The Feast of the "La Naval de Manila".

A festival (every 2nd Sunday of October) revolving around the image

of the Blessed Virgin Mary of La Naval carved in 1533 and given as

a gift to the Dominican Fathers. Borne on an elaborately decorated

and well-lit carriage in the form of a ship, the venerated image is

brought out of the church preceded by a dozen or so images of

Dominican saints. The procession goes around the main streets of

Sto. Domingo parish and then returns to the church amidst applause

until it reaches the altar pedestal.

 

In the 1600s when the Philippines was a new colony of Spain, the

Dutch had an interest in seizing the archipelago for themselves.

One of their objectives was to bring Protestantism to the country,

which was dominated by Roman Catholicism as religion introduced

by the Spanish.

In 1646, Dutch naval forces made a bid to seize the Philippines from

Spain. At that time, there were only two merchant galleons plying

the Philippine-Mexico route. These two ships, the Encarnacion and

the Rosario under the command of General Lorenzo de Orella y Ugalde

and Admiral Sebastian Lopez respectively, were fitted as battleships

against the Dutch armada, which consisted of 18 galleons and a

number of galleys and small vessels.

Though the two captains were veteran military men, their outlook

for the upcoming battle was grim and winning seemed almost

impossible. In desperation, they turned to the Virgin of the Rosary

for divine intervention and protection, vowing to walk barefoot

with their troops to the Sto. Domingo Church which was then located

in Intramuros, Manila.

There were five battles that took place between the Dutch forces

and the Spanish-Filipino troops. In every battle, the latter's naval

troops would pray the rosary and seek the holy intervention of the

Lady of the Rosary. The five battles were won by the Spanish-Filipino

armada, who regarded the victories as answered prayers of the

Virgin of La Naval. The first of these battles happened in Lingayen,

Pangasinan; the second took place in Embocadero Strait; the third

and fourth near the island province of Mindoro and the last battle

transpired in Mariveles, Bataan.

The victory at the Battle of La Naval was interpreted as the miraculous

intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary. And from then on the veneration

and pilgrimage to the holy image grew throughout the archipelago.

(Source: Wikipedia)

 

Comments

[SD]

Nice shot of the Blessed Virgin Mary of La Naval and very informative as always!

[Laetirature]

Entre faste et brillance : j'en ai les yeux qui brûlent :)

[oggi]

Thank God the Philippines was not colonized by the Dutch! Otherwise we would not have the fine cuisine the Spanish left us....although queso de bola (aged Edam cheese is not bad).:D

I wonder why the statue is richly dressed and bejewelled to the point of being gaudy.

[sandyz]

Beautiful close up of the statue.

[luna miranda]

that's a good-loong 'santos'. i wonder what the philippines would be like if we were colonized by the dutch.:)

[Ruth]

The church is simple and plain, but our lady is quite gawdy!

[Michael Rawluk]

That is a very great history lesson. It is always interesting to learn what makes a country into what it is.

[Panaderos]

Thanks for sharing the historical basis for this religious celebration. Now I know. Thanks! :)

[Gérard Méry]

Une dame couverte d'or, belle exemple pour les pauvres.

[Ashish Sidapara]

There is always something to learn here, thanks for sharing as always!

[bw]

Great info Sidney. I know the Dutch colonized part of Indonesia but didn't know that they actually forayed into Philippines !

[joy]

You do a good job, Sidney, of educating people about the history - current and past - of the Philippines. I miss celebrations like this.

[Rach (Heart of Rachel)]

It's a beautiful image. Thanks for sharing its interesting background.

[pieterbie]

1533, amazing that something can survive that long.

[Share]

The second photo is lovely.

[Lizza]

I wonder what the Philippines would be like now if the Dutch had won.

Great close-up of the statue, Sidney.

[dong ho]

thanks to wikipedia and to your photos. i wonder how you took that close up shot of the virgin mary.

[dodongflores]

Hi, Sidney. This is just another very informative church. Can't wait to see more of the photos...

[Shoshana]

I remember that October on up is novena times in my school. Even private non-sectarian school have novena in the morning. I didn't know that non-sectarian means we shouldn't have to hear rosary at all. :)

I like that grand church.

[JJ]

very informative post, thanks for the info, I always like to learn more about the world and places on it

[jms]

Notre Dame du Rosaire priez pour nous pauvres photographes...

[Charles Ravndal]

Honestly, I am a stranger to the country of my origin and it is somewhat nice to learn abit of history.