Marikina is my favorite Metro Manila City because of its cleanliness and the discipline of its citizens. Compared with other Metro Manila cities, Marikina's streets are litter-free, its public market is clean and organized, and its government provide the best sanitation services. I placed this city in high regard that I considered moving. Alas! Real property in Marikina is very expensive and, therefore, beyond my financial capacity.
Another thing that I like is the effort of Marikina City government to preserve heritage structures. They even have a programs to promote heritage in the city like this Heritage Mapping Project that involved school teachers in the city. One of the heritage structure that Marikeños are proud of is their main parish church: Santuario y Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados, popularly known as Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned. Tagalogs call this church as Dambana ng Ina ng mga Walang Mag-Ampon.
We visited this church after our morning walk along the Marikina Riverbanks. My jaw dropped the moment I saw the stone structure of this church.
I am always overjoyed whenever I see old churches like this church in Marikina. Such ancient and beautiful structures are great relief from banal and tasteless architectural style of today. Sadly, many “modern” church adopted the ugly modern style.
Our Lady of the Abandoned Church in Marikina is of Baroque architectural style, which was said to be promoted by the Catholic Church to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architectural style. Baroque meant to inspire worship by filling the eyes with beauty inspired by God.
Our Lady of the Abandoned Church in Marikina is of Baroque architectural style, which was said to be promoted by the Catholic Church to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architectural style. Baroque meant to inspire worship by filling the eyes with beauty inspired by God.
Marikina was once ruled by the descendants of Lakan Dula, ruler of the Bayan ng Tondo. In 1571, Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi landed in Maynila and proclaimed the place as the capital of the young Spanish colony. Some of the Augustinian missionaries that accompanied Legazpi ventured out of Maynila and, in 1572, reached Chorillo in the present-day Barangay Barangka. A church dedicated to San Isidro Labrador stands on the site, where I believe the Augustinians built their first chapel in Marikina.
Marikina was the site of intense rivalry between the Augustinians and the Jesuits. The Augustinians were the first to reach Marikina and established a visita in Barangka. The Jesuits reached Marikina in 1630 and established a new visita in the now Barangay Jesus de la Peña. The Jesus de la Peña Chapel that was established by the Jesuits still stands today. The Jesuits also crossed Marikina River and established a visita in Barangay Sta. Elena. In the same year, Marikina was transferred to the Jesuits by the Archbishop of Manila.
The Jesuits started improving Marikina by inviting Chinese traders and agriculturists. The visita's population grew and its economy improved so much so that Marikina was elevated into a full-pledged parish in 1681 and was placed under the patronage of Our Lady of the Abandoned.
Mama Mary began to be honored as Our Lady of the Abandoned in 1401 in Valencia, Spain when a hospital for the mentally ill, homeless, and abandoned children was established. The original image of Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados (Our Lady of the Abandoned) was said to be created by three angels. Legend says that three pilgrims requested free board and lodging of three days in the hospital. The hospital administrators, after noticing that no sound emanated within the room where the pilgrims stayed, forced open the door on the fourth day. The pilgrims were gone but inside the room is the image of Mama Mary, which later on called as Our Lady of the Abandoned. The wife of a hospital administrator, who was blind, regained her sight after touching the image. Thus, it was believed that the pilgrims were in fact angels who gifted them with the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary.
In the Philippines, the oldest image of Our Lady of the Abandoned is in the old church of Santa Ana, Manila. The said image was made in Valencia, Spain and was touched to the original image of Our Lady of the Abandoned before being sent to the Philippines. Unfortunately for Marikeños, their original image of Our Lady of the Abandoned was burned during the Filipino-American War. The image enshrined in their church was made in 1902. The image was made through the generosity of Marikeños, who provided the funds and materials for it.
Marikeños love the Virgin Mary and many of them experienced miracles through their devotion to Our Lady of the Abandoned. Notable of these miracles happened during the Second World War when a Japanese aircraft dropped two bombs over the church. The first bomb destroyed most the church but the Marian image was unharmed while the second bomb did not explode, thus saving the townspeople. I remember a similar miracle, also attributed to the Virgin Mary, that saved the Baguio Cathedral from aerial bombs.
Other miracles attributed to Our Lady of the Abandoned in Marikina include the safe passage of a guerilla from Japanese checkpoint during the War, rescue of kidnapped children of a Filipino-Chinese, and the full-healing of a man from lung cancer.
Because of Marikeños devotion to Our Lady of the Abandoned and the miracles attributed to her, the image was episcopally crowned in 2002 and then canonically crowned in 2005 during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI.
Other miracles attributed to Our Lady of the Abandoned in Marikina include the safe passage of a guerilla from Japanese checkpoint during the War, rescue of kidnapped children of a Filipino-Chinese, and the full-healing of a man from lung cancer.
