The Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace, Our Lady of EDSA, or more popularly, the EDSA Shrine is a small church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila located at the intersection of Ortigas Avenue and Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Barangay Ugong Norte, Quezon City. The church is also called the Archdiocesan Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace or Mary, Queen of Peace Quasi-Parish, although these names are seldom used. It is also a declared Important Cultural Property by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Built in 1989 on donated land to commemorate the People Power Revolution, the shrine is the site of two peaceful demonstrations that toppled Presidents

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

(the People Power Revolution or EDSA I) in 1986, and Joseph Estrada (the

EDSA Revolution of 2001 EDSA Revolution of 2001 refers to either of two consecutive events relating to a change of power in the Philippines over the course of the first four months of 2001. These are: *EDSA II in January 2001 that toppled President Joseph Estrada after an ...

or EDSA II). The EDSA Shrine is the northernmost tip of the

Ortigas Center Ortigas Center is a central business district located within the joint boundaries of Pasig, Mandaluyong and Quezon City, within the Metro Manila region in the Philippines. With an area of more than , it is Metro Manila's second most important bu ...

, a financial and commercial district occupying large tracts of land in Quezon City, Mandaluyong, and Pasig.

History

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Jaime Cardinal Sin proposed the construction of a commemorative shrine two days after the Marcos family went into exile following the People Power Revolution of February 1986 which saw the deposing of President

, the end of his authoritarian regime and the installation of

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

as his successor. Sin made the proposal as an act of thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary to whom devout Catholics attribute the success of the peaceful revolution. The concept for a commemorative shrine developed when Sin and Bishop Gabriel Reyes were en route to Camp Aguinaldo to preside a Thanksgiving Mass. At a corner of Epifanio de los Santos and Ortigas Avenues, Reyes pointed out to Sin the site where a group of protesters, which included Catholic religious sisters, offered flowers to soldiers during the revolution. At an empty lot nearby stood two billboards that featured advertisements by the

Family Rosary Crusade Family Rosary Crusade is a worldwide campaign that eventually became a Roman Catholic movement, which was founded by Patrick Peyton, an Irish-American priest who is being considered for sainthood by the Vatican. The endeavor came to be a persona ...

. The billboards showed the image of the Virgin Mary along with the slogans "The family that prays together stays together" and "A world at prayer is a world at peace". The two clergymen concluded that the success of the revolution was a miracle that could be attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary. They compared the EDSA event to the success of the Battle of Lepanto and Battles of La Naval de Manila which also both ended in victories for the Catholic belligerents (i.e., the Venetians and Spaniards in Lepanto against the Muslim

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

and the Spaniards against the Protestant Dutch forces in Manila). Cardinal Sin convinced the Ortigas and Gokongwei family to donate the corner lot where the EDSA Shrine now stands today The shrine was initially planned to be built inside

Camp Crame Camp General Rafael T. Crame () is the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) located along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Quezon City. It is situated across EDSA from Camp Aguinaldo, the national headquarters of ...

, but plans were scrapped because churches built on government-owned property had to be

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

in nature. EDSA Shrine was then constructed with Francisco Mañosa as architect. Leandro Locsin and William Coscolluela was also involved with the preparatory work of the building. The construction was almost finished by November 1989 and the shrine was set to be inaugurated by December 8, 1989, the date of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. However such plans were interrupted by a coup attempt which began on November 29, 1989 by the

Reform the Armed Forces Movement The Reform the Armed Forces Movement, also referred to by the acronym RAM, was a cabal of officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) known for several attempts to seize power in the Philippines during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, som ...

against President

. The coup attempt ended on December 7, 1989, and the inauguration went as planned which was never postponed by Cardinal Sin. The church was consecrated on December 15, 1989, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the same date. Socrates Villegas, then a priest, was installed as the church's first rector. When the Second EDSA Revolution was successful in deposing President Joseph Estrada in January 2001, Sin declared the EDSA Shrine as a "Holy Ground", crediting the Virgin Mary to the event. A marker was installed on the anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution recognizing the shrine as a "Holy Ground". At the facade is set of sculptures recalling the events of the First and Second People Power Revolutions, the latter which was held there at the shrine. Other rallies and demonstrations held in the shrine were: Pro-Estrada rally (April 25–May 1, 2001), protests against Reproductive Health Bill (August 4, 2012), ''EDSA Tayo'' rally against

pork barrel ''Pork barrel'', or simply ''pork'', is a metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district. The usage originated in American English, and i ...

