By: Rylie San Juan
People from all walks of life celebrated the feast of Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario de La Naval de Manila on October 13, 2024. Photo Courtesy: Augusto Urbano II
People from all walks of life celebrated the feast of Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario de La Naval de Manila on October 13, 2024.
A great number of devotees and institutions attended the mass and procession to celebrate the feast of La Naval de Manila held at the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City.
The annual tradition is celebrated every second Sunday of October with a series of masses and a grand procession of the image of Our Lady of The Most Holy Rosary of La Naval, in honor of the Virgin Mary.
The eucharistic celebration began at 2:30PM and was presided by Most. Rev. Honesto Ongtioco D.D. - the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Cubao. The theme for this year’s celebration would be “Mary, The advocate of heavenly favors.”
Bp. Onctioco’s homily began by touching on different subjects such as corruption and poverty, he also went over the topic of Mary’s trust in God in difficult situations comparing it to the faith of struggling Filipinos
“‘Di niya alam kung anong mangyayari sa plano ng Diyos,” says Bp. Onctionco.
“Walang imposible sa Diyos, lahat ay mangyayari kung kalooban at kagustuhan ng Diyos.” he added.
The Bishop also reminded the devotees about the teachings from the Acts of the Apostles on the significance of prayer stating that
“Prayer is more than asking for blessings.. ito ay isang malalim na pakikipag ugnayan sa Diyos.”
He further encouraged the devotees to trust and follow God as Mary did,
“Tularan si Maria, sa panalangin, pagtitiwala na kailanman hindi kayo pinabayaan, laging nandyan.” he added.
The annual procession started at around 4:00 in the afternoon, attended by Religious Sisters, Priests and Brothers from different orders mainly: Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, Augustinian Recollects, Carmelites, Benedictines, Jesuits, and other religious congregations along with students and faculty members from Letran Manila and Calamba, UST , UST Angelicum, UST central seminary and other Devotees.
An estimate of 200,000 attendees were present on Sunday, a significant increase from last year’s numbers. The procession went smoothly all throughout its duration from Sto. Domingo Ave., it turned right to Dapitan st., another right to D. Tuazon, and finally, back to Quezon Ave. It is also seen that unlike last year’s procession, which was showered with rainfall, the event this year was met with clear skies and dry weather.
At around 6:30PM, the final carroza made its way back to the Sto. Domingo church, followed by a beautiful fireworks display after which another mass was celebrated to conclude the festivities.
It is believed that through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Spanish and Filipino troops successfully repelled the advances of Dutch invaders in a series of five battles in the year 1646.
With minimum casualties from the side of the Spanish and the Filipinos, the naval victories were attributed to Our Lady under the title of Our Lady of La Naval de Manila, and on April 9, 1652, the victory from these battles were deemed as miraculous by the Archdiocese of Manila, giving rise to the celebration that we know of today