On the ceiling are paintings depicting the life scenes of our Lord Jesus that are being meditated while praying the Holy Rosary.
The altar features the miraculous image of Our Lady of the Abandoned on a beautiful retablo. Too bad that there was a wedding during my visit so I was not able to take a good photo of the altar.
My visit Our Lady of the Abandoned introduced me to the beautiful heritage of Marikina. I did not expect that this city have hidden gems and those gems are being preserved and taken care of by the Marikeños and their city government.
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Prayer to Our Lady of the Abandoned or Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados (Tagalog)
Ave Maria, ikaw ang mapagmahal na Inang kumakalinga sa aming lahat. Ikaw ang mahabaging Ina na kumukupkop sa mga walang masilungan. Kami ay lumalapit sa iyo, bukod na pinagpalang Ina ng aming Panginoon. Ikaw ang aming Reyna; pamunuan mo kami sa paglaban sa kasamaan. Ikaw ang aming Guro; papaglinawin mo ang aming isip sa panahong kapos kami sa pang0unawa. Ikaw ang aming Ilaw; tanglawan mo kami nang 'di kami maligaw sa dilim. Ikaw ang aming Lunas; hilumin mo ang sakit ng aming kaluluwa at katawan. Amin Ina, ipagtanggol mo kami sa aming pagkaapi. Aliwin mo kami sa amin hapis. Palayain mo kami sa aming pagkaalipin sa aming mga kahinaan. Onang mapagkawanggawa, ilahad mo ang iyong mga kamay sa mga kapus-palad na nangangailangan ng iyong tulong. Inang sangkatauhan, ipanalangin mo kami at akayin sa landas patungo kay Hesukristong Panginoon namin. Amen.
Kami'y iyong ipanalangin, mahabaging Ina ng mga Walang Mag-ampon.
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Writing this blog post felt like I was writing a thesis. I made in-depth research about the history of Marikina and its churches. I made this timeline, compiled from various Internet sources, which I believe would be useful for those doing their own research about Marikina City.
1572 - Augustinians arrived at Chorillo in Barangka. Maria Concepcion Rapisora-Lagos mentioned in her dissertation that the Augustinian friars built Jesus de la Peña Chapel (or precursor structure) in Nangka.
1630 - The Jesuits arrived to Mariquina and celebrated mass at a warehouse. The warehouse is now the Jesus de la Peña Church. The Archbishop of Manila transferred Marikina from the Augustinians to the Jesuits. The Jesuits crossed Marikina River and established Barangay Sta. Elena. Probably, they built the first structure of Our Lady of the Abandoned Church.
1681 - Marikina was elevated into a parish and placed under patronage of Our Lady of the Abandoned.
1687 - Marikina is returned to Augustinians with the town San Mateo, Rizal. Jesus de la Peña was abandoned because of incessant flooding. The parish was transferred to the church in Sta. Elena. The construction of the current stone structure of Our Lady of the Abandoned was started this year.
1688 - Marikina parish became independent from Pasig.
1690 - Marikina was returned to the Jesuits. The construction of Our Lady of the Abandoned Church was finished.
1696 - Jesuits’ jurisdiction over Marikina was confirmed by a Royal Decree.
1791 - The church in Barangay Sta. Elena was consecrated to Our Lady of the Abandoned.
1898 - Wikipedia source claims that the first image of Our Lady of the Abandoned in Marikina was burned during Filipino-American War. However, that War started in 1899. It is more probable that the image was burned during the Tagalog Rebellion led by Katipuneros.
1902 - The second image, which is the one currently enshrined in in the church, was made.
2002 - Episcopal coronation of Our Lady of the Abandoned in Marikina.
2005 - Canonical coronation of Our Lady of the Abandoned in Marikina.
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Visita Iglesia is a Catholic tradition of visiting seven churches during Maundy Thursday. For each day, this Holy Week, I will feature one church as a sort of virtual Visita Iglesia.
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Churches that I featured for Visita Iglesia 2019
Palm Sunday - Our Lady of the Abandoned Church in Marikina City
Holy Monday - Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Chinese Parish Church in Binondo, Manila
Holy Monday - Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Chinese Parish Church in Binondo, Manila
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References:
Chapter 1 of Dissertation Sapatero in Marikina City: Enacting Economies in the Philippines' Footwear Capital by Maria Concepcion Rapisora-Lagos
Panalangin sa Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados, Birhen ng Marikina transcribed from the photo of Lloyd Rainier Sexon
Mother of Refuge article by Tomas U. Santos in The Varsitarian
Virgen de los desamparados in Wikipedia
Barangays of Marikina in Wikipedia
Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish Church (Marikina) in Wikipedia
Jesús dela Peña Chapel in Wikipedia
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Jesús dela Peña Chapel in Wikipedia
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