Nstra. Sra. del Pilar

Recently I went to the historic Sta. Cruz Church. I say historic because the church was built during Spanish colonial times (circa 1596) to address the growing spiritual and religious needs of a rapidly rising elite made up of Filipino- Chinese half-breeds. Eventually, some of them have become the new rich that were residents of Binondo, the district where the Chinese were bundled together across the river from Intramuros.

Sta. Cruz Church was built a few years after the Church of Binondo when the priests had their hands full attending to the needs of a rapidly growing Filipino-Chinese population that were to become Manila's new Taipans. Sta Cruz Church is also where the British troops held the formal ceremony for the return of entire Philippine archipelago back to Spain in 1764 as the 7 Year War between Britain and France ended.

I was there on the 12th of October to honor the Nstra. Sra. del Pilar on her feast day. An exact replica of our Lady was brought over from Zaragoza, Spain around the mid-19th century to be the patroness of the chrurch. This same image was, for a time, kept in a vault at the Philippine National Bank for safekeeping and was only brought out for public viewing after the end of World War II in 1945.

According to legend, Our Lady appeared to St. James the Greater to console him in a moment of desperation as he was preaching in the area around the 2nd of January, 40 A.D. In the vision, Mary appeared atop a pillar on which she instructed St. James to not be disheartened, to continue spreading the Word of God and to start building the church on which the adoration of Christ will be spread. Ergo, the devotion to Nstra. Sra. del Pilar and the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela are linked together. 

Our Lady's appearance in this instance is noteworthy. It was believed that she appeared to St. James while she was still alive and has not yet assumed into Heaven. Aside from that, She appeared to him accompanied by a multitude of Angels and also having a prop in the form of a pillar. 

In Manila and in Zamboanga City, the image of our Lady is venerated with a nine-day Novena. At Sta. Cruz church, the feast day climaxes this Sunday, 21 October with merry-making and a procession with her image atop a carroza that winds through the district.