Philippines’ Our Lady of the Abandoned shrine establishes spiritual bond with basilica in Spain
A national shrine in the Philippine capital dedicated to Our Lady of the Abandoned has formally declared a spiritual bond of communion with a basilica in Spain.
Through this ecclesiastical connection, the church in Manila reinforces its local devotion, which they trace back to the Royal Basilica de Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados in Valencia, where the Marian title originated in 1410.
At the Mass on March 25 marking the solemn declaration of the churches’ spiritual bond, Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula urged the faithful to emulate the Blessed Virgin Mary’s act of abandonment to the Father’s will.
“[Her] abandonment exposed her to uncertainty and trials,” said the cardinal in his homily. “Yet, it also made her in solidarity with all those who are suffering.”
As the event coincided with the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, Cardinal Advincula reflected on Mary’s “self-surrender” to allow God to enter human history and ensure that “no one would ever be abandoned again.”
“The Incarnation of the Eternal Son is the ultimate response of God to our every experience of being abandoned and forsaken, and all that happens because Mary dared to say yes to God,” he said.
Drawing inspiration from the Blessed Mother, Cardinal Advincula reminded everyone that the devotion to Mary’s title as Our Lady of the Abandoned should lead them to offer refuge to the forsaken.
Aside from the formal presentation of the decree of the spiritual bond of communion between the churches in Manila and Valencia, a video message was shown from Father Juan Melchor Seguí Sarrión, rector of the Royal Basilica de Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados in Spain.
He expressed his joy at how the devotion to Our Lady of the Abandoned that began in Sapin more than 600 years ago is still propagated in the Philippines.
“This spiritual twinning that we have established… [is] a union of charity in favor of our most needy brothers and sisters,” he said.
The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Abandoned in Santa Ana, Manila, was established by Franciscan missionaries in 1578, and the present stone church was completed in 1725. It is also home to a replica image of Mary from Valencia, which was brought to the Philippines by Franciscan missionary Vicente Yngles in 1717.
It was elevated to a national shrine by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in 2021.
This is the second church in the Philippines to gain a spiritual bond of communion with the Royal Basilica de Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados in Spain, the other being a church in the City of Marikina also dedicated to this Marian title.
