Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Tuyan - The Gracious Lady of Tuyan, Naga, Cebu

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Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Tuyan

Written by: Jose Franco Francisco and James Malabanan

In the quiet fishing barangay of Tuyan in Naga, Cebu, the people of the barangay took pride of their beloved miraculous patroness - Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Tuyan. The devotion to their beloved patroness goes leaps and bounds with a grand and elaborate festivities in her honor which showed the intense devotion that they cherished and became part of the history and culture of Barangay Tuyan, Naga, Cebu.

Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario
de Tuyan
The image

The venerated image of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Tuyan  is a de vestir image of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary venerated in her parish in Tuyan, Naga, Cebu. The image has a wooden body with the Virgin's head and hands were made of wood while the Child Jesus was made of ivory. The carving of the image was more of a typical style of the nineteenth century which gives its refined yet distinct look. The Virgin is vested in a folksy yet dainty manner from its veil and dresses that is typical to images in some parts of Visayas and Mindanao which gives it unique charm, along with its beautiful expressions. The Mother and Child are also decorated with precious jewels and metal works like crowns on their heads, a scepter and estrellas for the Virgin and a rosary.

During the Flores de Mayo rites, the Virgin became the Virgen de las Flores and the Child Jesus was kept for the duration of the season which this was also practiced in other provinces like those in Bantay, Ilocos Sur with the image of Apo Caridad (Nuestra Señora de Caridad de Bantay) where she is the Virgen de Alegria for the Salubong rites. 

History

The devotion to the Virgin of the Rosary of Tuyan was said to began in 1915 when the residents of Barangay Tuyan decided to build a chapel in their area.  due to the proximity of the Parish of St. Francis of Assisi in Poblacion, Naga, Cebu which the only convenient method of transportation was through sea which made the residents having difficulty to attend mass. Since the said barangay was under the jurisdiction of Poblacion, they decided to the parish in Naga and requested to lend them an image to be enthroned in the chapel as its patroness. The parish agreed and handed to them an ivory image of Our Lady of the Rosary which is said to be a replica of the famed image of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario - La Naval de Manila as the priest compared the word Naval to most Tuyanons as fishermen.

Nuestra Señora del Santisimo
Rosario de Tuyan
From there, they would take the image from Naga before the novena days by boat going to Tuyan, and return the statue after the fiesta. For years, the lending of the venerable image of Our Lady of the Rosary became a venerable tradition until years later, the parish priest of Naga decided to donate the image to the barangay as their permanent patroness, with the condition that before the festivities, the Virgin would visit her first home at the St. Francis of Assisi Parish at Naga through a fluvial procession. In October 12, 1986, the chapel was elevated into a parish by the then Archbishop of Cebu, His Eminence, Ricardo, Cardinal Vidal. 

Theft of the image

In 1984, the unthinkable happened when the ivory head and hands of the Virgin was stolen form her chapel and only the image of the Child Jesus, the Sto Nino was left. Afterwards, the headless image of the Virgin went on procession around the streets of Tuyan as a call to the thief to return the missing pieces. Everyone who witnessed the procession went into tears as they look upon their patroness. After which the image entered the doors of her chapel, strong wind and rain poured out from the skies. Soon after, a wooden replacement of the missing parts were made and as of this writing, the original ivory head and hands of the Virgin are not yet found. 

The fluvial procession

The festivities in honor of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Tuyan is a huge celebration in Barangay Tuyan which is held every very third Sunday of December before her fiesta on December 30. The fluvial procession is known as "Sakay-Sakay" as a nod to the fishing culture of the barangay where the folks would use a "sakay-sakay" boat (a local type of a boat) for fishing, yet with the developments of technology and livelihood, they people switched to modern motorboats. The feast was then celebrated on October 7, the Liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary yet it was moved to its current date to to coincide with the end of the year celebrations.

The festivities in honor of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo
Rosario de Tuyan
On the day of "Sakay Sakay" (the fluvial procesion), in the early morning every 3rd Sunday of December, the image is brought to her altar after the Simbang Gabi Mass to venerate the image upclose. At 8:00 am, a farewell mass was held and a procession follows afterwards to begin the fluvial procession. At this time, the Virgin is placed on a pall in an andas. Once the image is on the sea vessel, the fluvial procession begins with the rosary. Those who joined the fluvial will circle around the boat bearing the image while going to Naga and back. 

After the image spent its day at Naga, the image once again rides  the sea vessel to be returned to Tuyan. Once the image returns, the image will go on procession throughout the barangay until it returns back to her parish. Before returning to the parish, she will be placed outside the parish grounds and devotees get to dance and shout their petitions to Our Lady with the beat of drums while shouting their loudest "Viva!"

The devotion at present

We see here in the history of the devotion to Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Tuyan the great and immense expression of love and devotion to their patroness. Through the years, the devotion have grown and strengthened. Miracles and grnted answered prayers were continues to be reported up to this day. The devotees would participated in the fluial procession and other devotional activities, including a foot procession, as their panatain thanks of answered prayers and miracles granted as an act of profession of their love and devotion to their Mother and Patroness.

References:

Francisco, Jose Franco, Repollo, Yries John, History of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish of Tuyan (unpublished manuscript), 2020. 

Photos:

Francisco, Jose Franco

Special thanks to Mr. Jose Franco Francisco  for this great collaboration in introducing the miraculous Virgin of the Rosary of Tuyan, Naga, Cebu.

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