Hagonoy Marian image to be episcopally crowned
By Kendrick Ivan B. Panganiban
July 18, 2019
Hagonoy, Bulacan
Another revered Marian image will be crowned in the Diocese of Malolos in Bulacan.
This after Malolos apostolic administrator Bishop Honesto Ongtioco approved the coronation of Nuestra Señora de Santisimo Rosario, patroness of one of the barrio parishes in Hagonoy.
The decree for the episcopal coronation was announced during a Mass on the memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16.
According to the Coronation Application Committee, the Marian image is known as an “intercessor to the many faithful in the town of Hagonoy, protecting them from the worse onslaughts of floods.”
The coastal parish is home of a majority of the fisher folk who depend on the Manila Bay waters for their everyday living.
The grant of episcopal coronation is also brought about by the unique link that the image has to La Virgen Milgrosa del Rosario del Pueblo in Orani, Bataan.
Celebrating its 60th canonical coronation anniversary, the Marian image is a morena image of the Virgin Mary, also a known intercessor for fisher folk.
The Hagonoy image also played a significant role in the life and faith of many people during the refugee crisis as a result of the fall of Bataan to the Japanese during World War II.
“The migrants believed in the miraculous guidance of Our Lady as they saw how their very own La Virgen Milagrosa del Rosario del Pueblo de Orani has been present in their new home all along as Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de Hagonoy,” the committee said.
“It is also significant that as Mary is considered as Our Lady of Victories (the original title for Our Lady of the Rosary), the war resulted for Hagonoy to be a home of the refugees of the war from Orani, Bataan. Mary’s home became a home for the refugees.”
“Due to this remarkable circumstance, the devotion grew as the faithful from Orani would travel by boat to Hagonoy to visit their patroness’ Bulakeña counterpart and the people of Hagonoy during the summer, particularly on May, would traverse the Manila Bay to reach Orani, Bataan to pay homage of La Virgen Milagrosa,” it added.
Another important factor, the committee added, is the continuity of the rosary devotion in the parish, which is promoted even outside the town of Hagonoy.
The date of the episcopal coronation is scheduled on October 7, on the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.
Besides the image of Our Lady, Hagonoy town is also home to the National Shrine and Parish of St. Anne, which has been revered as mother of the protectress of the town.
Last June, the diocese also announced the coronation of two Marian images in the town of Sta. Maria.
The highest honor of canonical coronation will be bestowed to La Purisima Concepcion, the patroness of the parish at the poblacion, while an episcopal coronation had also been approved for Nuestra Señora del Carmen de San Sebastian of the parish in barrio Pulong Buhangin.