Happy Mamà (mothers') day

Naga

Marian Devotion Celebrated in annually (click this Penafrancia link)

Choose Philippines showcases Naga's Marian Devotion but also, the food and the religious art (click this Culture within a culture link)

 Nice read with regards Filipino Marian Devotionor rather inconceivable to understand Filipino Culture without marian devotion. (click this know Mary know Pinoys link)

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Echague (Quiapo)

reposting* 

A procession whilst reviving the devotion to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Echague, Quiapo, Manila. 

Social media helps revive ‘unknown’ Marian devotion
MANILA, April 29, 2015—Thanks to a social media post, one of the least known Marian devotions in the country receives a new lease in life, making a successful comeback recently.

Historic

“The Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario de Echague (Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Echague) has played an important role in the history of Catholic Manila. While the expatriates and elite of the city had Our Lady of La Naval all to themselves within the confines of Intramuros, the humble faithful had their Virgin of Echague outside the walls,” Marian devotee James Benedict Malabanan told CBCP News in an interview.
An enthusiast of everything related to the Queen of Heaven, Malabanan started posting photographs of the Virgin of Echague online on April 16, much to the delight of fellow netizens who were unfamiliar with the particular Marian devotion, having heard of its existence only for the first time.

Devotion compensation

“Since in the olden days, not everyone, much less a poor Indio, could freely enter Intramuros even just to venerate the Virgin of La Naval, settlers of ‘extramuros,’ or the districts surrounding the Walled City like Paco, La Ermita, Binondo, but especially Quiapo, had no other choice but to come out with their own devotion as their way to compensate,” he said.

Given that many of these Filipinos hailed originally from Pangasinan, Bataan, and Pampanga, Malabanan theorized the Virgin of Echague could possibly be a painted version or an “estampa” of either Manaoag or Orani.

Unlike the more popular, three-dimensional depictions of Mary, the Virgin of Echague is an oil painting in a frame 40 centimeters-wide and 50 centimeters-long enshrined inside a semi-hidden chapel in a street in Quiapo, which lends the centuries-old picture its name.

‘Sculpted look’

According to Malabanan, the cloth the Blessed Mother appears to wear was added only during the American period, giving the painted image a “sculpted” look.

Where in years before only a handful of hardcore devotees cared to attend, dozens of Catholics, many of whom young first-timers, joined the procession of the Virgin of Echague around Quiapo on Sunday, April 25.


“I have done what I did in order to revive this particular devotion so that it won’t be completely forgotten. Numerous records attest to miracles credited to her intercession. Let the public know about the Virgin of Echague,” he added. (Raymond A. Sebastián/CBCP News)

Vatican CDF: IN THE DISCERNMENT OF PRESUMED APPARITIONS OR REVELATIONS

{hightlights are mine} 

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

PREFACE

1. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is competent in questions regarding the promotion and safeguarding of the teaching of faith and morals. It is also competent to examine difficulties regarding the proper understanding of the faith, such as cases of pseudo-mysticism, presumed apparitions, visions and messages attributed to supernatural sources. In regard to these very delicate tasks, more than thirty years ago this Dicastery prepared the Normae de modo procedendi in diudicandis praesumptis apparitionibus ac revelationibus. This document, formulated by the Members of the Plenary Session of the Congregation, was approved by the Servant of God, Pope Paul VI, on 24 February 1978, and subsequently issued on 25 February 1978. At that time the Norms were sent to Bishops for their information, without, however, being officially published, as the norms were given for the direct aid of the Pastors of the Church.

2. Over the years this document has been published in various works treating these matters, in more than one language, without obtaining the prior permission of this Dicastery. Today, it must be recognized that the contents of these important norms are already in the public domain. Therefore, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith believes it is now opportune to publish these Norms, providing translations in the principle languages.

