By Edwin P. Galvez / Special to the BusinessMirror
The eruption of Taal Volcano last month, and the numerous number of earthquakes it caused has damaged the canopy of the façade of centuries-old Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay in Taal, Batangas, said its rector, Fr. Raul Martinez, last week.
Though the interior of the shrine remains intact despite the fissure that passed through its patio, he said Lipa Archbishop Gilbert Garcera has instructed the priest in charge and some engineers to look into the whole edifice, and assess the damage.
The miraculous 417-year-old image of Our Lady is now enshrined at the altar of San Sebastian Cathedral in Lipa City, where she is venerated by the faithful.
Miraculous image
In 2014, when we visited the heritage town of Taal in Batangas for our annual Lenten pilgrimage, I discovered the wooden image (which people say is no longer than 10 inches) of Nuestra Señora de Caysasay que se Venera en el Pueblo de Taal (Our Lady of Caysasay Venerated in the Town of Taal).
She is now known as the Queen of the Archdiocese of Lipa.
That year was also the 60th anniversary of the canonical coronation of her image, which came with the granting of perpetual plenary indulgence an opportune time to renew one’s faith.
It is a privilege her shrine in Barangay Labac shares with the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Manaoag, Pangasinan.
Those of us who are not natives of Batangas would never have heard of Our Lady, or the sanctuary built for her in 1639 after miraculous accounts, including her resplendent apparitions, were documented starting in 1611.
For generations of local devotees, however, she would always be their little protector who grants healing and other miracles.
The image was crowned 200 years after the most violent eruption of Taal Volcano in 1754. The faithful who sought refuge then at the shrine believed it was the Virgin who saved them and their town from destruction.
Serene antiquity
After about two hours of travel from Makati, a quiet and serene sanctuary, simple and small, welcomed us, two busloads of Marian pilgrims from different parishes in Metro Manila. It was the first of seven churches we visited that day in Taal and several nearby towns.
I felt like being embraced when I entered the shrine; a feeling one gets from reaching home, or finding comfort in a place steeped with heritage and holiness.
The air inside was filled with solemn devotion to the Virgin with its antiquity showing on coral-hewn walls and columns, a legacy of Chinese laborers who built the shrine and simple furnishings and decorations.
The shrine is an ideal refuge for weary souls longing to see and spend time with the Blessed Mother.
It is a perfect desert place to pour out and unload one’s heavy burdens while seated quietly at a corner, or praying before her image at the altar. Spending a day there would be enough to spiritually recharge oneself.
We went up the pahalikan (kissing of her image or mantle) area at the back of the altar after celebrating a Mass and prayed for our personal pleas and intentions.
Our Lady listens
This prayer from the shrine may also be said by one who visits the shrine:
“O Virgin of Caysasay, our refuge in times of our needs, our protection and shield against our foes, you are given to us by your Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Mother, and you took us to be loved and cared for as your own children.
“We ask you to give us understanding to know the will of God, and faith that we may fully submit ourselves to your only begotten Son as His brothers and sisters, and as your righteous and obedient children.
“In times of our weaknesses and inadequacy, we ask you to help us in our needs and hear all our petitions. [Silently state your petition].
“All these we ask and entrust in you for we know that you will intercede unfailingly for us to your dear Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Our Lady, who entrusted herself totally to the will of God and was always the “handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:38), is the perfect model of humility and deep faith when one is searching for the will of God in his life, especially during the most difficult times. Visiting her in Caysasay was already a miracle in itself for me.
While it may take some time before the shrine reopens its doors to devotees, Martinez offers this message: “God is a loving God, and cares for all of us. The one great manifestation [of this] is when His Son on the cross said, ‘Woman, this is your Son; Son, this is your mother.’ Dear faithful, Our Lady is doing her part. Let’s meet her these coming days in her and our home.”
A longtime public relations and communications consultant, Edwin P. Galvez is a lay servant at Greenbelt Chapel and facilitator of Green Faith Travels, an eight-year-old nonprofit Catholic pilgrimage apostolate.
Image credits: Green Faith Travels, CBCPNew, From the the shrine’s social media account