Saint Alphonsus Liguori, who wrote: ‘Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the

greatest after
the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us.’

Filipino Devotions

Ever Since Magellan landed in the Philippines, we had all turned to the light. The Filipinos, who at that time were
participating in polytheistic religions, quickly turned to the light of Christianity. The Filipino people were unique thanks to their
rich cultural background and this had made the Filipino Catholics unique.

The Filipino people, in general, are a very loyal people as they have great devotions to religious figures. The devotion that
the Filipino people are most known for is their devotion to the Child Jesus or more popularly known locally as the Santo
Nino.

Santo Niño

The Santo Niño, the Holy Child in English, is a figure of the Child Jesus which is venerated by Filipinos all over the world
though most of its devotees are from the province of Cebu. The Santo Niño is usually clad with expensive and flashy
clothing which is usually lined with jewelry. The statue has been in Cebu since 1565 and is the oldest relic in the country. It
is housed in the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño which is located in Cebu City.

The Santo Niño is one of the most popular figures in the Philippines

The origins of the Santo Niño take us back to the Age of Exploration and Magellan’s journey to circumnavigate the world.
After crossing the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Magellan and his fleet landed on Philippine soil in March of 1521. He baptized
several locals in the island of Cebu, including their King, Humabon and his wife, Queen Juana. The Queen was given the
image of the Santo Niño as a baptismal gift by Antonio Pigafetta, a companion of Magellan. The Spaniards then allied
themselves with Cebu in an intense inter-island rivalry with Mactan, a small island known for its vicious soldiers. Upon
invasion of Mactan, the Spaniards were overwhelmed by the warriors, led by a man known as Lapu-Lapu and Magellan was
eventually killed. This caused the Spaniards to flee and the circumnavigation was completed by Juan Sebastian Elcano.

The Spaniards returned in 1565 and another war broke out though heavy artilleries and cannons forced the natives to flee
which lead to the razing of their village. The soldiers then went through the ashes of the village and found the image of the
Santo Niño. They authenticated their discovery through the diary of Pigafetta and upon its enshrinement; millions of people
have flocked to Cebu in search of gifts from its miraculous powers. The Feast of the Santo Niño is celebrated on the
Thursday after the Solemnity of the Epiphany.

Black Nazarene

The Black Nazarene is the patron saint of Quiapo, a small but popular area of Manila that is also home to many
establishments such as the Quiapo market and several other stores that line the streets. The Black Nazarene is a life sized
image of a “black” Jesus Christ carrying the cross and since the year 1787, it has been housed in the St. John de Baptist
Church or the Minor Basilica. The statue is only brought out on two occasions, its Feast Day, which is celebrated on January
9 an d on Good Friday.

The statue was in the Philippines as early as 1607 when it was brought to our shores by the Spaniards aboard a ship. The
statue was burned when the ship caught fire, thus the name Black Nazarene. Despite the burns and the damage, the people
made an effort to preserve and honor it. Several miracles have been reported by those who have touched the image.
The Black Nazarene during its annual Feast Day Procession

The feast is celebrated by the placing of the statue on a golden red carriage which is then pulled through the streets of
Quiapo by male devotees dressed in maroon. Those who have touched the statue have been reported to have been healed
of disease, encouraging Catholics to come from all over Manila in search of a miracle. Devotees throw towels or
handkerchiefs to the statue’s guards then ask them to wipe them on the statue in an attempt to take the statue’s miraculous
power away with them.

The Spanish friars who brought Christianity to our shores in the 16th century, and grafted it onto the animistic faith they
found in these islands, introduced a God that naturalized suffering, and rewarded passivity and submission. The same faith,
however, gave our ancestors, throughout the long period of colonial rule, a chance to discover for themselves the
redemptive power of solidarity, compassion and love. Today, it is difficult to imagine the unity of the Filipino family and that
of our nation without this faith.

But though it fills our churches and sustains Christianity? Vibrant presence in our society, this folk religiosity is a cause for
worry among the clergy. This may be gleaned from what Bishop Deogracias Yñiguez Jr. said on radio the other day: “The
devotion we give to this statue (the Black Nazarene) should be properly understood. This does not have special powers; it’s
just a representation of our Lord. When you believe it has special powers per se, that is when it becomes superstition. To
those who persist in getting as close to the statue as they can, only to get hurt in the process, the Archbishop of Manila,
Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, offers a timely reminder: “Distance is nothing to God?. It is the people who distance
themselves, but if you call on God, he will listen to you no matter how far away you are. Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio, the
rector of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, goes into the heart of the matter: “There are elements of fanaticism that
we have to correct and to control”.

