OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
Day 343: April 21 Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag, Manaoag, Pangasinan, Philippines The shrine of Manaoag, built as a result of an apparition, is located about 200 km north of Manila. Here we find an ivory image of Our Lady of the Rosary from the 16th century, particularly venerated by the Filipino faithful. Pope Pius XI crowned the image on April 21, 1926, while Benedict XVI canonically approved the granting of a "special bond of spiritual affinity in perpetuity," through which pilgrims will have the guarantee of the same blessings and the right to a plenary indulgence equal to that received when visiting Rome's papal basilica of St Mary Major. Tradition has it that the name given to the city of Manaoag derives from the verb mantaoag , which means "to call". And indeed here the Blessed Virgin appeared calling a peasant. The statue of Our Lady of Manaoag is a 17th-century ivory image of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus placed on the main altar of the Basil...