A DOMINICAN priest has encouraged the devotees of Our Lady of La Naval to surrender their worries to the Blessed Virgin Mary, saying she brings the faithful to God and delivers His grace whenever they face hardships.
In his homily during the enthronement of the Our Lady of La Naval on Thursday, Oct.3, Santo Domingo Convent prior Fr. Roger Quirao, O.P. advised struggling Catholics to turn to God and to the Blessed Virgin Mary to be freed from their hardships.
“The gifts of Grace increase as the struggles increase. Kaya nga tayo nakakabangon dahil tayo ay pinagkakalooban ng maraming biyaya ng Panginoong Diyos (We recover because God gives us a lot of blessings),” Quirao said at the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City.
According to him, the power of Mary’s prayers is rooted in her universal role as the mother who bore Jesus Christ on earth.
“[B]ecause Mother Mary is the queen enthroned next to the Lord Jesus, she is always listened to and gratified by our Lord Jesus,” the convent prior said.
“Because of the greatness of Her love here on earth, she did bear to our Lord Jesus Christ, the beloved of her heart, Jesus will refuse her nothing, that whatever she shall ask, she will surely obtain,” he added.
Citing the miracle at the wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine upon the request of Mary, who cared about the hosts, Quirao said the event was a “concrete manifestation” of her love for people.
“She has proven how powerful [were] her intercessory prayers while she was here on earth, and how much more now that she is enjoying the company of all the saints and blessed in the kingdom of God?” he said.
Quirao said Jesus does not always respond immediately to prayers but devotees can seek “heavenly favors” or comfort and clarity from Mary.
“Has anyone come away from her troubled or saddened or ignorant of heavenly favors? Instead, we feel very relieved when we lay all our feelings, all our grievances at the feet of the Blessed Mother. We feel different when we cry in front of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Quirao said.
“She pours forth from her bountiful blessings on all her trusting and thirsting children, pouring all the heavenly favors we ask from her, good for our bodies and souls,” he added.
According to Quirao, the theme of this year’s La Naval festivities was based on St. Paul VI’s description of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “advocate of heavenly favors.” He assured devotees that turning to Mary would always be the “right choice” for troubled individuals since she is prepared to listen and offer herself to God’s children.
“We will never be humiliated when we kneel before her, and she will never let us down for she is a mother who desires nothing but the happiness and wellness of all of us,” Quirao said.
Last Thursday’s motorcade and enthronement rites marked the start of the festivities in honor of Our Lady of La Naval de Manila. The Marian image is honored with a grand procession every second Sunday of October.
The annual celebration of the La Naval began after Filipinos-Spanish troops won five naval battles against Dutch Protestant invaders in Manila. The victory was tied to the intercession of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, one of the famous titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The image was transferred to the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City in 1952 after World War II destroyed its original home in Intramuros, Manila. F — with reports from Barbra Althea Gavilan