3. In the Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God held in October 2008, the issue of the problems stemming from the experience of supernatural phenomena was raised as a pastoral concern by some Bishops. Their concern was recognized by the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, who inserted the issue into the larger context of the economy of salvation, in a significant passage of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini. It is important to recall this teaching of the Pontiff, which is an invitation to pay appropriate attention to these supernatural phenomena:

“In all of this, the Church gives voice to her awareness that with Jesus Christ she stands before the definitive word of God: he is ‘the first and the last’ (Rev 1:17). He has given creation and history their definitive meaning; and hence we are called to live in time and in God’s creation within this eschatological rhythm of the word; ‘thus the Christian dispensation, since it is the new and definitive covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Tim 6:14 and Tit 2:13)’. Indeed, as the Fathers noted during the Synod, the ‘uniqueness of Christianity is manifested in the event which is Jesus Christ, the culmination of revelation, the fulfilment of God’s promises and the mediator of the encounter between man and God. He who ‘has made God known’ (Jn 1:18) is the one, definitive word given to mankind.’ Saint John of the Cross expresses this truth magnificently: ‘Since he has given us his Son, his only word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything at once in this sole word – and he has no more to say… because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has spoken all at once by giving us this All who is his Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behaviour but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely on Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty’ (Ascent of Mount Carmel, II, 22).”

Bearing this in mind, the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, notes the following:

“Consequently the Synod pointed to the need to ‘help the faithful to distinguish the word of God from private revelations’ whose role ‘is not to complete Christ’s definitive revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history.’ The value of private revelations is essentially different from that of the one public revelation: the latter demands faith; in it God himself speaks to us through human words and the mediation of the living community of the Church. The criterion for judging the truth of a private revelation is its orientation to Christ himself. If it leads us away from him, then it certainly does not come from the Holy Spirit, who guides us more deeply into the Gospel, and not away from it. Private revelation is an aid to this faith, and it demonstrates its credibility precisely because it refers back to the one public revelation. Ecclesiastical approval of a private revelation essentially means that its message contains nothing contrary to faith and morals; it is licit to make it public and the faithful are authorized to give to it their prudent adhesion. A private revelation can introduce new emphases, give rise to new forms of piety, or deepen older ones. It can have a certain prophetic character (cf. 1 Th 5:19-21) and can be a valuable aid for better understanding and living the Gospel at a certain time; consequently it should not be treated lightly. It is a help which is proffered, but its use is not obligatory. In any event, it must be a matter of nourishing faith, hope and love, which are for everyone the permanent path of salvation.”¹

4. It is my firm hope that the official publication of the Norms regarding the manner of proceeding in the discernment of presumed apparitions or revelations can aid the Pastors of the Catholic Church in their difficult task of discerning presumed apparitions, revelations, messages or, more generally, extraordinary phenomena of presumed supernatural origin. At the same time it is hoped that this text might be useful to theologians and experts in this field of the lived experience of the Church, whose delicacy requires an ever-more thorough consideration.

William Card. Levada

Prefect

THE CHARACTER OF THE PRESUMED APPARITIONS OR REVELATIONS OF THE COMPETENT ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY OF THE SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

NORMS REGARDING THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING

PRELIMINARY NOTE

Origin and character of these norms

During the annual Plenary Session in November 1974, the Fathers of this Sacred Congregation examined the problems relative to presumed apparitions and to the revelations often connected with them and reached the following conclusions:

1. Today, more than in the past, news of these apparitions is diffused rapidly among the faithful thanks to the means of information (mass media). Moreover, the ease of going from one place to another fosters frequent pilgrimages, so that Ecclesiastical Authority should discern quickly about the merits of such matters.

2. On the other hand, modern mentality and the requirements of critical scientific investigation render it more difficult, if not almost impossible, to achieve with the required speed the judgments that in the past concluded the investigation of such matters (constat de supernaturalitate, non constat de supernaturalitate) and that offered to the Ordinaries the possibility of authorizing or prohibiting public cult or other forms of devotion among the faithful.

