La Naval and the power of prayer
TODAY marks the centuries-old feast of La Naval de Manila, the title by which the ivory and wood image of the Blessed Mother as Our Lady of the Rosary is known and venerated by Filipinos.
The feast is highlighted by a grand procession around Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City, with the resplendent, gold-mantled icon accompanied by more than two dozen saints and blessed of the Dominican religious order.
But how have Filipinos come to love such image of the Virgin, who as La Naval de Manila is bejeweled and dressed as a Spanish baroque princess?
The answer takes us back to 1646, when Spanish Philippines faced a real threat to its way of life.
Holland, eager to expand its trading empire, sent an armada of 18 ships to try to wrest control of Manila.
The colony only had two rickety trading ships, the Encarnacion and the Rosario, which didn’t even have artillery; and a crew of Spaniards and natives.
By all indications, it was an entirely lopsided battle, and only a miracle could save the islands from certain armed invasion.
The governor general, Diego Fajardo Chacon, vowed to march barefoot to Santo Domingo, back then in the walled city of Manila, if he and his men emerged victorious.
As the Dominican choirs chanted the rosary nonstop, Encarnacion and Rosario saw action in five battles off the coasts of Bolinao, Marinduque, Mindoro, Lubang and Mariveles, drove off the Dutch armada, and came out practically unscathed.
The improbable victory brought to mind the Battle of Lepanto, where, just decades previously, the Holy League defeated the Ottoman Empire and preserved European civilization as we know it today.
Both naval victories were attributed to the Virgin’s intercession, particularly the rosary, the meditative prayer and reflection on the life of Christ.
Following the victory at Lepanto in 1571, Pope Pius 5th declared October 7 of each year a feast dedicated to the victory of the rosary.
In Manila, the city council decreed that celebrations be held annually. In 1652, ecclesiastical authorities declared the Battles of La Naval to be miraculous.
Today, it is no longer a nationwide commemoration, and festivities are confined to Quezon City, which had made La Naval its patroness, and a few towns in Luzon (notably Pampanga, which supplied the native battle crew).
Yet the faithful, who recite the rosary in unison during the solemn procession, swell to greater numbers every single year, thankful for blessings such as healing from sickness, landing a job, or passing the board exam, among many other answered prayers.
The origin of the feast may already be a distant collective memory, and its meaning and relevance to the individual faithful may have changed over the centuries, but La Naval remains a testament to the power of faith and prayer, and the important place occupied by religious tradition in the lives of Filipinos.
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