The Tradition of the Virgin of Caysasay

Enshrined in the church of barrio Labac (also known as Caysaysay) is the Nuestra Senora de Caysasay. It was 1603 when the image of the Virgin was caught in a net while the town chief, Juan Maningkad was fishing near the mouth of the river channel. Some believe the discovery of the image to be a miracle while others claim that the image was from a passing Spanish or Portuguese ship.  

The image was brought to father Juan Bautista Montoya and was entrusted to the care Maria Espiritu, who placed the Virgin in a special urn. The image was later moved to the town’s church and was place in a niche above the main altar. Father Marcos Anton dressed the image in pure gold.  

The image was reported to frequently disappear from the church and reappear a few days later. One day it miraculously disappeared from the church and after several days was rediscovered on a sampaga tree by Maria Baguhin and Maria Talain. The image was surrounded by lighted candles and was guarded by a casaycasay (kingfisher) when the women found it.  

In 1611, a chapel of light material was built near the well where it kept appearing after disappeared from the church. In 1639, a stone church was built under the direction of Father Alonso Rodriguez. The roof was damaged by the 1754 eruption of Taal Volcano and the walls and the towers fell during the 1852 earthquake. 

 

The church was reconstructed in 1856 but was damage again by an earthquake. It was later repaired and the interior was improved by Father Marcos Anton. Cesar Aberoni painted the interior of the church.  

 

 

The tradition of transferring the image from its special niche in the Basilica of San Martin de Tours to the chapel of Caysasay every Thursday and returned on a Saturday afternoon still continues since 1857. In 1952, this tradition was halted when Bishop Rufino Santos (later became cardinal) ordered the image to have a permanent enshrinement at the sanctuary. Thanks to the town’s people solid devotion that the century-old tradition was revived.

At the rear of the church of Caysasay is a piedra china stairway called Hagdan-hagdan built by Father Celestino Mayordomo. A short walk from the shrine is the Santa Lucia twin wells.

According to locals, this is where Maria Baguhin and Maria Talain, while gathering firewood and drawing water from the well found the image of the Virgin. This old shrine has a coral stone arch with a bas-relief of the Virgin of Caysasay. It was destroyed when the Taal Volcano erupted.

The twin well are found underneath the arch, the waters of which are said to have healing and therapeutic powers. Devotees usually pray at the grotto and light candles before drawing water from the well. The place is jam packed during Holy Week.

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The Brittle Sweet Panutcha

The town is famous for the century-old mass production of the sweet brittle made with peanuts and heavy brown molasses called panutcha. 

 

 

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Taal’s Houses of History

The streets of Taal are lined with large and well-preserved bahay-na-bato, mostly owned by aristocratic illustrados and wealthy merchants who prospered during the economic boom brought by the planting of Mexican coffee in the 1840s. However, the coffee industry declined in the 1890s due to a certain type of worm that infested the coffee farms. 

Taal also boasts of ancestral houses belonging to prominent Taal residents who took an active role in the struggle for Philippine Independence. Two important houses are the Marcela Marino Agoncillo Museum and Monument and the Leon Apacible Museum and Library. 

Marcela Marino Agoncillo Museum and Monument 

  

Marcela Agoncillo is wife of first Filipino diplomat Felipe Agoncillo. She is our own Betsy Ross since she sewed the first Philippines flag with the help of her daughter Lorenza and Herbosa de Natividad (Jose Rizal’s niece) while on exile in Hong Kong. It was the same flag that was waved by General Emilio Aguinaldo during the Declaration of Independence on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite. 

The house was built by Marcela’s grandfather, Don Andres Marino in the late seventeenth century. The house is said to be one of the oldest if not the oldest structure in town. The houses turned museum has the charm of a typical provincial Spanish era bahay-na-bato. It houses antique period furniture and personal effects. A garden located on one side of the house stands a bronze monument of Dona Marcela presenting a flag. 

 

Leon Apacible Museum and Library 

Further up the street, across Taal National High School is the Leon Apacible Museum and Library. This was the ancestral house Leon and Matilde Apacible. The house according to the NHI marker, was a place where Jose Rizal, Mariano Ponce and other Filipino heroes would gather.

 Leon Apacible became Aguinaldo’s finance officer. He was also one of the delegates to the Malolos Congress of 1898. 

