By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

I opened the veranda to see the sky and the mountains below it. It was still dark, and the tall trees covered a portion of the lights that dotted the mountains. They have grown so tall, the trees, allowing only a view of the sky. I think of Nanay. She’s a star now, a constant reminder of the infinite.

Nanay believed in the afterlife, in reincarnation, in resurrection and had a devotion to Mary. We would go to the Lady of Manaoag when she wanted to ask for divine intervention: to ensure the safe journey of Tatay before leaving for his overseas work, for her daughters to deliver their babies without complications and for many other things she valued. She would light candles in designated places within the church, along with her silent intentions. She would kneel for several minutes, after the church service is over. I would kneel too, at times without any reason, just to listen, to the voices that may want to be heard.

There were others who walked on their knees from the door to the altar. A friend told me that her own mother did this when she was very sick as a baby. Among other things, according to her, Mary suggested that her mother should consider another name for her. She was well after that, carrying a new name.

Stories of miracles abound in this place of worship, devotees recovering from terminal illness, granting of wishes often deemed impossible to achieve. Nanay confided she had her share of wishes fulfilled. She never doubted Mary’s divine power to bless her believers. She prayed to God, especially to Jesus Christ directly and other saints as well, considering them a unity, and knew no contradiction in their collective existence.

As a child, because of my mother’s influence, I prayed to Mary for my own intentions. Sometimes my wishes came true, sometimes they remain unanswered. It is when I become impatient that I turn around Mary’s image in the altar, to make known my displeasure. Nanay would turn it around without saying a word. Without a single word, she speaks to me.

I have close relationships with Marians. Manang Marietta Primicias Goco used to include me in  organizing activities for Our Lady of Caysasay venerated at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay in Taal, Batangas. She was one committed devotee, as committed as Tessie de Venecia to the shrine in Manaoag. I remember having accompanied Tessie to the shrine, for a Marian devotee to change the garment and dress up the Virgin Mary. The devotee regularly does this, although according to Tessie, she lives a life in contradiction, finding no contradiction in the contradiction.

The Minor Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag, Manaoag Church to most, is a “shrine dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary” founded in 1600. In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI issued a Pontifical decree which canonically approved the granting of a “special bond of spiritual affinity in perpetuity”. Through this decree, the pilgrims of the Church of Manaoag are “assured of the same blessings and entitlement to a plenary indulgence equal to that received when visiting a papal basilica in Rome.”

Maybe sooner, I would go to the Manaoag Church. Some shrines, like Our Lady of the Atonement Cathedral, also known as the Baguio Cathedral, throw a special flame that transforms. Maybe it’s not the shrine, but a divine connection. The Negev Desert has the ability to allow the sacred enter the ordinary and become one, as was my experience in that special place.

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