General Admission
Manaoag
By Al S. Mendoza
MANY of our balikbayans visit our Lady of Manaoag year in and year out. Some do it for curiosity’s sake, others for devotional commitment.
One such balikbayan was with us a while back during our regular pilgrimage to our Lady of Manaoag.
“What’s so special about Manaoag again?” the balikbayan, who hailed from the South, asked as our Toyota van revved up to leave for the trip.
“It’s our miraculous Virgin Mary in Pangasinan,” came the answer from one of the delegation.
“Pardon my innocence, but what’s so miraculous about it?”
“Well,” said the host who hailed from Pangasinan, “the Virgin Mary of Manaoag saved the entire town from being engulfed by a big fire many, many years ago. The statue of the Virgin Mary herself was found unharmed and undamaged in the ruins of the chapel built on a hill. When found, smoke of the conflagration surrounded the Virgin Mary as though a ring of fire had surrounded it. Tongues of fire just couldn’t touch her.”
In short, the chapel on the hill was razed to the ground – but the statue of the Virgin Mary remained intact.
The balikbayan was then told that the people who witnessed the miracle had, after the big fire, called on everybody to pray, to climb up the hill, and pay homage to the Virgin Mary.
“Manaoag is a Pangasinan word which means ‘call’ in English,” the balikbayan was told.
Our Lady of Manaoag, cradling the Infant Jesus, occupies the altar of the church of Manaoag, which is nearly 200kms north of Manila.
Our delegation also included a couple from Southern Luzon.
“Why do you always go to Manaoag?” our balikbayan asked the couple.
The missus answered, “It’s our panata (commitment). For one whole year, we promised to visit our Lady of Manaoag to express our deepest appreciation and gratitude for the grace she had given our son.”
Their son, who is an only child, had failed to hurdle the bar exams in his first try.
“Before he took the exams again, my husband and I went to our Lady of Manaoag to plead with her and asked her to help our son pass the bar exams in his second try,” said the missus. “We promised that on the day of the exams, we would go visit our Lady of Manaoag to pray for her intercession. We promised to visit her every month for one year without fail, whether our son passed the exams or not.”
The balikbayan appeared very moved and, finding her bearings, finally said, “Your courage is incredible but it is your faith that is really awesome.”
The couple was profuse in their thanks. Then the missus said: “Thank you for joining us in this monthly pilgrimage of ours. I’m sure that our Lady of Manaoag will be very happy seeing you all with us.”
And what happened to their son?
Well, he passed the bar in his second try.
And, yes, when he got married, he got me as his Ninong (Godfather).
Now, please don’t ask me why.
(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/ Readers may reach columnist at also147@yahoo.com . For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)
