Devotion to the Inan Birhen na Manaoag

Devotion to the Inan Birhen na Manaoag

Devotion to Our Lady of Manaoag has always been strong among many Bayambangueños ever since the pious practice began in the province of Pangasinan.

Among many families, a summer vacation wouldn't be complete without a visit to the church in Manaoag to hear mass and pay homage to the Virgin for different purposes. Before proceeding to, say, Tondaligan, Bonuan, or San Fabian Beach, they first said a prayer, bought special blessed candles, rosaries, or prayer booklets, then used these at the church with fervor and devotion.

Up to this day, local devotees routinely visit to make a specific request or to give thanks for a petition granted, often using novenarios and estampitas bought from the church. They do not mind the lengthy queues just to get a chance to touch the perfumed and bejeweled robe of the Virgin enthroned at the pinnacle of the main altar.

One would know the weight of someone's earthly troubles upon the sight of devotees who walk the center aisle on their knees, from the door to the altar, unmindful of whoever might recognize them from among the crowd.

The faith of the devotees, and their trust in the Lady's intercession, is simply moving.

Then, before going home, they take photos as a family in front of the church as memento of the trip.

The also do not fail to bring home the town's other products apart from religious items, such as freshly picked sineguelas and tupig.

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There is more to this extremely popular Catholic devotion than meets the eye, if we are to believe University of the Philippines professor Ma. Crisanta Nelmida-Flores.

Examining the devotion to Our Lady of Manaoag through the lens of indigenous traditions, Nelmida-Flores saw the hand of the "manag-anito" (spirit communication/veneration), and observes that pre-colonial beliefs have merged with Catholic practices in this act of veneration. While Christianity has been imposed from the outside as a foreign belief, local Pangasinan culture, particularly indigenous spiritual practices, has influenced the perception and devotion to the image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag.

If I understood her right, Nelmida-Flores argues that the original animist religion was not supplanted by Catholicism but was instead redirected to it. Seen this way, the devotion to Our Lady of Manaoag is some form of precolonial anito worship evolving into Marian devotion, but keeping the same ideas of spiritual mediation, sacred space, and ritual practice within a Catholic framework.

In short, while anito worship became Christianized, Christianity was 'Filipinized,' what with elements of animism predisposing our precolonial ancestors to accept, even embrace, an otherwise strange faith.