Former town mayor Mrs. Corazon Apacible Ciniza was the last member of the Apacible clan to live in the house. She donated and entrusted the ancestral house to the care of the National Historical Institute in 1976. 

A restored carruaje greets visitors upon entering the zaguan.

The second floor contains the house’s much preserved Art Deco interior and matching antique furniture.

Some of the antique furnishings and personal effects that adorn each of the rooms include an 1870 piano made by M.F. Rachals of Hamburg Germany and hand-painted fans owned by Dona Matilde are on display at the living room.

Blue and white Ming dynasty pottery, gilded Florentine wine decanters and gilt-edged and hand painted Venetian dinner service are exhibited at the dining room.

The bedroom exhibits a four poster bed and 19^th century vanity mirror.

A sixteenth century image of the Nuestra Senora del Rosario is on display at the ante-sala. 

More Ancestral Homes 

Other houses in the area include the mansions Don Gregorio and Felipe Agoncillo, the Ylagan-Dela Rosa Ancestral House and beautifully renovated home of the Gliceria Marcel de Villavicencio (she provided funding and logistics for the first warship of Aguinaldo’s Revolutionary Forces, Bulusan). 

 

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The Largest Basilica in the Orient

Traveler on Foot took a short break from the bustle of Manila and goes on a religious and cultural journey to the town of Taal.   

The town of Taal in Batangas owes its fame for having the largest basilica in the orient and ancestral houses with history boasting of revolutionary passion. After learning from graphic artist Adam Bejar the direction of getting there, Traveler on Foot decided to give the ancestral town of Taal a visit. 

Taal town is located by the slope of an elevated hill overlooking Balayan Bay and Taal Lake. It is bounded by the towns of Lemery, San Nicholas and Sta. Teresita.  

We entered the Taal town via crossing a small bridge from Lemery (which marks Lemery’s boundary with Taal) towards town center or poblacion. The town center is a typical Spanish colonial town where the plaza is surrounded by the church, the town hall, important colonial buildings and houses of illustrious residents. 

Basilica de San Martin de Tours 

 Overlooking the town plaza is the towering Basilica de San Martin de Tours.

Once reputed to be the largest in Southeast Asia, the first church was built on a half-hectare site by Father Martin Aguirre in 1755. The famous Spanish architect Luciano Oliver was commissioned to design and manage the construction of the present church after the first one was destroyed by the 1849 earthquake. The church was completed in 1878 by Father Agapito Aparicio. 

The façade is Baroque with two levels of twelve columns. The lower columns standing on a pedestal is Doric while the upper and shorter columns, which supports the cornice is Corinthian.  

Contributing to the impressive interior are the grand transepts and the three naves, with a wide central nave bounded by huge columns on each side. At the epistle side (right) of the altar is the image of the Our Lady of Caysasay while on the  gospel side (left)of the altar is the image of the church’s patron saint, San Martin de Tours. 

 

 Seen from the church’s patio, to the right is the old convent which was built together with the church. It now houses a school run by Benedictine nuns. To left side of the basilica is the old Escuela Pia which is converted into Taal’s Cultural Center. In front of the church was the old Casa Real which was built from 1846 to 1850 by Augustinian Celestino Mayordomo. Today, it houses the town’s municipal office.

Indicated on the municipal hall’s façade is the year when the town was officially founded by the Agustinians in 1572 on the Taal Lake’s southern shore. The town transferred three times before it finally settled on its present location. 

 

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The Miracle of the Santo Cristo de Longos

One of Binondo’s legends revolves around the venerated image of the Santo Cristo de Longos.  

The story goes that an image of the crucified Christ was found by a deaf-mute Chinese at the site of an old well in the barrio of Longos in Binondo. When the Chinese miraculously regained his speech, the parish priest of the Church of the Hospital de San Gabriel (this church was located in the Parian near the northeast wall of Intramuros) fitted the image with a cross.

The cross was installed at the Church of San Gabriel where it became an object of devotion among the people of Binondo, particularly the Chinese. When the old Church of San Gabriel was destroyed by the 1883 earthquake, the miraculous image was transferred to Binondo Church.  

The original image of the Santo Cristo is currently displayed on a niche (with glass cover) located near the side entrance (Ongpin Street) of church of Binondo. 

A shrine located at San Nicholas Street in present day San Nicholas district was built on the site of the old well where the miraculous image of Christ was found. The main street of the old barrio of Longos was named Santo Cristo.