The Rosary Devotions of Orani, Bataan and of Hagonóy, Bulacan: A Devotional Link

Abstract

This paper aims to present the unifying force brought by a Marian devotion to two towns located in two places with different circumstances in Philippine Church history. In the spiritual geography of the religious orders in the Philippines, the parishes of Bataan were administered by the Dominicans since 1588 while the parishes of Bulacan were administered by majority by the Augustinians since 1572. La Virgen Milagrosa del Rosario del Pueblo de Orani grew as a Marian devotion that has gathered pilgrims in many years. The image was brought to Bataan and eventually completed the triumvirate of Dominican patrons with Abucay being devoted to St. Dominic de Guzman in 1588 and Samal being devoted to St. Catherine of Siena in 1596. When Orani was separated to be an independent parish in 1714, the devotion grew further. Then, between the 1700s to the 1800s, a brown-skinned image of the Virgin and the Child Jesus was discovered along the riverbanks of Hagonóy, Bulacan, under the Augustinians at the other side of the Manila Bay. This image was very similar to Orani's La Virgen Milagrosa, which in turn would be recognized as Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonóy. Though a Dominican-propagated devotion, this local rosary devotion and the image grew in this town with various traditions such as Marian poetry and the promotion of the Block Rosary movement. Orani's image would later on be further venerated not only in Bataan but in the neighboring provinces. Though Hagonóy can be found farther East from Bataan and Pampanga, the rosary devotion in this town seemed a visage of the Bataan patroness. By 1942, the fall of Bataan caused Bataeños to travel to Hagonóy and settling in the western barrio of the town. This was eventually named Sto. Rosario in honor of the Virgin of the Rosary. There the Bataeños saw their patroness in the image of the discovered Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonóy. The circumstances of the relations between the people of the two towns resulted in the establishment of the parish of Sto. Rosario, Hagonóy in 1952. Further propagation of these two devotions allowed for the recognition of both Marian devotions by their dioceses and by the Holy See. Orani's image was granted a canonical coronation in 1958. Eventually, the church of Orani was granted the titles diocesan shrine in 2004, an affiliate of the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in 2012 and a minor basilica in 2019. The devotion to Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonóy, on the other hand, was granted an episcopal coronation also in 2019. The impact of the local Marian devotion in these two towns became a way to unite the Catholic faithful, like a link of the beads of the rosary which identify the country as “Pueblo amante de Maria.”