Our Lady of Peñafrancia

Every third Saturday of September, Naga City, which is located in the Bicol Region, celebrates the feast of Our Lady of
Peñafrancia. Whether rich or poor, Bicolanos will be in Naga City to meet their families and friends to celebrate the feast but
most importantly, to venerate the Virgin of Peñafrancia, whom they fondly call Ina. On the first day of the novena, the image
of the Virgin, which is a copy of the Madonna located in Peñafrancia, Spain, is transferred from its shrine to the Naga City
Cathedral. On the last day of the novena, the image returns to her shrine through the Naga River route. This procession fills
the banks of the river with spectators and devotees who chant “Viva La Virgen” upon the arrival of the image. After the
flatboat reaches its destination, the devotees again chant"Viva la Virgen" and the image is carried back in a procession of
thousands to the cathedral.

Our Lady of Peñafrancia traces her Philippine roots to the Spanish colonial period. In the 18 th century, the Covarrubias
family, a Spanish political family, settled in Cavite and during their stay, one of their sons, Miguel, a seminarian studying in
the Universidad de Santo Tomas, grew severely ill. He and his family prayed to Our Lady of Peñafrancia for his recovery
and made a vow that if he would be cured, he would erect a chapel by the bank of the Pasig River in Manila. He was
eventually was ordained a priest, after his miraculous recovery, though not in Manila but in Naga City by Bishop Andres
Gonzalez. In order to keep his promise, he asked the natives surrounding Mt. Isarog to construct a chapel built with local
materials such as nipa and bamboo by the bank of the Bikol River in Naga. Stories of miraculous events began to spread
and the devotees began to grow in number.
Our Mother of Perpetual Help

Our Lady of Perpetual Help is an image of the Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus in her arms as the Archangels Michael
and Gabriel hold the articles of the passion, the cross and the nails. St. Luke is said to have been the original artist of this
image.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help first came to the Philippines in 1906 through the Redemptorist priests as part of their mission to
spread the devotion. American soldiers in Iloilo though popularized the habit of the novena after learning it from their
respective parishes in Massachusetts and it was eventually adopted by St. Clement's Parish in Iloilo in 1948.

Novena prayers and mass every Wednesday are held to honor Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The Baclaran Church known as
the Christian Church with the largest population and the Marian Shrine in the Philippines attracts several hundred thousands
of people who wish to show devotion. Our Lady of Perpetual Help celebrates her feast on June 27 and on this date,
devotees gather in the National Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baclaran for thanksgiving and to pray for their
intercessions. There is also a University named after Our Lady of Perpetual Help, located in Las Pinas city in the Philippines.

Our Lady of Manaoag

The veneration of Our Lady of Manaoag began with the holy Augustinian fathers in charge of the spiritual administration of
the Manaoag town in the early 17th century. The ivory image of Our Lady of Manaoag was brought to Philippine shores by
Padre Juan de San Jacinto from Spain via the Acapulco galleon trade.

According to folklore, a native man was journeying home and heard a Lady's mysterious voice. He was stunned upon seeing
the radiant Lady clutching a Rosary on her right hand and a Child on her left as she stood on a cloud veiling a treetop. The
man then fell on his knees and he soon told the people of what he had seen. After that incident, on the spot where the Lady
appeared, a church was built in her honor. It was called "Manaoag" and a town quickly grew around it. Legend has it that the
town was born from the Virgin’s call, thus the term, "taoag", which is Filipino for "to call", was used to name the town.

During World War II, the Church was damaged by four bombs that were planted above the church. Three bombs detonated
on the plaza and the facade, destroying them both. The last bomb landed in the sanctuary, but miraculously failed to
detonate.

COMMENTS:

To quote Jesuit theologian and Mariologist Fr. Catalino Arevalo: “To understand Filipino Catholics, one must understand
their love for Mary.”

This love takes the form of unique and showy displays of affection not seen even in countries where some of the Marian
devotions originated. Consider the Santacruzan. Filipinos have homegrown Marian devotions with homespun titles of the
Filipinos’ own making.

Whence sprung this unabashed affection? “Mama Mary,” an affectionate address not quite two decades old, is distinctly
Filipino and suggests intimacy and devotion.

