history of our lady of piat


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Cagayan: Historical Background

Any textbook of history tells us that the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in 1565 after many previous attempts. They contacted the Filipinos first in the Visayas and from there they proceeded to the north. This time they were able to stay in. In 1571 Manila was founded and from there started what is called the conquest or pacification of Luzon.

The following year the coastal area of Cagayan was explored by the young Captain Salcedo. He entered the Cabicungan and Abulug rivers and finally the Rio Granade, the biggest in the Islands, which was baptized as Rio Tajo. But he did not go inland, since the area looked from the sea and the rivers as very mountainous and forbidding. The "Last of the Spanish Conquistadors, " the dashing Salcedo, retired to the Ilocos region where he died in Vigan on March 11, 1576 at the ripe age of 27! Ten years later a Japanese fleet entered the Cagayan River and tried to settle there. News of the arrival of the unwelcome visitors reached Manila and Governor General Gonzalo Ronquillo sent "Captain Pablo Carrion with a group of soldiers in 1581 to drive away from Cagayan soil the Japanese pirate Tayfusa and his flotilla." Carrion succeeded in his mission and established a settlement in 1582 on the right hand side of the Rio Grande, 15 kilometers from the sea to be known as the city of Nueva Segovia, Lallo (Lal-loc) or Bagumbayang, eventually the capital of the Cagayan province, until it was replaced as the seat of the provincial government by Tuguegarao in 1839 (1).

Of course, no Spanish expedition or foundation could take place without the close collaboration of church and state, and so two priests were sent with the Carrion expedition, to serve as chaplains and perhaps to start a new center of evangelical activity. They were Fathers Cristobal de Salvatierra, a Dominican who had arrived in Manila with the first bishop the Dominican Domingo Salazar, whom he served as "provisor" or Vicar general, and Fr. Francisco Rodriguez and Augustinian. The two religious were soon discouraged by the resistance of the natives to receive the preaching of the Gospel, and the bad example set by the Spaniards in the area (soldiers and "encomenderos" alike) and decided to return to Manila. (1 b). In terms of a conquest, Carrion did not find it difficult to submit to the Spanish crown the different ethnic groups living in the area from he north all the way down to Tuguegarao, the flat region. The towns of Pata, Cabicungan, Masi, Abulug, Camalaniugan, Buguey and others voluntarily accepted to be under the King of Spain in the referendum conducted in 1599 (1c). The conquest of the rest of the province would be a different story. The town of Nueva Segovia would give the name to the entire Cagayan Valley which came to be known as the province of Nueva Segovia (from the Caraballos in the south to the China sea in the north, the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Cordilleras or Sierras, dividing the province from the Ilocos, to the west. The Valley was irrigated by the majestic Ibanag River, also known as Tajo and Rio Grande de Cagayan, the Magat and the Rio Chico, some times called Lobo). For a long time (till 1739), the only way to reach Bojeador cape and then by going upstream in the Rio Grande. The natural divisions of the Valley were the northern coastal fringe, and, southwards, the Itaves, the Siguiran, and the Irraya, the Diffun, the Ituy and Paniqui regions. Only in 1841 a division of the Valley or Nueva Segovia was carried out with the creation of the province of Nueva Vizcaya in the south. The Valley would de divided a new in 1856, resulting in three provinces with new boundaries, when the province of Isabela de Luzon was created.

The ethnic composition of Cagayan was a mosaic of small, different races and tribes. The area was not as thickly populated as for instance Pangasinan and the provinces in the low lands. As late as 1750 there were not more than 50,000 people in Nueva Segovia, 70,000 in 1800, and 185,000 in the three provinces in 1889. The main languages spoken were the Ibanag, the Itaves, the Irraya and the Gaddam, with many other dialects. The inhabitants were living in small settlements or hamlets along the riverbanks or in the cultivated plains, as hunters, farmers and fishermen. They had the reputation of being independent minded, valiant, bellicose, and hostile to other groups of course, to all intruders, like the Spaniards.

