Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Manaoag

It was told that while a middle-aged farmer was walking home, he heard a mysterious female voice. He looked around and saw on a cloud-veiled treetop Mama Mary, holding a rosary in her right hand and the Child Jesus in her left arm, all amidst a heavenly glow. Mary said she wanted a church to be built there in her honor.

Today, the shrine in Pangasinan is a major pilgrimage and is administered by the Order of Preachers. Pope Pius XI granted a Canonical Coronation to the image on 21 April 1926, while Pope Benedict XVI raised her sanctuary in equal indulgences to Basilica of Saint Mary Major on 21 June 2011. The Our Lady of Manaoag is invoked as patroness of the sick, helpless, and needy, and is celebrated on two feast days: the third Wednesday after Easter and first Sunday of October (Wikipedia).

While we enjoy the benefits of our devotion to Mama Mary, our imitation of her obedient and humble life needs to develop. More than being content in venerating Mama Mary in the decorated altars of our shrines, churches, and chapels, we must, like her, become signs of God’s mercy and compassion in our treatment with one another.

Mama Mary, mother of mercy and of the Eucharist, pray for us!