disguises himself as a mestizo who goes to the nearby towns to invite strangers to come to Bacoor. Whenever the strangers would ask him where his house is, he would reply that it is in the parish church. The strangers would then find out that the man who invited them is St Michael himself. Another story that she told me is that whenever there are baptisms, St Michael would go down from his sanctuary and show up to the baptism diguised as a young mestizo.
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| Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Bacoor |
The devotion to Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Bacoor began in a providential manner in 1830 when the image was found in a salt storage room owned by Mrs. Ontang Malabanan when she was hearing mysterious knocks from the location. The image was initially enthroned in "Manang Ontang" home until it was enthroned at the parish in 1885.
During 1885, the parish was under the administration of Rev. Fr. Juan Gomez and it was during his term as parish priest that he propagated the devotion to the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary and named the Virgin as the Second Patroness of Bacoor. When Rev. Fr. Gregorio Florencia became parish priest between 1912 - 1926, he established the Hermandad de la Virgen Maria and the Cofradia de la Santisimo Rosario in 1913 where the former is in charge of the fiesta celebrations and later began the novena in honor of the two patrons and culminated in a fiesta celebrated in May. The Cofradia on the other hand is in charge of the daily recitation of the rosary every after Angelus of 12nn and 6:00 pm. It was through these activities and efforts that brought back the majority of the people of Bacoor to the true fold and denounced their adherence to the Aglipayan sect. The image of the Virgin of the Rosary of Bacoor was crowned with solemn rites on May 3, 2009.
The two patrons are also credited by the townsfolk for ending a drought, after days of Rogation processions while the images are carried to the fields. There is a practice though where the images, in the evening procession of 29th of September, would be made to face the rice fields and fishponds (now became developed subdivisions) and then the Salve Regina would be sung in Spanish using a tune which could only be heard in Bacoor, and then the hymn to St Michael, composed in the 1950s in Tagalog.
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| The procession of the two patrons of Bacoor, Cavite |
The devotion to San Miguel Arcangel de Bacoor & Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Bacoor continuous to flourish up to this day. The feasts of the two patrons is celebrated every Second Sunday of Mary while on September 29 is the fiesta in honor of San Miguel de Bacoor. The fiesta is celebrated with a caracol or a dance procession where the images joined together in a single carroza that would tour around the jurisdiction of the parish in the morning and a solemn procession in the evening with the images mounted in their separate carrozas making rounds to the town proper.
We see in the history of the devotion to San Miguel Arcangel de Bacoor & Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Bacoor the powerful help and protection of St. Michael the Archangel and the Blessed Mother, especially her rosary on shaping and protecting the faith of the people of Bacoor, Cavite that earned them much love and devotion for centuries. In these times of uncertainty, we need to seek their powerful help to help us in our earthly pilgrimage and protect us from all evil.
San Miguel Arcangel de Bacoor at Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Bacoor, Ipanalangin mo kami!
References:
"Ang mga Pintakasi ng Parokya", St. Michael the Archagel Parish, Bacoor, Cavite, 2018.
Medina, Zandro, "Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Bacoor", St. Michael the Archagel Parish, Bacoor, Cavite, 2010.
Interview:
Derrick Celso
Photos:
Celso, Derrick
Custodio, Louis
Special thanks to Mr. Derrick Celso and Mr. Louis Custodio for the photographs and documents that were utilized for this blogpost.
+AM+DG+
My father was born in Bacoor, Cavite and he used to take us there during the town fiesta. I remember the statue of St Michael the most but sad to admit it I didn't remember the image of Our Lady that much. Glad to read about her through this article. Thanks.
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