For these reasons, in order that the devotion stirred among the faithful as a result of facts of this sort might manifest itself in full communion with the Church, and bear fruits by which the Church herself might later discern the true nature of the facts, the Fathers judged that in this matter the following procedure should be promoted.

When Ecclesiastical Authority is informed of a presumed apparition or revelation, it will be its responsibility:

a) first, to judge the fact according to positive and negative criteria (cf.infra, no. I);

b) then, if this examination results in a favorable conclusion, to permit some public manifestation of cult or of devotion, overseeing this with great prudence (equivalent to the formula, “for now, nothing stands in the way”) (pro nunc nihil obstare).

c) finally, in light of time passed and of experience, with special regard to the fecundity of spiritual fruit generated from this new devotion, to express a judgment regarding the authenticity and supernatural character if the case so merits.

I. CRITERIA FOR JUDGING, AT LEAST WITH PROBABILITY

A) Positive Criteria:

a) Moral certitude, or at least great probability of the existence of the fact, acquired by means of a serious investigation;

b) Particular circumstances relative to the existence and to the nature of the fact, that is to say:

1. Personal qualities of the subject or of the subjects (in particular, psychological equilibrium, honesty and rectitude of moral life, sincerity and habitual docility towards Ecclesiastical Authority, the capacity to return to a normal regimen of a life of faith, etc.);

2. As regards revelation: true theological and spiritual doctrine and immune from error;

3. Healthy devotion and abundant and constant spiritual fruit (for example, spirit of prayer, conversion, testimonies of charity, etc.).

B) Negative Criteria:

a) Manifest error concerning the fact.

b) Doctrinal errors attributed to God himself, or to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or to some saint in their manifestations, taking into account however the possibility that the subject might have added, even unconsciously, purely human elements or some error of the natural order to an authentic supernatural revelation (cf. Saint Ignatius, Exercises, no. 336).

c) Evidence of a search for profit or gain strictly connected to the fact.

d) Gravely immoral acts committed by the subject or his or her followers when the fact occurred or in connection with it.

e) Psychological disorder or psychopathic tendencies in the subject, that with certainty influenced on the presumed supernatural fact, or psychosis, collective hysteria or other things of this kind.

It is to be noted that these criteria, be they positive or negative, are not peremptory but rather indicative, and they should be applied cumulatively or with some mutual convergence.

II. INTERVENTION

1. If, on the occasion of a presumed supernatural fact, there arises in a spontaneous way among the faithful a certain cult or some devotion, the competent Ecclesiastical Authority has the serious duty of looking into it without delay and of diligently watching over it.

2. If the faithful request it legitimately (that is, in communion with the Pastors, and not prompted by a sectarian spirit), the competent Ecclesiastical Authority can intervene to permit or promote some form of cult or devotion, if, after the application of the above criteria, nothing stands in the way. They must be careful that the faithful not interpret this practice as approval of the supernatural nature of the fact on the part of the Church (cf. Preliminary note c).

3. By reason of its doctrinal and pastoral task, the competent Authority can intervene motu proprio and indeed must do so in grave circumstances, for example in order to correct or prevent abuses in the exercise of cult and devotion, to condemn erroneous doctrine, to avoid the dangers of a false or unseemly mysticism, etc.

4. In doubtful cases that clearly do not put the good of the Church at risk, the competent Ecclesiastical Authority is to refrain from any judgment and from any direct action (because it can also happen that, after a certain period of time, the presumed supernatural fact falls into oblivion); it must not however cease from being vigilant by intervening if necessary, with promptness and prudence.

III. AUTHORITIES COMPETENT TO INTERVENE

1. Above all, the duty of vigilance and intervention falls to the Ordinary of the place.

2. The regional or national Conference of Bishops can intervene:

a) If the Ordinary of the place, having done his part, turns to it to judge the matter with greater certainty;

b) If the matter pertains to the national or regional level; always, however, with the prior consent of the Ordinary of the place.

