Papal Nuncio blesses image on Aug. 4
OUR LADY OF MANAOAG IN DAGUPAN
MOST Reverend Charles Brown, papal nuncio to the Philippines, will be in Dagupan on August 4 to bless the replica of the image of Our Lady of Manaoag that will be enthroned by Archbishop Socrates Villegas and other priests on the pedestal at a side chapel of the St. John the Evangelist Cathedral on August 3.
According to Rev. Father Jose Albert Palma, the replica of the image of Our Lady of Rosary of Manaoag will be brought to Dagupan by Dominican brothers, and a mass for its enthronement will be officiated by Archbishop Villegas.
The enthronement and blessing will commemorate the days when the original image of Our Lady of Manaoag stayed in Dagupan from its home at the Manaoag Church, said Fr. Palma. “We will have our own Image of the Lady of Manaoag that will stay with us perpetually,” he added.
The original image of the Lady of Manaoag, installed at the top of the altar of the Minor Basilica of Manaoag, is protectress and patron of Pangasinan.
Historical accounts show that when the Spanish authorities in Pangasinan were on the verge of collapse in June 1898, the highest ranking Spanish officer in the province, General Francisco Ceballos, ordered his remaining troops to make a last stand in Dagupan against the revolutionaries at the old brick-walled Dagupan church.
Some of the “volunteers” guarding and securing the image of Our Lady of Manaoag, however, joined the revolutionaries and moved ahead to Dagupan to await their fate.
The remaining “volunteers” from Villasis, Pozorrubio and Manaoaq, together with the Dominican Fathers, escorted the image of Our Lady of Manaoag on its way to Dagupan, arriving on June 27 of that year.
After the Spanish Army in Dagupan surrendered on July 22, the people of Manaoag, with the authorization of the Filipino military, took back the image of Our Lady of Manaoag to their town, where it still stays until now.
Incidentally, here’s a trivia on Manaoag. The old name of the town was Sta. Monica. It was changed to Manaoag after a famous tale about a lady with a radiant face calling a farmer from a tree spread. The call of the lady was translated in the dialect as “tawag”, till it became “Manaoag” or the place where the lady called. (Leonardo Micua)
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