The Dominican Mission in Nueva Segovia or Cagayan In 1594 the Governor General Luis Perez Dasmariñas requested the Dominican Provincial Fr. Alonzo Jimenez to send missionaries to Cagayan. Though he was more interested, at the time, in sending them to China, he did not wish to displease the Governor and Fathers Diego de Soria and Domingo Castelar were assigned to open the new mission. It should be remembered that " the Founding Fathers" of the Dominican province of the Holy Rosary, among whom Father Diego de Soria was counted, had arrived in the Philippines only in 1587, where the Augustinian, the Franciscan and the Jesuit Fathers have preceded them. By 1594 they were already busy in Manila, working among the numerous Chinese or sangleyes engaged in trade and living there; they had extended their missionary activity to the Bataan peninsula and the province of Pangasinan and were eager to project their evangelical activity to other countries in Asia, as they eventually did in the near future (Japan, Taiwan, China and Vietnam). Fathers Soria and Castelar thought that the task was too much only two men and wee at the pint of retiring to Manila but, fortunately, a large group or "barcada" of Dominican religious arrived in Manila in 1595, and six of them, "the more apt and promising," were assigned also to the Cagayan mission. From then on they never entertained the idea of giving up the mission, no matter how difficult it proved to be. When the people asked them "when are you leaving Cagayan and go back to Manila," the ready answer was according to Fr. Aduarte:"when your big river (Ibanag) runs dry" (2a). Nueva Segovia was created a diocese precisely in 1595. It was one of the three suffragans of Manila, raised to the rank of archdiocese that same year, the other two being Cebu in the Visayas and Nueva Caceres in southern Luzon. Nueva Segovia, in the north of Luzon, counted with the Augustinian missionaries in the Ilocos region and the Dominicans in Pangasinan and Cagayan (Lallo' was the see of the new diocese, which would be eventually transferred to Vigan or Ciudad Fernandina in 1760 for the sake of accessibility, but still keeping the original name of Nueva Segovia). The first bishop of his diocese in 1599. " After arriving from Spain, he went immediately to is poor diocese to take care of his sheep, many of whom were in the province of Nueva Segovia, almost all of them pagans ("infidels"); there were only some 200 baptized adults, the non baptized being innumerable, since the preaching of the Gospel had started only a few years before" (2b). One year later bishop Benavides was transferred to Manila, named archbishop of the metropolitan see. He is better known as the main founder of the great University of Santo Thomas. The second bishop of Nueva Segovia was the founder of that mission, Fr. Diego de Soria (1604-1613). " It was he who, while still a simple religious, gave to the mission its first origins, it was he who built the first churches for the natives, began the work of their conversion and administered the first baptism to a native in that province. And thus, can be said, that he was the Father in Christ of that church" (3). He had been the first prior of the Santo Domingo convent in Manila and afterwards a zealous missionary in the province Pangasinan before being assigned to Nueva Segovia " He was the first minister that those natives had. He built churches and baptized many and very important people among them, and to the most important of them all in the region, Don Diego Siriban, who before was an outlaw, roaming through the mountains ("andaba levantado e inqieto por los montes"), an enemy of the Spaniards. Fr. Diego de Soria reduced him, made him his friend (gave him his own name in baptism as a sign of predilection), a Christian and a very good Christian at that! Another seven native leaders ("regulos") received the baptism together with Don Diego in 1596 (4). In 1599 Fr. Soria was called to Manila, reelected prior in Santo Domingo convent, and then he was sent to Spain to attend to some business of the Dominican province of the Holy Rosary, from where he returned to the Philippines in 1603 already consecrated bishop of his beloved mission on Nueva Segovia, where he arrived in 1604. He lived there until 1613 when he died in Vigan; his mortal remains were brought to Lallo in 1627 to repose in the Dominican church there. These were the beginnings of the Dominican mission of Cagayan, a mission that would continue uninterruptedly for three hundred years (1595-1898), the Dominicans being the only missionaries in the Valley during the Spanish period. More than 275 of them played a more or less important role in this saga of evangelization. The first few years are the more difficult ones in any enterprise and, above all, in the work of the missions, when the missionaries have to learn one or several new languages without the help of teachers, grammars and dictionaries (grammar and dictionaries that they would eventually by the first ones to compose), having to adapt themselves to a new culture an a totally different way of life. The Dominican missionaries in Cagayan increased from 18 in 1598 to 34 in forming small teams that, while living together, would take care collegially of several towns ad settlements in the region (5). The first concern of the missionaries was to bring the people together in larger settlements or towns ("pueblos"), where they could live a more civilized form of existence with more social intercourse, cooperation and protection, Having them all living "bajo campana" (or within the church-bell hearing) was much easier also to instruct them and maximize the limited resources of personnel, religious and secular. By the end of the Spanish period (1898) thee were 34 Dominicans in the province of Cagayan in charge of 27 towns, with 106,942 souls; 16 in Isabela, in charge of 15 towns with 56, 248 souls; and 14 in Nueva Vizcaya in charge of 12 towns, with 22, 458 souls (5b) A historian has written that "the evangelization of the Cagayan Valley is one of the most heroic feats ever accomplished by the Dominican Order. There were many primitive ethnic groups, a veritable label of languages and dialects, diverse climates, difficult topographic conditions, and there many lives of religious, some of them in the vigor of their youth, were lost." (6). It was undoubtedly, the evangelization of the Cagayan Valley that became more costly to the Dominicans in their missionary efforts in the Philippines in terms of lives and of personal sacrifices. Throughout the more than three centuries of uninterrupted evangelization (1595-1898) " the Dominican founded and/ or evangelized a considerable number of towns, accompanied the people of the Valley in the vicissitudes of everyday life, helping them to improve their living conditions with the introduction of new crops and better farming and fishing methods imported from abroad and, above all, and promoting their moral uprightness b imbuing them with Christian values and ways of living their faith" (7) 3. The Itaves region and the town of Piat One of the first areas of the Cagayan Valley to receive the benefits of the Dominican evangelization was the Itaves region, bathes by the waters of the Chico River, "a picturesque valley between the towns of Nassiping and Malaueg.: A missionary outpost was established there in 1596, comprising a territory that would later on be occupied by the towns of Taban (today Santo Niño, Malaueg (today Riza), Tuao, Piat and the Santa Cruz mission. In 1604 three religious were appointed to look after the areas. "once the missionaries entered there, they reduced the people in the area to the three large towns ("pueblos"} in order to instruct them more easily , since before they were scattered in many small hamlets or "rancherias." One of the new towns, with some 500 tributos" was called tabang (its church was dedicated to San Raymond), and the other two, with more than 1,000 "tributos" each, wre Piat (with its church dedicated to St. Agnes of Montepulciano, even if later on was changed to St. Dominic), and Tuao (with its church) dedicated to the Holy Guardian Angels, or Santos Angeles Custodios") (8). The town of Piat (whose name could be derived from the word "piya" in the Ibanag and Itaves dialects, meaning "goodness, kindness, good health") was, then , one of the important towns in the Itaves region; it had its rich, cultivated fields or "sementeras" irrigated by the Chico river. It was the administration of the Dominican Provincial Fr. Miguel de San Jacinto (1604 - 1608) that a missionary outpost was created in Piat (in an area entrusted to the "encomenderos" Pedro Barrera, Juan de Aranada e Isabel de Cardona). The first Holy Mass in the town was celebrated on August 24, 1604 (9). On May 1, 1610 Piat was made the center of mission, a sort of a parish with many barrios, dedicated to St. Dominic of Guzman, Fr. Melchor Manzano was appointed Vicar or regional supervisor of the Itaves region with Fathers Francisco Jurado and Juan Bautista Cano as assistants or members of the team. In 1612 the Vicar of Piat and Tabang was Fr. Juan de Leiva, with Fathers Garcia, Diego Collado and Pedro Gascon as assistants or team members. In 1614 the towns of Tabang, Piat Tuao, Malaueg, and Santa Cruz de Lingay formed the Itaves district, with Fr. Melchor Manzano as Vicar again, assisted by Fathers Tomas Villar, Juan Bautista Cano, and Gaspar Casablanca. In 1616 the mission was entrusted to Fathers Gaspar de Casablanca Jeronimo de Zamora, Domingo Fernandez and Pedro Murie. In 1619 it was under the care of Fathers Carlos Clement, Jeronimo Zamora and Gregorio Terroba. In 1621 there were only two Fathers assigned to Piat, namely Fr. P. Juan de Santa Ana and Lucas Montaner. In 1623 Fr. Juan de Santa remained there, together with Fathers martin de la Asuncion and Juan Bautista Meneses. In 1625 the famous Fr. Ambrosio de la madre de Dios was in charge of the mission, with Fr. Ildefonso de Santo Domingo as his assistant (10). We think it is relevant to mention all these names not only because all of them were great missionaries, some of them very saintly, but also because they were familiar with the origins of, and the devotion to our Lady of Piat. I would like to underlined that it was also part of the Dominican policy at that time to change the missionary team in a certain area every two years, particularly when the same language was used in the different town of assignation. The criteria for these assignation were: more detachment, and a greater mobility and efficiency.

