Our Lady of Manaoag in Manila: A call to grace
Tucked away in the busy inner streets of Sampaloc, Manila is a spiritual gem. It is hidden in a concrete labyrinth—not many know of it. But it calls you. To those who have prayed there, the chapel’s grace is in plain sight.
The Our Lady of Manaoag Chapel in Barangay Sta. Teresita, not far from Malacañang Palace, is known for its replica of the miraculous Our Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan. The chapel is a spiritual sanctuary for devotees, especially those unable to travel to the main basilica in Pangasinan, which marked last April 22 the Centennial of the 1926 canonical coronation of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag.
Established by the late Felipe Sikat Legaspi, the chapel in Sampaloc has grown to become a pilgrimage site itself.
Philanthropist Alice Eduardo, known as the “Woman of Steel” in business circles, the CEO of Sta. Elena Construction and Development Corp. and a devoted Marian servant, is this year’s hermana mayor for the chapel. (A hermana mayor is a prominent community member chosen to sponsor and organize a town’s religious fiesta or feast day in the Philippines.)
“When Our Lady of the Rosary first called a humble farmer in Manaoag to build a church in her honor, he answered with faith and obedience. Today, as she calls upon me to serve, I, too, humbly respond,” began Alice in ceremonies before a concelebrated Mass with Archbishop emeritus Ramon Arguelles as main celebrant.
“It is with deep gratitude and reverence that I accept the role of hermana mayor for this year’s celebration in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag. As a Marian devotee, I receive this not merely as a responsibility, but as a heartfelt offering of thanksgiving for the countless blessings granted through her maternal intercession,” she added.
Yes, the “Woman of Steel” bows and bends in prayer.
Under the Marian-blue, star-spangled dome of the chapel, Alice shared, “Like many of you, I have turned to her in prayer time and again. In her loving care, I have witnessed how petitions are answered—often in ways both unexpected and grace-filled. More importantly, I have experienced how Mama Mary gently leads us closer to her Son and shelters us beneath the mantle of her protection.” Alice is also a devotee of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga.
“I firmly believe that this calling (to be hermana mayor) is not by chance, but by divine providence. With a faithful heart, I say yes to Our Lady’s invitation. I pray that she may guide and strengthen me, so that I may faithfully carry out this mission entrusted to me,” Alice said.
“May Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag continue to bless us all and lead us ever closer to her Son,” she concluded.
In his homily, Arguelles encouraged the praying of the rosary, because each mystery recounts the life of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Mary—from the Annunciation, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and her own Coronation.
The chapel in Sampaloc is under the care of the Felipe Legaspi Foundation, headed by Elaine Villar as president and supported by the consulate of the Republic of the Gambia headed by Consul Ma. Agnes Huibonhoa, who is also the foundation’s vice president. Agnes came across the tiny chapel when she was working in the office of the executive secretary at Malacañang during the Ramos administration and was “drawn to it inexplicably.”
Last year’s hermano mayor was Jojie Dingcong, a Manaoag devotee since 2014.
“My devotion to Our Lady of Manaoag is quite epic, I must say,” Jojie reveals. “This lifelong commitment started for me in January of 2014. But my actual devotion to Mama Mary was really triggered in Rome in 2011, when I visited the St. Peter’s Basilica for the very first time. I just felt her presence as I was staring, overwhelmed, at Michelangelo’s famed Pietá. Her calmness and grace never left me.
“Then, when I visited Our Lady of Manaoag, that very same feeling came all over me again. Today, it has become my life’s anchor.”
How it all began
According to online historical accounts and folk tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared on a treetop to a Manaoag farmer in 1610. She told the farmer where she wanted her simbahan to be built, and so a chapel was built on the site of the apparition.
The ivory statue of Our Lady of Manaoag was brought from Spain to Manaoag at around the same decade as the apparition by Padre Juan de San Jacinto, a Dominican priest, via the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. Known as the Nuestra Señora de Manaoag or plainly called Apo Baket by the townsfolk, the ivory image of Our Lady is enshrined in the main altar of the church.
Manaoag, considered as the pilgrim center of the North, is derived from the Pangasinan word “mantataoag,” which means, “she calls” or “to call,” referring to the apparition calling the farmer.
The whole year through, especially on Saturdays and Sundays, thousands of people flock to the basilica and shrine.
“It’s my happy place. It’s my place of comfort and joy,” says Jojie, who visits Manaoag every first Friday of the month, with few exceptions.
Does he personally know of any miracle granted through Our Lady’s intercession? “Yes, continuously,” he attests.