3. The Apostolic See can intervene if asked either by the Ordinary himself, by a qualified group of the faithful, or even directly by reason of the universal jurisdiction of the Supreme Pontiff (cf. infra, no. IV).

IV. ON THE INTERVENTION

1. a) The intervention of the Sacred Congregation can be requested either by the Ordinary, after he has done his part, or by a qualified group of the faithful. In this second case, care must be taken that recourse to the Sacred Congregation not be motivated by suspect reasons (for example, in order to compel the Ordinary to modify his own legitimate decisions, to support some sectarian group, etc.).

b) It is up to the Sacred Congregation to intervene motu proprio in graver cases, especially if the matter affects the larger part of the Church, always after having consulted the Ordinary and even, if the situation requires, the Conference of Bishops.

2. It is up to the Sacred Congregation to judge and approve the Ordinary’s way of proceeding or, in so far as it be possible and fitting, to initiate a new examination of the matter, distinct from that undertaken by the Ordinary and carried out either by the Sacred Congregation itself or by a special Commission.

The Present Norms, deliberated in the Plenary Session of this Sacred Congregation, were approved by the Supreme Pontiff, Paul VI on 24 February 1978.

In Rome, from the palace of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 25 February 1978.

Francis Cardinal Šeper (prefect) 

Jérôme Hamer, O.P. (secretary)

official site for the preface of cardinal Levada (2011) 

offical site for The norms regarding apparitions and private revelations (1978)

1 Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini, on the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church, 30 September 2010, n. 14: AAS102 (2010) 695-696. See also those passages of the Catechism for the Catholic Church dedicated to this topic (nn. 66-67).

Santa Caterina da Siena

"Only he who is based in charity, is he who is disposed to die for the sake of God and salvation of souls; but when he is deprived of love he will not be disposed to offer his life."  - Caterina Benincasa aka. Catherine of Siena, 1347-1380 , Saint, Tertiary Dominican, Philosopher, Theologian, and Doctor of the Church.

NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA PAZ Y BUEN VIAJE

{ Our Lady of Antipolo, Philippines }

prayer:

Most holy virgin of peace and good voyage, you merited well these two excellent titles, exercise them in our favor to the greater honor and glory of God. Obtain for us that peace which your blessed son left in the custody of his apostles, a peace with which pardoning our enemies the many offenses they have acommited against us, we may love all our neighbors with true love and Christianity. Obtain for us peace of heart and soul so that our desires will not rebel against reason, or our reason against God. And, while we are all travelers and strangers in this valley of tears, be our guide so that amid the many pitfalls which surround us, and the many dangers which beset us, we may, by the observance of the divine commandments be able to take the royal road that leads to glory. Free us from the snares of the devil so that with your protection we may be able, in the hour of death, to reach the happy end of our travel and enjoy for eternity the glory of your most sweet company as also that of your Divine Son. Amen.
Nuestra Señora de la Paz Y Buen Viaje, pray for us.

Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje), also known as the Virgin of Antipolo (Filipino: Birhen ng Antipolo), is a 17th-century Roman Catholic brown wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by Roman Catholics in the Philippines. The statue depicting theImmaculate Conception of Mary, is enshrined at the Antipolo Cathedral in the city of Antipolo in Rizal province.

On March 25, 1626, the galleon trading ship El Almirante left Acapulco, Mexico. On board was the newly appointed Governor of the Philippines Don Juan Niño de Tabora who brought with him the statue from Mexico. He arrived in Manila on July 18, 1626. The statue was first taken to Saint Ignatius Church (Spanish: San Ignacio Church), the Jesuit church in Intramuros. When Governor Tabora died in 1632, the statue was donated to the Jesuits for enshrinement in the church of Antipolo inbarangay Santa Cruz. During the construction of the church, the statue would allegedly disappear and later found on top of aTipolo (breadfruit) tree (artocarpus incisa).