Our Lady of Piat

The first author to write about Our Lady of Piat was no less than the illustrious historian, and 5th bishop of Nueva Segovia, Fr. Diego de Aduarte, OP. His voluminous and beautifully written work entitles " Historia de la Provincia del Santo Rosario de la Orden de Predicadores en Filipinas, Japan y China" was published in Manila, in the UST press, in 1640. The last chapters of the book written by Fr. Domingo Gonzalez to deal precisely with Fr. Aduarte himself (certainly an extraordinary man!), who had died in 1636. Other editions of the same work were printed in Zaragoza. Spain in 1693 and, once again, much later in Madrid in 1962; this latter edition was printed in 2 vols. by Fr. Manuel Ferrero, OP. It is from is modern edition that we quote. Chapter LX of Fr. Aduarte's monumental work carries the following heading: " What Our Lord worked out through the Intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary, Venerated in an Ermita " (chapel, sanctuary or shrine) located between the towns ("pueblos") of Piat and Tuao." (11). There was a wide gap in the chronological history or Piat, until Fr. Francisco Rojano, a missionary in Cagayan between the years 1717 and 1746, was commanded by two Provincials to write a " History of Cagayan" (still manuscript) and he dedicated considerable space to Piat, where he was the Vicar for some years. Again, after Fr. Rojano many years passed by without further information about Piat " an unforgivable negligence of the missionaries in the mountains and plains of the Cagayan Valley, and specifically of the chaplains and parish priest of the Piat and its sanctuario!," according to another historian" (12). Late in the 19th century Fr. Jose Maria Brugues, a missionary in the Cagayan Valley between 1873 and 1898, wrote an extraordinary "Memoria del Valle de Cagayan", containing valuable information about Piat (13). And, finally. The great historian Fr. Jualian Malumbres, who spent most of his life in Cagayan (1882-1898, 1914-1932), published, among his many works dealing with the different provinces and towns of the Valley, a "Historia de Nuestra. Sra. De Piat," burrowing heavily from Fathers Aduarte and Rojano, but adding some valuable information of his own (14).

The pilgrim Lady:

