Manaoag church proclaimed as Minor Basilica
MANAOAG—Thousands of pilgrims and devotees came in droves Tuesday to witness the solemn formal proclamation of Our Lady of the Rosary Church of Manaoag as Minor Basilica led by the papal nuncio.
Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Guisseppe Pinto led the formal declaration with Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle as the main celebrant, joined by Orlando Cardinal Quevedo and Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales as co-celebrants of the 4:00 p.m. Holy Mass of the Eucharist at 4:00 p.m.
Sixty bishops and archbishops led by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, 300 priests and nuns across the country and thousands of pilgrims and Marian devotees attended the event.
The decree for the elevation of the church as a Minor Basilica signed for the Holy Father by Pietro Cardinal Parolin, secretary of Vatican state dated October 11, 2014, was read by Cardinal Quevedo.
Cardinal Tagle, whose mother was born and grew up in Dagupan, said the people of Pangasinan are lucky because the declaration of the church into a Minor Basilica is a significant occasion in the history of the church in the province.
A minor basilica has the right to display the papal symbol, crossed keys, on banners, furnishings, and on the seal of the basilica itself.
The word “basilica” is derived from a Greek term meaning ‘royal house.’ It is traditionally named because of its antiquity, dignity, historical value, architectural and artistic worth, and significance as a center of worship.
Designation as a basilica indicates a special bond of communion with the Pope, thus the parish must celebrate with particular care the feast of the Chair of Peter on February 22, and the anniversary of the Pope’s election or his inauguration into his pastoral ministry.
In his homily, Cardinal Tagle said the proclamation of a parish church as a Minor Basilica is a sign of the church’s recognition, not only of the deep history of the parish but also of the spiritual patrimony.
MISSION
The church, the first and last basilica in Pangasinan, is an honor granted by the church not to many parish churches but with the honor comes a mission, he said.
First, a reminder that God is always with God’s people, he said.
Secondly, prayer not just for my own needs but prayer with others bringing to God even the groaning of creation and of the whole world for salvation, he also said.
And third, it is a place of visitation, and people who visit will also be visited by God, he said.
Father Jerry Manlangit, superior/prior of the convent at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary here, told local newsmen the three significance of the event, namely, “it has elevated its dignity, we are given plenary indulgence and we now acquire global character”.
He recalled the historical value of the church citing how the Virgin (of Manaoag) appeared to a farmer in 1600, and told him to call others and build a church there.
Thus, the place came to be known as Manaoag, from the Pangasinan word tawag, which means to call. Several miracles have since been recorded and petitions or prayers granted to people who prayed there.
The ivory image of the Birhen ng Manaoag (Virgin of Manaoag) was made in 1700s. and made by the Dominicans, and the church was built in 1905.
There was a time it was burned, demolished, earthquake destroyed and burned again.
PATHWAY TO HEAVEN
Villegas said “the proclamation of the first and the only basilica in the province of Pangasinan since this province received the Gospel in 1587 poses to all Pangasinenses a challenge to zealously share the Gospel with the youth and the children, with the poor and the forgotten, and the confused and the hurting”.
“From being a mission territory of the sons of St. Dominic, it is now our turn to be a missionary church and go out of Pangasinan and share the faith,” he said.
He said the three missions are the pathways to heaven.
“Whatever we do to the poor, whatever we do to the children, whatever we do to the hurting, we do to Christ,” he added.
GRANTED PRAYERS
Briccio de Vera, 61, a former farmer from Baliuag, Bulacan, a devotee of the Virgin of Manaoag for already 20 years, he said he has been granted longer life for the past three years while undergoing dialysis treatment.
He said they come here yearly and continues to pray for good health.
Josefina Ocampo, 75, from Bel-Air Makati City with her group of 13 women from Apostleship of Prayer Family Rosary Crusade, said she has been a Marian devotee for a long time, and all her prayers and petitions had been granted, including her child’s passing the licensure examination for medical doctors. (Tita Roces, Johanne Macob)
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