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)
Nice shot of the Blessed Virgin Mary of La Naval and very informative as always!
Posted by: SD | November 25, 2008 at 10:04 AM
Entre faste et brillance : j'en ai les yeux qui brûlent :)
Posted by: Laetirature | November 18, 2008 at 05:02 AM
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.
Posted by: oggi | November 18, 2008 at 02:38 AM
Beautiful close up of the statue.
Posted by: sandyz | November 18, 2008 at 01:47 AM
that's a good-loong 'santos'. i wonder what the philippines would be like if we were colonized by the dutch.:)
Posted by: luna miranda | November 17, 2008 at 11:45 AM
The church is simple and plain, but our lady is quite gawdy!
Posted by: Ruth | November 17, 2008 at 09:56 AM
That is a very great history lesson. It is always interesting to learn what makes a country into what it is.
Posted by: Michael Rawluk | November 17, 2008 at 01:08 AM
Thanks for sharing the historical basis for this religious celebration. Now I know. Thanks! :)
Posted by: Panaderos | November 17, 2008 at 01:01 AM
Une dame couverte d'or, belle exemple pour les pauvres.
Posted by: Gérard Méry | November 16, 2008 at 11:45 PM
There is always something to learn here, thanks for sharing as always!
Posted by: Ashish Sidapara | November 16, 2008 at 10:38 PM
Great info Sidney. I know the Dutch colonized part of Indonesia but didn't know that they actually forayed into Philippines !
Posted by: bw | November 16, 2008 at 09:35 PM
You do a good job, Sidney, of educating people about the history - current and past - of the Philippines. I miss celebrations like this.
Posted by: joy | November 16, 2008 at 07:38 PM
It's a beautiful image. Thanks for sharing its interesting background.
Posted by: Rach (Heart of Rachel) | November 16, 2008 at 06:51 PM
1533, amazing that something can survive that long.
Posted by: pieterbie | November 16, 2008 at 06:09 PM
The second photo is lovely.
Posted by: Share | November 16, 2008 at 05:21 PM
I wonder what the Philippines would be like now if the Dutch had won.
Great close-up of the statue, Sidney.
Posted by: Lizza | November 16, 2008 at 04:42 PM
thanks to wikipedia and to your photos. i wonder how you took that close up shot of the virgin mary.
Posted by: dong ho | November 16, 2008 at 02:44 PM
Hi, Sidney. This is just another very informative church. Can't wait to see more of the photos...
Posted by: dodongflores | November 16, 2008 at 02:11 PM
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.
Posted by: Shoshana | November 16, 2008 at 12:52 PM
very informative post, thanks for the info, I always like to learn more about the world and places on it
Posted by: JJ | November 16, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Notre Dame du Rosaire priez pour nous pauvres photographes...
Posted by: jms | November 16, 2008 at 09:39 AM
Honestly, I am a stranger to the country of my origin and it is somewhat nice to learn abit of history.
Posted by: Charles Ravndal | November 16, 2008 at 09:20 AM