Taal Heritage Tour:SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY

Other thanBasilica de San Martin de Tours, there is another important religious landmark in Taal Batangas.Actually,most people consider it even more significant.I am referring to the SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY.Very important that it gained the status of  a “privileged site,” meaning, it is granted the same spiritual benefits as that of the pilgrims who visit the Basilica of St. Mary Majors in Rome.

The story goes that long ago,a fisherman went out to catch fish in the nearby Pansipit River but caught something else in his fish net instead...................

SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY

The Story of OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY


In 1603, a fisherman by the name of Juan Maningkad fished out his net in the Pansipit River, in Taal, Batangas, a twelve inch tall image of OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY, radiating with heavenly luster. Upon seeing this image, Juan, being a pious man prostrated himself and venerated it, after which he carried the image home. Soon enough, the whole village came to know about his remarkable catch. The town authorities and the Vicar, who represented the King of Spain, went to Juan’s home to verify the story.

  
 

The image was later placed under the care of Doña Maria Espiritu, the widow of the town’s judge, who had a special urn made for its safekeeping. Then, strange things began to happen. Doña Maria found the urn empty one day, but the nextmorning, the image was back in the urn. The incident was repeated a number of times, so Doña Maria reported the matter to the parish priest.

To investigate the mysterious coming and going of the image, the priest decided to set up parish volunteers to keep vigil beside the urn. With eager hearts they sat waiting and praying, and they did see the urn open by itself, as they saw with their own eyes the glorious image going out and coming back again.CONTINUE READING here:  http://caysasay.com/Caysasay%20Home/storyOfCaysasay.html

 

The new Shrine is actually not the original one.You have to walk a few meter (Almost 1km) past the residential area. They used to have a church in the actual place where the Lady of Caysasay was found by the fisherman.All that's left though is a portion of the original structure ---the front Facade.The place is almost completely consumed by residential houses.On your way there, candle vendors will mock you.The could be very persistent and annoying.Each candle set costs 20 pesos.There is a portion where you can light the candles and say your prayer or wishes as we did.

Your religious journey of Taal will not be complete without the visit to the SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY.

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This post is part of my Taal Heritage Tour Series.
Read related posts here: This post is part of my Taal Heritage Tour Series.
More on this next time :)