The itinerary of the Blessed Image of Our Lady of Piat started in Macao (China) from where it was brought to Manila (Philippines). From Manila she was taken to Lallo (north of Luzon) and from there to Piat. From Piat she was taken to Tuguegarao till, finally, she was brought once again, and nor now good, to Piat, as we will describe in the following paragraphs. All the authors mentioned above concur in telling us that the Image of Our Lady venerated in the Ermita or Santuario of Piat had been "made in Macao, colony and city of the Portuguese in the kingdom of the great China, and from thee it was brought to the Philippines)." (Fr. Aduarte). Fr. Malumbres adds that "the image of Our Lady of the Visitation was made by the Chinese in Macao" (15). It should be noticed that the original title of the Image was "Our Lady of the Holy Rosary," while later on the name was changed to that of Our Lady of Visitation." With her liturgical festivity celebrated on July 2. No description of the Image is given by any of the historians., though it is often mentioned that is " of talla" (a sculpture or statue, as opposed to a painting or canvass). We assume, and there is absolutely no reason to doubt it, that the image is the same one venerated at present in Piat, and all of us are very familiar with the way she looks. To my surprise, I have been told by our dear archbishop Diosdado A. Talamayan, that the Image is made of "Paper-mache," The Webster Dictionary defines "paper mache" as a light and strong molding material of high plasticity made typically from water paper pulped with glue and other additives," According to the British Encyclopedia, "paper mache" in English or "papier mache" in French, is a rigid material made out of paper pulp or paper together with flour, glue together with flour, glue, resin or other materials." It was not till early in the 18th century that it was used in France and Europe (there were different articles made of several layers of paper glued together; there were also other materials beside paper also used), but it became very popular and fashionable in the 19th century. In the Orient, mostly in China, that technique had been in use even centuries before. The result of this technique was an object (artifact, utensil or statute) light, consistent and durable (16). Though it is affirmed by all the historians that the Image was made in Macao or " by the Chinese in Macao," we are not told when it was made. It is important to recall that the Portuguese established themselves in Macao in 1556, and it is impossible to think that the Image would have been made before that time. The enclave became a diocese in 1576. Three of the 18 Spanish Dominican, "founding father" of the Holy Rosary Province, departed from Acapulco to Macao, while the other 15 proceeded from Acapulco to manila in 1587. The Fathers who went to Macao built a small convent besides a church which was given them, and dedicated it to Our Lady of the Rosary and admitted to the Order a Portuguese-Chinese mestizo named Antonio de Santa Maria. Due to the opposition of the Portuguese authorities, always suspicious of the intentions of the Spaniards, the Dominicans had to give up soon the foundation in the Portuguese colony, considered an important outpost for the evangelization of China, and were not allowed to join his confreres in Manila, having to return to Spain by way of India. The Portuguese Dominicans arrived in Macao towards the end of that century and inherited the convent founded by the Spaniards. Later on they built a much bigger one, still under the patronage of Our Lady of the Rosary, known also as San Domingos. From 1604 to 1623 the bishop of Macao was the Portuguese Dominican Joao Pinto da Piedade, who had been before prior of the Dominican convent in Goa (India). We are not told either who brought the Image of Our Lady of the Rosary from Macao to Manila. In reference to its Chinese origin, I wish to mention here that the image of Our Lady of the Rosary of La Naval, venerated at the Santo Domingo convent of Manila, as well as that of the Santo Cristo, venerated at the Shrine of San Juan. MM were also sculpted by Chinese artists in Binondo (Manila), under the guidance and instructions of the Dominican Fathers. The contacts between Macao and Manila, commercial and otherwise were very common the beginning of the XVIIth century, and it can be assumed that the holy Image was either sent to Manila in one of the many sampans ("champans") frequently coming from China. We do not know who sent it or exactly when. Could it had been he Image of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Macao church? Could it had been a gift of the Portuguese Dominicans of Macao when they took possession of the Spanish Dominican church? Or was it made to order by a Spanish Dominican visitor from Manila to the Portuguese colony, impressed, perhaps, by the novelty of the technique. It might have been brought to Manila by a Spanish Dominican passing through Macao. We know that Fathers Juan de Castro and Miguel Benavides went to China in 1590. Three years later Fathers Luis Gandullo and Juan de Castro, entered China in 1597. And Fr. Aduarte himself spent some time there on the way back Manila from his expedition to the Asian continent. There are many question marks regarding the Image of Our Lady of Piat for which, unfortunately, we have no answer. One thing is sure that the image was kept in the convent of Santo Domingo in Intramuros before it was transferred to Nueva Segovia. Was it venerated in that conventual's church? We know that the roof of Santo Domingo collapsed in 1588 and that the convent and church were guttered by fire in 1593. In both cases we are