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'''Our Lady of Covadonga''' is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a Marian shrine devoted to Her at Covadonga in the province of Asturias in north west Spain, and also in the town of Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines. The Spanish shrine rose to prominence following the Battle of Covadonga in 722, at which the Moors|Moorish invasion of Spain was first resisted. A statue of the Virgin Mary, secretly hidden in one of the caves, was believed to have miraculously aided the Christian victory. Our Lady of Covadonga is the patron of Asturias, and a basilica was built to house the current statue. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine at Covadonga to honour the Virgin Mary. A new Shrine to Our Lady Of Covadonga is being built in Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines. The age-old icon in the Philippines dates back to the Spanish era and is believed to have been brought to La Trinidad, Benguet during the Philippine-Spanish galleon trade, up to the mountains of northern Luzon by foot by Spanish conquestadores who were unsuccessful in colonizing and Christianizing the pagans of the Cordilleras or mountainous portion of northern Philippines. An old stone church was built to house the Icon. This church eventually burned down but the icon was saved by local townsfolk and was kept in unknown locations until it was deposited to a small chapel within the locality and was left in deteriorating condition due to the pagan civilization which hindered the spread of Christianity and Her Marian devotion. The Christian faith eventually spread throughout the Philippine archipelago and a wooden church was built in the 1800's to establish the parish of San Jose in Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet. In 1979, a replica of Our Lady of Covadonga was donated to the San Jose Parish Church by generous Asturians led by the Cacho Family. For sometime, the townsfolk of La Trinidad, Benguet venerated this replica, believing it was the original statue. In 1999, a research was done headed by Rev. Fr. Rolando Astudillo and it was discovered that the original, age-old icon was stored in utter neglect in a small chapel in the same town. Concerned citizens recovered the original icon and restored it to perfection. After the restoration, The Image was then enshrined in The San Jose |
'''Our Lady of Covadonga''' is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a Marian shrine devoted to Her at Covadonga in the province of Asturias in north west Spain, and also in the town of Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines. The Spanish shrine rose to prominence following the Battle of Covadonga in 722, at which the Moors|Moorish invasion of Spain was first resisted. A statue of the Virgin Mary, secretly hidden in one of the caves, was believed to have miraculously aided the Christian victory. Our Lady of Covadonga is the patron of Asturias, and a basilica was built to house the current statue. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine at Covadonga to honour the Virgin Mary. A new Shrine to Our Lady Of Covadonga is being built in Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines. The age-old icon in the Philippines dates back to the Spanish era and is believed to have been brought to La Trinidad, Benguet during the Philippine-Spanish galleon trade, up to the mountains of northern Luzon by foot by Spanish conquestadores who were unsuccessful in colonizing and Christianizing the pagans of the Cordilleras or mountainous portion of northern Philippines. An old stone church was built to house the Icon. This church eventually burned down but the icon was saved by local townsfolk and was kept in unknown locations until it was deposited to a small chapel within the locality and was left in deteriorating condition due to the pagan civilization which hindered the spread of Christianity and Her Marian devotion. The Christian faith eventually spread throughout the Philippine archipelago and a wooden church was built in the 1800's to establish the parish of San Jose in Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet. In 1979, a replica of Our Lady of Covadonga was donated to the San Jose Parish Church by generous Asturians led by the Cacho Family. For sometime, the townsfolk of La Trinidad, Benguet venerated this replica, believing it was the original statue. In 1999, a research was done headed by Rev. Fr. Rolando Astudillo and it was discovered that the original, age-old icon was stored in utter neglect in a small chapel in the same town. Concerned citizens recovered the original icon and restored it to perfection. After the restoration, The Image was then temporarily enshrined in The San Jose Parish Church in a Glass pedestal encasement on December 8,1999 with a procession headed by then Bishop Ernesto Salgado, Vicar Apostolic to Benguet and the Mountain Provinces. Her Cannonical Coronation and Declaration as a National Marian Shrine was held on September 8,2005 officiated by Bishop Carlito Cenzon, the present Bishop of the Doicese of Baguio and Benguet.Today, efforts are being made to complete the construction of The San Jose Parish Church which will finally house the Shrine of the Age-old Image of Our Lady of Covadonga Reina del Santissimo Rosario de La Trinidad. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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Revision as of 13:14, 5 June 2012
| Our Lady of Covadonga | |
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| Location | Covadonga, Spain, and Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet, Luzon, Philippines |
| Date | 722? 1500's? |
| Witness | Pelayo |
| Type | Marian apparition |
| Shrine | Basilica of Our Lady of Covadonga, and National Shrine of Our Lady of Covadonga, Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines |
Our Lady of Covadonga is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a Marian shrine devoted to Her at Covadonga in the province of Asturias in north west Spain, and also in the town of Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines. The Spanish shrine rose to prominence following the Battle of Covadonga in 722, at which the Moors|Moorish invasion of Spain was first resisted. A statue of the Virgin Mary, secretly hidden in one of the caves, was believed to have miraculously aided the Christian victory. Our Lady of Covadonga is the patron of Asturias, and a basilica was built to house the current statue. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine at Covadonga to honour the Virgin Mary. A new Shrine to Our Lady Of Covadonga is being built in Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines. The age-old icon in the Philippines dates back to the Spanish era and is believed to have been brought to La Trinidad, Benguet during the Philippine-Spanish galleon trade, up to the mountains of northern Luzon by foot by Spanish conquestadores who were unsuccessful in colonizing and Christianizing the pagans of the Cordilleras or mountainous portion of northern Philippines. An old stone church was built to house the Icon. This church eventually burned down but the icon was saved by local townsfolk and was kept in unknown locations until it was deposited to a small chapel within the locality and was left in deteriorating condition due to the pagan civilization which hindered the spread of Christianity and Her Marian devotion. The Christian faith eventually spread throughout the Philippine archipelago and a wooden church was built in the 1800's to establish the parish of San Jose in Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet. In 1979, a replica of Our Lady of Covadonga was donated to the San Jose Parish Church by generous Asturians led by the Cacho Family. For sometime, the townsfolk of La Trinidad, Benguet venerated this replica, believing it was the original statue. In 1999, a research was done headed by Rev. Fr. Rolando Astudillo and it was discovered that the original, age-old icon was stored in utter neglect in a small chapel in the same town. Concerned citizens recovered the original icon and restored it to perfection. After the restoration, The Image was then temporarily enshrined in The San Jose Parish Church in a Glass pedestal encasement on December 8,1999 with a procession headed by then Bishop Ernesto Salgado, Vicar Apostolic to Benguet and the Mountain Provinces. Her Cannonical Coronation and Declaration as a National Marian Shrine was held on September 8,2005 officiated by Bishop Carlito Cenzon, the present Bishop of the Doicese of Baguio and Benguet.Today, efforts are being made to complete the construction of The San Jose Parish Church which will finally house the Shrine of the Age-old Image of Our Lady of Covadonga Reina del Santissimo Rosario de La Trinidad.
History
Covadonga is a mountainous region in the province of Asturias in the extreme north west of Spain. Following the Islamic Arab invasion of Spain in 711, Roderic, the Christian Visigoth King of Spain was defeated and killed at the Battle of Guadalete. The battle was decisive and led to the swift conquest of most of Visigothic Spain.
The remnant of the Visigoth nobility retreated to the remote mountains of northern Spain. According to texts written in northern Iberia during the ninth century, they elected in 718 AD a man named Pelayo, or Pelagius, as their leader. Pelayo's father had been a dignitary at the court of the Visigoth King Egica. Pelayo gathered a band of warriors to resist Islamic encroachment. When in 722 the Arab commander of Spain sent an army to eliminate this resistance, the Christian army made its stand at a place of many caves known as Covadonga.
According to tradition Pelayo retreated to a cave where a hermit had secreted a statue of the Virgin Mary, saved from the Muslim conquest. He prayed to the virgin for victory. In the subsequent battle the Christians made use of the natural defences. Christian accounts of the battle claim miraculous intercession and that the slaughter among the Moors was horrific. Moorish accounts describe the battle as a mere skirmish. However the moorish commander fell in the battle, and his soldiers fled. This victory, considered the first of the Christian reconquista of Spain, established the independence of the Kingdom of Asturias in north west Spain.
The Shrine
Pelayo credited the intercession of the Virgin Mary for his victory. And in recognition of this miraculous intercession, King Alfonso I, the Catholic (739-757) commanded that a monastery and chapel be built on the site in honor of Our Lady of Covadonga. The sanctuary came to be run by Augustinian canons but was destroyed by fire on 17 October, 1777. The shrine was rebuilt piecemeal, until replaced by a great Basilica that was consecrated in 1901. The basilica houses the current statue of Our Lady of Covadonga, dating to the 16th century. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine during his papacy.
In the Philippines, The Shrine of the "Brown Madonna" or " La Santina" as She is fondly called, Our Lady of Covadonga is now in the San Jose Parish Church in Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet in Northern Luzon. The age-old Image is enshrined in a glass encasement in a temporary pedestal situated to the right side of the main entrance to the old wooden church, while awaiting its final place of veneration to be located at the ground floor of the new San Jose Parish Church, which is now a Vicariate of the Province of Benguet. The new church construction is currently needing much funding which the parish is sincerely asking from generous donors and patrons worldwide, as the second phase of construction which is the laying of the steel trusses and second floor foundation is yet to commence. Please extend invaluable financial aid for the completion of this church which may possibly be elevated to the status of Basilica Minore pending the petitions to be submitted for approval to the Vatican. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much and may God bless you all!
References
- http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11363a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia
- http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=2990&CFID=36118813&CFTOKEN=33814836
- http://www.frtommylane.com/homilies/pilgrimage/covadonga.htm
- http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j225sd_OLCovadonga_9-07.html
- Our Lady of Covadonga on Facebook (just Type Our Lady Of Covadonga on the search box)
- Facebook: Our Lady of Covadonga, Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines
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