San Francisco de las Lagrimas SERAPHICO PATRIARCA de esta CIUDAD DE MANILA On the occasion of the Chinese revolt of October 3 1603, St. Francis is said to have appeared on the muralla, defending the city with a sword of fire. This was attested to in the juridical inquiry by very respectable witnesses, including 400 (enemy) prisoners who had been sentenced to death, and accepted baptism, at which they were all named Francisco. St. Francis was then named Serafin Custodio de Manila, with the ecclesiastical and secular Cabildos promising to celebrate his feast yearly as it was celebrated in 1604, with all dignitaries assisting. The miraculous statue was venerated in the Monasterio Real de Sta. Clara, and was brought out on 4th of October of each year in majestic procession, with Masses, sermons, and packed churches. The first statue of the same saint that had been brought to the Philippines in 1577, was venerated in a chapel of the same church. During the earthquakes of 1645, Sr. D. Alonso Cuyapit, indioprincipal of San Fernado de Dilao (Paco), had taken it to his house to use it in the procession of the Orden Tercera de San Francisco, and there this statue was seen away from its niche, kneeling at the window overlooking Manila, and shedding tears through all four days of earthquakes. Many people saw this, and wet their handkerchiefs in its tears. A procession was formed to take the statue back to Manila, at which point the quakes ceased. A wind came up, but the candles did not go out. The statue was declared miraculous, and St. Francis was named patron and protector against earthquakes. In 1742, when a galleon failed to arrive, this statue, now called San Francisco de las Lagrimas, was taken out in procession, accompanied by the crosses of all the parishes, the orders, the Real Audiencia, and the Gobernador General. San Francisco de las Lagrimas of the Franciscans together with the Sto. Rosario de la Naval of the Dominicans and the Sto. Cristo del Tesoro of the Real Colegio de Sta. Isabel is considered as the Palladium of the City of Manila during disasters and calamities.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 01:00:19 +0000
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