told that "the altar of the Holy Rosary and the Blessed Sacrament" did not suffer any damage at all! The famous Image of Our Lady of the Rosary (known today as of La Naval de Manila) was made by a Chinese artist by order the Governor General Luis Perez Dasmariñas (1593-1595) which he gave to Santo Domingo Convent. Aduarte dedicates several chapters of his monumental work (12-15) to describe the image and to narrate the graces she granted and the "miracles" she performed. We do not know either whether the Image of Our Lady made in Macao had an intended destination. Was it requested by bishop Diego de Sorai, or was it given him as a gift on his departure for Nueva Segovia in 1604, to face the challenging assignment as bishop of that poor diocese? It was the practice of the Dominicans to carry an image of the Virgin of the Holy Rosary with them in their difficult journeys. That was the case, for instance, two years before (1602), when the first group of Dominican missionaries departed from Manila to establish a mission in Japan. Whatever the answers to all these questions may be, two things remain sure: that the Image was made in Macao and that it was brought from Manila to Cagayan at the beginning of the XVIIth century, most likely by bishop Diego de Soria himself in 1604. Fr. Malumbres explicitly says so (17). According to the first historian of what we all now call "Our Lady Piat," bishop Aduarte, the blessed Image "was placed at the beginning in the church (Santo Domingo) that the Order (Dominican) has in the city of Nueva Segovia." There was another church in the city, pretentiously called the cathedral, but the bishop entrusted her to the Dominicans, the preachers of the Rosary, "From here, some time later ("andando el tiempo"0, it was carried to the pueblo of Piat and it was placed in he "altar colateral" (or one of the two side altars) of our Lady of the Rosary." This seems to imply that there was already a previous image or painting of Our Lady of the Rosary in that altar (18). The exact date or year when the Image of Our Lady was taken from Santo Domingo of Lallo to Santo Domingo of Piat is not given. Neither we are told why was it sent to Piat? It seems the Image from Macao was not exactly of the liking of some of the people in the provincial capital, perhaps of some Spaniards. They could have found it too dark ("muy morena"), or, perhaps again, they looked down on it, since it was not ivory, as it used to be the fashion of the time. We venture to guess that the transfer of the Image from Lallo to Piat could have taken place towards the years 1610-1612 when Piat became an independent mission center. And there " she remained some years " ("unos anos") (19). How many? We are not told, but it could be some 10 years. The priest in Piat, at least the Vicar, Fr. Juan de Santa Ana (1621), did not seem to have much enthusiasm for the Chinese-Portuguese Image, and so he ordered to be made and brought to Piat "another one very beautiful, with the face and hands of ivory, and with a very trendy vestment made to the fashion of those days ("un ropaje muy curioso, hecho a lo nuevo"), and proceeded to have two images interchanged ( "parecio rocarlas"). That is , the new or beautiful one should take the place of the former. What to do with the old one? It was decided to send the Image of Piat to a new foundation (Tuguegarao, 1619) "which was lacking in everything, and needed , above all, " an Image of our Lady. Universal solace ("consuelo") of the missionaries and of the natives ("indians")! (20) But the Fathers had not taken into consideration the feelings of the people of Piat who seemed to have fallen in love with their image (even if not fashionable; the brown color may have been appealing to them!), "through whose intercession they had received many favors ("mercedes") (21). Fr. Aduarted describes the miraculous and instantaneous healing of a 3 years old, little child, who as brought to the church half dead, and whose mother, at the suggestion of the Vicar, Fr. Santa Ana, presented him and prayed for him before Our Lady of the Rosary. It seems that this miracle would have occurred before the Image had been sent to Tuguegarao. No wonder that, when they were deprived of the Image " to whom they had a great devotion, they and fell shortchanged and offended ("agraviados"); whey were very persistent (" hicieron tanta instancia") that their beloved Image should be returned to them. Fr. Santa Ana had to give into the request and had a replica of the Image painted ("tuvo que hacer pintar otra en un lienzo") and sent it to Tuguegarao, bringing back the original one, to the delight of the people of Piat, rejoicing to see that beloved Image back in their church. A new difficulty arose. It seems that the people of the neighboring pueblo of Tuao considered themselves with a certain claim to the image ("Tuao and Piat disputed the better right to have the image " says Fr. Malumbres) (22). What the basis for that claim could be, we do not know. Fr. Santa Ana, while searching for the most suitable place where to put the image ("donde se pondria que estuviese con decencia"), came up with a solomonic decision. Neither in Piat nor in Tuao. He thought that an Ermita or shrine should be built near the road connecting Piat and Tuao, in a place distant "some half a league," more or less, from each of them and in the middle of the cultivated fields or "sementera," "where the people of both towns could have easy access to it, serving and revering Our Lady," The solution pleased everybody and setting their hands to the task ("poniendo manos a la obra"), very soon had the Ermita built, where the Image of their beloved Lady could be enthroned (23).