(September 7, 2013),

2015 Iglesia ni Cristo protests The 2015 INC protests were a series of marches which occurred between August 27–31, 2015. Supporters of the Iglesia ni Cristo, a religious body led by executive minister Eduardo V. Manalo, protested against the Department of Justice for alleg ...

(August 27–31, 2015) and ''Lord, Heal Our Land'' con-celebrated mass (November 5, 2017). In 2019, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts declared the church as an Important Cultural Property.

Dedication

Our Lady of Peace Our Lady of Peace, Mother of Peace, Queen of Peace or Our Lady Queen of Peace is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. She is represented in art holding a dove and an olive branch, symbols of peace. Her official memoria ...

, ''Mother of Peace'', ''Queen of Peace'' or ''Our Lady Queen of Peace'' is a title of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

in the Catholic Church. She is represented in art holding a dove and an

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

branch – both traditional symbols of peace. The patronal image for this particular shrine is unique, as its design follows that of the statue atop the shrine roof. Mary, crowned and clad in golden robes, has her arms outstretched and her Immaculate Heart exposed, while two or three white doves rest at her hands and feet. Her official

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

in the General Roman Calendar is on July 9 in the universal Church except for Hawaii and some churches in the United States, where it is kept on January 24.

Architecture and design

Francisco Mañosa was responsible for the architectural and structural design of the EDSA Shrine. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCAA) described Mañosa's take on the building's design as a "modern take on Filipino architecture and adaptation of tropical architecture". The building is also noted for its "neovernacular" style and its distinguished "native architectural forms and indigenous materials" by architecture historian Gerard Lico. The EDSA Shrine's design consisted of a promenade, the People's Plaza, with a statue of the Virgin Mary sculpted by

Virginia Ty-Navarro Virginia Ty-Navarro (5 July 1924 – 1996) was a Filipina sculptor, known nationwide for her sculpture "Statue of Our Lady Queen of Peace", which she completed in sixteen months on a 12 million peso budget. The sculpture is alternatively called "Our ...

as its focal point, and an underground church which was inspired from the

Cathedral of Brasilia A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

. Mañosa envisioned a different design from the existing building. The architect's vision for the shrine, which he dubbed as the "People's Basilica" is derived from the concept of the bahay kubo but on a larger scale. The initial design called for the use of seven pitched roofs clustered together which framed a statue of the Virgin Mary. However one influential member of the committee objected to the design preferring a Spanish colonial design for the EDSA Shrine which caused Mañosa to withdraw from the project but was convinced by Cardinal Jaime Sin to remain committed to the project and made the design for the current building.

Our Lady of EDSA sculpture

The sculpture of the Virgin Mary as the Our Lady of EDSA, Queen of Peace is a prominent feature of the EDSA Shrine. The committee behind the construction of the EDSA Shrine commissioned sculptor

for the sculpture. Napoleon Abueva was initially considered for the sculpture design but Abueva was recovering from a stroke at that time. Manny Casal was the second choice who proposed a marble sculpture of the Virgin Mary with open arms comforting people of various backgrounds; lay people, clergy, children, and soldiers. Casal intended the sculpture to be done on-site. Abueva and Casal while not selected to sculpt the shrine's main sculpture contributed other works installed within the shrine grounds. Ty-Navarro sculpted the Virgin Mary sculpture in her studio in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

. The sculpture was transported to the shrine by helicopter with assistance from the United States embassy due to Ty-Navarro not anticipating that the road to the shrine is too narrow for the sculpture.

Rectors

Gallery

File:EDSA Shrine Commemorative Marker for EDSA Dos.jpg, Marker commemorating the events of the Second EDSA Revolution

References

External links

EDSA Shrine website
{{Marian Images in the Philippines People Power Revolution Roman Catholic churches in Quezon City Monuments and memorials in Metro Manila Landmarks in the Philippines Roman Catholic shrines in the Philippines Statues of the Virgin Mary Ortigas Center Important Cultural Properties of the Philippines