“Mama Mary” will not replace her other Spanish, English and Filipino names—Nuestra Señora, Our Lady, Ina and Iloy,
among them, but “Mama Mary” is here to stay and is often heard among OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) and immigrants
all over the world.
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle, in his foreword, explains the book’s title thus: “We are a people, a nation
in love with the Blessed Virgin Mary because she loves us . . . I know this because I have experienced it in my family, my
hometown, in my life and in my ministry.

“We love Mary because she is the Spirit-filled Mother given to us by Jesus before he breathed his last. A new family was
born at the foot of Jesus’ cross…Mary and Jesus’ disciples are at the core of that spiritual family of God.

FILIPINO VALUES

There are many Filipino values that Filipinos should be very proud of! I can only give you some, but there are much more!
Here are some of them:

Hospitality is one of the values that tourists from around the world notice first every time they visit the Philippines. Filipinos
took great care of their guests, making sure that they're comfortable and happy in their stay. Filipinos are also family
oriented. They value greatly their families, which is always on top of their priorities. Filipinos are also happy people, always
smiling and never forget to have a good laugh amidst the problems and hardships that come their ways. Filipinos are very
respectful. They show respect to their elders by saying 'po' and 'opo' and kissing their hands. Filipinos are also religious.
They devote time to reconnect with God. They have strong faith, believing that problems and adversities in life will surpass
with the help and providence of God.
Wonderful Effects of True Devotion to Mary

First Effect: Knowledge and Contempt of Self

The humble Mary will communicate to you a portion of her profound humility, which will make you despise yourself—despise
nobody else, but love to be despised yourself.

Second Effect: Participation in Mary’s Faith

Our Blessed Lady will give you also a portion of her faith, which was the greatest of all faiths that ever were on earth, greater
than the faith of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles and saints put together.

Third Effect: Deliverance from Scruples, Cares and Fears

This Mother of fair love will take away from your heart all scruple and all disorder of servile fear. She will open and enlarge it
to run the way of her Son’s commandments (Ps. 118:32) with the holy liberty of the children of God. She will introduce into it
pure love, of which she has the treasure, so that you shall no longer be guided by fear, as hitherto, in your dealings with the
God of charity, but by love alone. You will look on Him as your good Father, whom you will be incessantly trying to please,
and with whom you will converse confidently, as a child with its tender father.

Fourth Effect: Great Confidence in God and Mary

Our Blessed Lady will fill you with great confidence in God and in herself: First, because you will not be approaching Jesus
by yourself, but always by that good Mother; second, because, as you have given her all your merits, graces and
satisfactions to dispose of at her will, she will communicate to you her virtues and will clothe you in her merits, so that you
will be able to say to God with confidence: "Behold Mary Thy handmaid; be it done unto me according to Thy word" (Lk.
1:38); third, because, as you have given yourself entirely to her, body and soul, she, who is liberal with the liberal, and more
liberal even than the liberal, will in return give herself to you in a marvelous but real manner, so that you may say to her with
assurance: "I am thine, holy Virgin; save me" (cf. Ps. 118:94); or as I have said before , with the beloved disciple: "I have
taken thee, holy Mother, for my own."

Fifth Effect: Communication of the Soul and Spirit of Mary

The soul of our Blessed Lady will communicate itself to you, to glorify the Lord. Her spirit will enter into the place of yours, to
rejoice in God her salvation, provided only that you are faithful to the practices of this devotion.

Sixth Effect: Transformation of the Faithful Soul by Mary into the Likeness of Jesus Christ

If Mary, who is the tree of life, is well cultivated in our soul by fidelity to the practices of this devotion, she will bear her fruit
in her own time, and her fruit is none other than Jesus Christ. How many devout souls do I see who seek Jesus Christ, some
by one way or by one practice, and others by other ways and other practices; the saints are molded in Mary. By casting
ourselves and lose ourselves in Mary, we become the faithful portraits of Jesus Christ.

Seventh Effect: The Greater Glory of God

By this practice, faithfully observed, you will give Jesus more glory in a month than by any other practice, however difficult, in
many years; and I give the following reasons for it:

That which Mary did then, she does daily now. When we praise her, love her, honor her or give anything to her, it is God
who is praised, God who is loved, God who is glorified, and it is to God that we give, through Mary and in Mary.

This article was excerpted from True Devotion to Mary, Tan, 1985.