The first shrine of Our Lady of Piat

Of course, the occasion called for a great celebration. And so on the feast of St. Stephen, the day after Christmas, of the year 1623 " the image of Our Lady was solemnly brought to the Ermita from Piat, the people following in devout procession." The people of Tuao did likewise, marching in procession towards the Ermita to welcome Our Lady "with great rejoicing and happiness of all." The following day the Ermita was blessed and a very solemn Mass was officiated (with deacon and sub-deacon): a sermon was preached to the crowd of more than 10, 000 people ("pasaban de diez mil personas"). Who gathered there from all the neighboring towns (24). It is amazing that such a large multitude would have gathered there, considering that the area was no thickly populated, and that the work of evangelization had been going on for only 25 years . They all were first generation Christians! Yet, it s interesting to note that, according to the same historian, Fr. Duarte, in the town of Nassiping, " on the banks of the Rio Grande, five or six leagues upstream from the city of the Spaniards (Lallo), by 1625, only twenty one years after having religious ministers, more than 3,400 have been baptized, as attested to by the baptismal records; and this not counting those baptized in case of serious sickness ("in articulo mortis"), who were not entered in the record book," (25). Nalfotan, later called Malaueg (today Rizal), "after 18 years of evangelization counted with a Christian population of 4, 670 souls" (26). Piat itself may have had at this time some 2,450 souls. In any case, the crowd that attended the dedication of the new shrine of Our Lady of Piat was really impressive! Aduarte adds to this effect, by way of an explanation: "So the holy Image moved the natives ("indians") to love, esteem and revere her."! And then he goes on to offer another interesting peace of information. An important lady from Piat (belonging to the "principalia." Or local aristocracy as indicated by the honorific title of Doña) took upon herself the responsibility of looking after the Ermita. She was the first "camarera: or caretaker of Our Lady. For this purpose, she decided to open up a new field ( or "sementera") and built a house near the shrine, so that she and her servants could visit the sacred place often and commend themselves to the Virgin. Besides, she place lamp there, that kept always burning before the venerated Image. This noble "indian" lady was named Doña Ines Magui'abbun (27).