In 1639, the Chinese rose in revolt burning the Antipolo town and church. In fear that the statue would be destroyed, GovernorSebastian Hurtado de Corcuera ordered the statue be transferred back to Cavite where it was temporarily venerated.

Don Sebastian ordered the statue removed in 1648, when it was transferred from its Cavite shrine and was shipped back to Mexico aboard the San Luis galleon. At the time, having a statue of a saint on the ship served as a patroness or protector of the Acapulco trade.

The statue crisscrossed the Pacific Ocean on Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade ships six times from 1648 to 1748 aboard the:

• San Luis — (1648–1649)
• Encarnacion — (1650)
• San Diego — (1651–1653)
• San Francisco Javier — (1659–1662)
• Nuestra Señora del Pilar — (1663)
• San Jose — (1746–1748)

A royal decree from the King of Spain in May 19, 1864 ordered that the curias of San Nicolas de Tolentino be turned over to the Jesuits and in exchange, the curias of Antipolo, Taytay and Morong were tuned over to the Agustinian Recollects. The statue, by virtue of being under the jurisdiction of Antipolo became owned by the Augustinian Recollect priests.

The statue was canonically crowned by the Archbishop of Manila, Rev. Michael J. O'Doherty on November 26, 1926.

Japanese Occupation

In 1944, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the town and turned it into their garrisons, while the shrine was turned into an arsenal. Fearing for the statue, the head sacristan Procopio Angeles wrapped the image in a thick wool blanket and placed it in an empty gasoline drum. He then buried the statue under the kitchen. The altercation of the Japanese and the combined American and Filipino soldiers caused Procopio and other devotees to transfer the statue to a hill between Antipolo and Angono called Kulaiki. From this location, it was sent to Santolan then to Pasig city. The statue was then transferred to the Ocampo family residence at Quiapo, Manila and was later transferred to the Quiapo Church. After the war from the Japanese and combined American-Filipino ground troops in the invaded and liberated in Antipolo, the statue was returned on October 15, 1945 to the present Antipolo shrine, where it resides today. The shrine is under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary, depicted by the Virgin of Antipolo.

hymn to our lady of antipolo

Himala ng Birhen ng Antipolo -1947

Other prayers to our Lady of Antipolo

Masintahing Ina, sumasamo at dumudulog kami sa iyo. Tulungan mo kaming magpasalamat sa Panginoon sa lahat ng mga grasya at pagpapalang ipinagkaloob Niya sa amin. Sa tulong at awa mo, kami po ay iyong gabayan at akayim sa aming paglalakbay sa buhay. Sa aming pagtahak sa buhay na puno ng pagaalinlangan at pangamba, pagkalooban po ninyo kami ng lakas at tapang na tahakin ang landas ng iyong Mahal na Anak.

Mahal na Ina, lumalapit po kami sa iyo na dulutan mo ng mapayapang kalinga ang aming tahanan. Tulungan mo po kami na maitaguyod ng maayos at matuwid ang aming pamilya. Sa aming paglalayag sa buhay, palakasin at patatagin mo ang bawa't isa sa amin na makabuo ng isang pamayanan na pinaghaharian ng iyong Mahal na Anak.

Nawa'y sa tulong at biyaya mo, Mahal naming Ina, kami ay kupkupin ng iyong Mahal na Anak at ilagay Niya kami sa ilalim ng Kanyang pagkakandili at huwag kaming iwanan sa paglalakbay sa buhay lalung-lalo na sa oras ng kagipitan. Sa pamamagitan mo, Inang Mahal, pagpalain at tangkilikin mo po ang aming paglalakbay upang mabuhay kami sa kapayapaan at marating namin ang kaluwalhatian ng buhay na walang hanggan. Amen.

Ina ng kapayapaan at mabuting paglalakbay, Birhen ng Antipolo...ipanalangin mo kami.

Architect Jose L. de Ocampo

Sites in Antipolo