Nuestra Señora de al Consolacion y Correa de Balagtas - The Mother of Balagtas, Bulacan

Nuestra Señora de la Consolacion y Correa de Balagtas

In the historic town of Balagtas, Bulacan, known as the birthplace of the great poet Francisco "Balagtas"Baltazar, the Parish of San Lorenzo Martir became one of the important sites of the area. Aside from the devotion to San Lorenzo Martir, the devotion to Nuestra Señora de al Consolacion y Correa de Balagtas became one of the key devotions in the said town and the devotion grew for three centuries up to the present. 

Nuestra Señora de la Consolacion
y Correa de Balagtas

The Image

The image of Nuestra Señora de al Consolacion y Correa de Balagtas is a de vestir image of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus as Our Lady of Consolation and Cincture, the Mother of the Augustinian Order. The image is a de vestir image where the Virgin and the Niño is vested with beautiful and dainty vestments from white robes, blue cape, while veil, the Black Augustinian Cincture, a crown for the Mother and Child and the diagnostic doce estrellas for the Virgin. The face of the Mother and Child posses sweet faces that evokes love and devotion.

History

The devotion to Nuestra Señora de al Consolacion y Correa de Balagtas began with the establishment of the local chapeter of the Cofradia de la Nuestra Señora de la Consolacion y Correa, which its headquarters is located at the Church of the Conversion of Saint Paul in Manila, now known as San Agustin Church,in 1700. Due to the numerous miracles attributed to thru the Virgin's intercession,  Nuestra Señora dela Consolacion y Correa de Balagtas was proclaimed as the ‘Segunda Patrona’ of the town of Balagtas when the Cofradia was re-organised around the 1980s. 

Nuestra Señora de la Consolacion
y Correa de Balagtas

The members of the local chapter of the Cofradia in Balagtas were known for wearing a special garment called the ‘Traje de Correa’ or ‘Traje de Maria’ whenever they perform their duties and functions as members of the Cofradia. This dress follows a Filipiniana design with Marian motifs at its sleeves. A part of this dress also resembles the black habit of an Augustinian friar, who propagated the devotion to the people of the area, and is completed by the correa, or cincture, which was a symbol of membership in the confraternity and a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s maternal consolation and protection which she gave to Saint Monica, and later on, was also worn by Saint Augustine and his followers.

The devotion

The town of Balagtas celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Consolation every 3rd Sunday of September. After each fiesta mass, the townspeople, most especially the members of the confraternity, prepare communal meals for the faithful. The people of Balagtas continues to foster the devotion to the Virgin of Consolation and the Virgin guided them in the ever changing history of Balagtas, Bulacan. 

Reference:

Continuing the devotion: 320 Years of the Cofradia de la Nuestra Señora de la Consolacion y Correa in Bigaa (Balagtas), Bulacan, Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/OSAorient/posts/1038692779893603 on September 21, 2020.

Photos:

Cofradia de la Nuestra Señora de al Consolacion y Correa de Balagtas Facebook page