A powerful intercessor

And this could be the end of the Piat story, were not for the portents that Our Lady began to perform on behalf of their beloved children, who came to Piat on pilgrimage from all, corners of the Valley or who, from a distance, invoked he in their moments of trial and need. We have been already how the people of Piat loved the Blessed Mother and how "they had received many favors from her." Even before she came back from Tuguegarao to a triumphant and loving reception, and to be installed in her shrine. Fr. Aduarte makes mention of some of these favors or "mercedes".

a) A "principalito" is cured.

The first " favor or merces" had something to do, as it would seem proper, with Doña Ines: it was if the Blessed Mother would want to correspond promptly to the devotion and generosity of her "camarera". It so happened that a five years old nephew of theirs developed a pestiferous tumor under the arm, which threatened the life of the little child. She brought him to the Ermita and asked him to pray to the lady for his health. Doña Ines went to attend to other business, and the little boy fell asleep on the stool Our Lady's altar. And, Lo! and behold!, he walked up shortly after perfectly cured. When Fr. Santa Ana asked the little boy what had happened to him, he said he did not know. When the Father insisted if he had prayed to Our Lady, he answered innocently: "Yeas, I said I Holy Mary, have mercy on me," as he had been thought by his aunt. The news spread quickly over the entire area, the child being "a principalito," belonging to an important family, and the devotion to our Lady of Piat was increased (28).

b. The end of a persistent draught.

The second miracle narrated by Aduarte had a greater resonance. The Itaves region, an agricultural area, experienced quite often severe draughts. But the one of 1624 was much worse than others they had suffered before. Not a single drop of water had fallen for months and months. The farmers had planted their seed several times in vain. No crop was forthcoming. Fathers Juan de Santa Ana and Andres de haro, vicars of Piat and Tuao respectively, were thinking of organizing some processions and rogations to implore from heaven the much wanted rain, but were afraid that the new Christians might falter in their faith or loose their trust in the power of prayer if the much wanted result were not faithful, who agreed to go ahead with the plan. The Fathers preached fervent sermons to the people, insisting on the need to "repent from their sins and receive the sacrament of reconciliation, so that their prayers for rain would be heard. The people did that with great devotion. They stayed the whole day in the Ermita, confessing their sins, while others sung the Salve and recited other prayers to Our lady. The people themselves proposed to march in procession to the Ermita from their respective towns the following day. Gut even before the procession could get started, it began to rain so profusely first over Piat, and then over Tuao, too, and their "sementeras" that "it seemed that the cataracts of heaven have been broken." The procession was eventually held, but now a procession of thanksgiving to Our Lady of Piat for the favor received. It kept raining uninterruptedly for three days. Needless to say that that year there was an abundant crop! (29).

c. Several encores

As a consequence of all these graces granted by Our Lady "the people of Piat, above all, became a affectionate to that holy Image that in any need for rain, they immediately had recourse to her and requested the Fathers to go to the Ermita in procession." Fr. Juan de Santa Ana declared that on several occasions. " compelled by these appeals and the nee for water, he went there with the boys and girls of the town, whom he asked to pray before the holy Image, with the result that, the Lord, being the lover of innocence, listened to their prayers and granted them the needed rain. If it happened that he was unable to go, being busy or sick, he ordered the church singers to go with the children and other pious people who accompanied them to the Ermita, with the processional candlesticks and the holy Cross hoisted, marching in front, and once they sung the Salve and said the other prayers to Our Lady, the desired effect was obtained." For this reason, concludes Fr. Aduarte, the natives and the religious, all have much devotion to this grand Lay, and go to say Mass at the shrine very often, for the many favors she grants to her devotees" (30). Many other favors, graces and "miracles, " besides those mentioned by Fr. Aduarte, have been attributed to the intercessory powers of Our Lady of Piat all along the 400 years of her loving relationship with the people of Cagayan. Fr. Francisco Rojano, OP includes some others, of which he himself was a witness. The most important one happened on the feast of the Visitation on the year 1737.

d. A "buried" child is found alive.

