Our Lady of Balintawak (, ), also known as the Virgin of Balintawak (), is a

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus based on the

Marian apparition A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances during a period of time. In the Catholic Church, in order for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian ap ...

s reported in 1896 by a

Katipunan The Katipunan, officially known as the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan or Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK; en, Supreme and Honorable Association of the Children of the Nation ...

soldier during his dream. The Virgin of Balintawak is a

Marian Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...

image and

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

venerated in the

Philippine Independent Church , native_name_lang = fil , icon = Logo of the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan Church).svg , icon_width = 80px , icon_alt = Coat of arms of the Philippine Independent Church , image ...

, also known as the Aglipayan Church. The nationalist church considers her as its

patroness Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

History

The novena of Obispo Máximo Gregorio Aglipay from 18 to 26 of August 1925 was intended to commemorate the nine-day period that marked the beginning of the Philippine Revolution (formerly known as the ''"

Cry of Balintawak The Cry of Pugad Lawin ( tgl, Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin, es, Grito de Pugad Lawin) was the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire. In late August 1896, members of the ''Katipunan'' led by Andrés Bonifacio revolted s ...

"'' until it was formally renamed the Cry of Pugad Lawin). The ''"Pagsisiyam ng Birhen sa Balintawak"'' novena was based on a dream that freed

Andres Bonifacio Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

Emilio Jacinto Emilio Jacinto y Dizon (; December 15, 1875 – April 16, 1899) was a Filipino general during the Philippine Revolution. He was one of the highest-ranking officers in the Philippine Revolution and was one of the highest-ranking officers of the ...

Gregoria de Jesus Gregoria (Greek: Γρηγορία, fl. 641) was the Byzantine empress as the wife of Constantine III. She participated in the minority regency government of her son, Constans II, in 641–650. Life She was a daughter of Niketas, a first co ...

, and other Katipuneros from the Spanish Guardia Civil's grasp. The original source is an article that was published in the prewar journal ''La Vanguardia''. According to legend, Bonifacio, Jacinto, and other friends were sleeping in

Melchora Aquino Melchora Aquino de Ramos (January 6, 1812 – February 19, 1919) was a Filipino revolutionary. She became known as "Tandang Sora" because of her age during the Philippine Revolution. She was known as the "Grand Woman of the Revolution" and ...

's home in Balintawak. One of the Katipunan soldier had a dream in which a beautiful mother dressed in the manner of the farmers of Balintawak was holding a pretty child by the hand and crying for freedom while wearing short red pants and shouted ''Kalayaan!'' (freedom!) The stunning lady approached the dreamer and warned him, ''Mag iingat kayo'' (be careful). When the dreamer awoke, he described his experience to his friends, stating that the mother and child were dressed like Filipinos but had the faces of Europeans and he narrated the message from the Blessed Virgin Mary which they took as a serious warning. They cancelled their plan to return to Manila and decided to stay put in Balintawak. Shortly, the group learned that Spanish soldiers had raided the

Diario de Manila ''Diario de Manila'' was a Spanish language newspaper published in the Philippines, founded on October 11, 1848, and closed down by official decree on February 19, 1898, after the colonial authorities discovered that its installations were bein ...

and found incriminating evidence that led to the discovery of the Katipunan. The

novena A novena (from Latin: ''novem'', "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pen ...

later implies that the mother and child are

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

and

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. According to Aglipay in regards to the Mother of Balintawak, "the voice of the people will constantly resound from our pulpits, reminding you of the great teachings of

Rizal Rizal, officially the Province of Rizal ( fil, Lalawigan ng Rizal), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Its capital is the city of Antipolo. It is about east of Manila. The p ...

, Mabini, Bonifacio, and other Filipinos. These teachings of our greatest compatriots will form the special seal of our National Church." Additionally according to Aglipay, ''"she is the sacred image of our Country,"'' and she ''"reminds you constantly of your sacred and inescapable duty to make every effort possible to obtain our longed-for independence."'' Obispo Máximo Gregorio Aglipay said in another passage of the novena: ''"The Mother of Balintawak symbolizes our Country"'', and the

child expresses the Filipino people, the emerging generation that longs for independence, and both figures consistently remind us of the tremendous sacrifices of the liberators of our Country and of our sacred history. Once more, Aglipay stated: ''"We reflect all of our innate desire for national freedom in this image of the

Motherland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethni ...

. The only mother that can genuinely be referred to as virgin since she is free of any lust is the country, who is also known as the virgin-mother. Rizal, Mabini, Bonifacio, and other great Filipino professors, whose contemporary sapient teachings will make up the best

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

, serve as the People's spokesmen,

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

s, and

evangelists Evangelists may refer to: * Evangelists (Christianity), Christians who specialize in evangelism * Four Evangelists, the authors of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament * ''The Evangelists ''The Evangelists'' (''Evangheliştii'' in Roma ...

in the Katipunero movement"''. Because they are a part of

Philippine history Earliest hominin activity in the Philippine archipelago is dated back to at least 709,000 years ago. ''Homo luzonensis'', a species of archaic humans, was present on the island of Luzon at least 67,000 years ago. The earliest known anatomically ...

and a reflection of the past, historians

Reynaldo Ileto Reynaldo "Rey" Clemeña Ileto (born October 3, 1946) is a Filipino historian known for his seminal work ''Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840–1910'' first published in 1979. Ileto specializes in Asian history, reli ...

and Francis Gealogo have written essays on the Virgin of Balintawak and Infant Jesus wielding a bolo arguing that the image should be more well recognized and Filipinized until it becomes unmistakably, like the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

version of Our Lady of Barangay.

Veneration and the Marian image

The Our Lady of Balintawak is the first original image owned by the native Filipino church and one of the two endemic and unique Marian icons of the church, the other one being the

Our Lady of Maulawin Our Lady of Maulawin (, ), also known as the Virgin of Maulawin (), is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, a Marian image and icon venerated in the Philippine Independent Church, also known as the Aglipayan Church. The town of Santa Cruz in the pr ...

, and is very popular among the Aglipayan faithfuls throughout the country. They have no counterpart with the Roman Catholic

images or icons. The image was

venerated Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Etymo ...

in the church and is enshrined in the Maria Clara Parish Church in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. The feast day is celebrated every year on 26 August.

References

External links

Mga Awit sa Nobena ng Birhen ng Balintawak
// youtube.com (in Filipino)

// blogspot.com (in Filipino)

(Sketches from History)

(Reflection to the Virgin of Balintawak)

(History about the Shrine of Our Lady of Balintawak) {{coord missing, Philippines Titles of Mary Marian apparitions Statues of the Virgin Mary Statues in the Philippines Anglican Mariology Philippine Independent Church

History

Veneration and the Marian image

See also

Further reading

References

External links