MANILA, Oct. 4, 2011–Ina ni Kristo, Ina ng Buhay is the theme of 2011′s La Naval de Manila, a yearly celebration honoring Our Lady of the Rosary and held on the second Sunday of October. This year’s celebration will be on October 9
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Every year the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary — better known as Sto. Domingo Church — in Quezon City celebrates the feast of La Naval with a theme that the parish church would like for its parishioners and mass goers to inculcate and integrate into their daily lives.
“Every year we have a theme to highlight what kind of attitude we want to give to the people,” says Fr. Giuseppe PietroArsciwals, OP, convent prior of Sto. Domingo Church.
Last year’s theme, Tagumpay at Pagbago, was about the election and the changes that it would hopefully bring. 2011′s theme brings relevance to social issues and pressing matters as it focuses on life.
“Our theme for the year is Ina ni Kristo, Ina ng buhay. It reflects the issues that are very important these days, which is the Reproductive Health (RH) bill. We want to emphasize the importance of life. The church is pro-life, Jesus the mother of Mary as well is pro-life,” Arsciwals said.
Part of the La Naval celebration are its traditional novena masses which for this year commenced on September 30 to kick off the celebration.
Ina ni Kristo, Ina ng Buhay is a message that seeks to emphasize the sanctity of life. Apparently, the message has already reached some parishioners.
“One person approached me, who of course I found out was pro-RH, he said, ‘Father I like the virgin, but I do not like the virgin to be used as a political tool.’ So, the message already has an effect. With the ‘Ina ng Buhay’ people have already immediately associated it to the RH bill,” the priest related.
“Well, [the bill's proponents] are trying to present it as a health bill, but if you examine their arguments, it is against population. [Based on the claim that] population is the reason why we are poor, if we want to race against poverty we have to eliminate [the population],” he said.
“We are pro life. Life is sacred. It is a gift from God, and any threat to life, be it abortion or contraception, we should oppose,” Arsciwals pointed out.
Full schedule
Besides the novena masses, there will also be an exhibit at the Sto. Domingo Museum, which houses the history of the rosary, the La Naval and the saints of the rosary.
Celebrating La Naval, a deeply entrenched tradition in Philippine society, centers on the more than 400-year-old image of the Our Lady of the Rosary La Naval, the hands and face of which are carved from ivory, and which helped the Spaniards and the Filipinos defeat the Dutch armies attacking the country in 1646. The devotion to Mary and to praying the rosary continue for numerous Filipinos today.
On the feast day it self, October 9, there will be novena masses from 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, followed by the ones at 3:00, 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. The traditional novena masses will be presided by Fr. Isidro Abano, Fr. Orlando Aceron, Fr. Jose Antonio, Aureda, Fr. Dexter Austria, Fr. Charles Moises Barrientos, Fr. Ferdinand Bautista, Fr. Franklin Beltran, Fr. Gallardo Bombase, Fr. Winston Cabading, Fr. Victor Calvo, Fr. Rodel Cansancio, Fr. Filemon dela Cruz, Fr. Napoleon Encarnacion, Fr. Julius Paul Factora, Fr. Alfred, Fernandez, Fr. Nilo Lardizabal, Fr. Tamerlane Lana, Fr. Rolando Mactal, Fr. Mandy Malijan, Fr. Dennis Maquiraya, Fr. Clarence Victor Marquez, Fr. George Moreno, Fr. Quidrico Perdegosa, Fr. Hermel Pama, Fr. Roger Quiroa, Fr. Romulo Rodriguez, Fr. Efren Rivera, Fr. Paul Reagan Talavera, Fr. Gaspar Sigaya, Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner, Cubao Diocese Bishop Honesto Ongtioco, and Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi, DD.
To cap off the feast of La Naval, there will be a grand possession at 4:00 pm on Sunday, October 9. The procession will take the centuries-old image of Our Lady of the Rosary La Naval around the parish vicinity of Sto. Domingo Street, D. Tuazon and Quezon Avenue. (Ana Valenzuela)