Fr. Rojano tells the story this way: ("On that day"), the eave ("alero") of the roof of the Ermita began to fall on a child, eight years old, the son of N. Mangacad, as seen by myself, Don Carlos Calawi and many other principals from the town. We could not come to the child's help, since we were afraid for our own lives. All we could do was to pray to Our Lady while he tiles, the bricks and the mortar continued falling on the child. After all that deluge ("dilubio") of heavy materials fell on him, we hurried to unbury the boy, presuming he had been crashed to death. What a prodigy of Our Lady! We found the child unharmed, with only a little scratch in the head, of which he recovered promptly" (31).

e. A boy recovers his mind

Several of the graces or "miracles" narrated by Fr. Benito Gomez in Abulug fell from the roof of the convent. As a consequence of the impact the boy became insane. When his mother, Doña Paula, heard about the misfortune, she lost no time in bringing the young man to Our Lady of Piat where she offered some candles and alms for a Mass to be said for the boy. And "in no time, her son Benito, became healthy again and free from his madness"(32).

f. The needed water

Several of the graces or "miracles' narrated by Fr. Rojano had something to do with draughts, so frequent in that agricultural area. One of the worst in memory was so severe the even the "esteros" of Malaueg dried up ("which is something to say"!). The people had recourse to Our Lady of Piat and immediately it began to rain. It was not the first or the only time. People could remember and extraordinary occurrence having happened in 1716 (33).

g. Free from the grip of a crocodile

Another special "miracle" recounted by Fr. Rojano occurred "on the Holy Week of 1739; a native ( an "indio") from Piat was crossing the river that flows near the Ermita., when he was caught by a crocodile. Placed in this terrible trance he called on Our Lady of Piat to come to his rescue. And, at the same time that he made the invocation, the crocodile let loose of his pray, and the poor man , still shaking violently, went to the Ermita to thank Our Lady." This incident was told to Fr. Rojano by Fr. Diego de la Torre, who added that there were many witnesses to this prodigy (34).

h. Lost at sea

Father Rojano himself was a witness of other "miracle" which took place on June 1, 1739 when the "fragata" in which he was traveling with others entered the mouth of the river in Aparri and, surprisingly, all of a sudden it went dead for lack of wind. Thanks to this incident they were able to save a certain N. Cabusig and seven other companions, whose boat had been overturned, coming from Masi. In this dire situation, Cabusig had recourse to Our Lady of Piat, of whom he was a devotee. "Our Lady ordered the things in such a way that our frigate went to a full stop right there were fighting in the grip of death, ad trembling of cold and fear." Witnesses of this were several priests and all the other passengers traveling with them (35).

i. A serious flooding

This time it was a problem of too much water. The Itaves river overflowed to the point that he water reached the cliff were the Ermita was built and the surrounding area, flooding the area and reaching several feet in height. Surprisingly, not a single drop of water entered the Church, as if there was an invisible and mysterious wall preventing the water from going in. When, eventually, the river went back to its normal course, the Ermita was so dried, clean and tidy that no one would say any rain had fallen and not flooding had occurred in the vicinity. All this happened to the great surprise of the caretaker or "ermitaño" who, afraid for his life, had climbed to the altar of Our Lady and, on his knees, prayed for his safety. He propagated the extraordinary event and many people went to see for themselves what the "ermitaño" was telling, and could verify by themselves that it was true, when they could see the marks of the height reached by the water on the walls outside, but could not detect a single spot or a sign of water inside the Church (36).

j. A child cured of leprosy

One more, and the last "miracle," in Fr. Rojano's account. A little son of Alferez Don Pedro Leon y Labuag, a resident of Lalo, was covered with "a very repulsive leprosy" so that he was not allowed to touch anybody for fear of contamination. When the help of Our Lady of Piat was sought. With the customary invocations and prayers, the boy was completely cured to the amazement of all (38).

k. The reverence for the Ermita

As a sign of the respect the people had for Our Lady and her Ermita due to all these wonders. Fr. Rojano narrates that during the insurrection in 1718, many abuses, excesses, and even sacrileges were committed by the rebels. But the same rebels "took good care that the Ermita would be kept tidy, clean and with the perpetual light of the lamp burning in front of the Virgin, as usual. For this purpose they ordered the native who took care of it to remain in his place in his house, threatening him with execution if he would abandon the Ermita or was negligent in the performance of his former duties in the service of the holy Image" (37). Fr. Malumbres is sure that many other favors and "miracles" ahd been performed through the intercession of our Lady of Piat, besides those narrated by Fr. Aduarte and Fr. Rojano, and "laments the ignorance of the simple people and the unforgivable negligence of the Cagayan missionaries and, above all, of the parish priests and chaplains of Our Lady of Piat" in reporting such events from 1750 onwards. Only two other :miracles," which took place in 1895 and 1908 respectively, had been brought to his attention.