Our Lady of Caysasay
| Our Lady of Caysasay Mahal na Birhen ng Caysasay |
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| Location |
Taal, Batangas, Philippines
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| Date | 1603 |
| Type | wooden statue |
| Holy See approval | December 8, 1954 by Pope Pius XII |
| Shrine | Archdiocesan Shrine of the Our Lady of Caysasay |
| Patronage | Taal, Batangas, Batangas |
| Attributes | Crown with thirteen stars |
Our Lady of Caysasay (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Caysasay) is a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay in Taal, Batangas in the Philippines. The image, which depicts the Immaculate Conception, is believed to be one of the oldest in the country, having been found in 1603 by a man fishing in the Pansipit River. The subsequent Marian apparitions documented by Spanish colonial church leaders were the first in the country; devotees today continue to attribute miracles to the Virgin.
The image was canonically crowned in 1954 and was later given the title the "Queen of the Archdiocese of Lipa". The feast day of Our Lady of Caysasay is celebrated every December 8 and 9. The image spends half the week in the Shrine of Caysasay and the other half at the Basilica de San Martin de Tours, to satisfy the needs of the locals and followers.
The wooden image, measuring about 272 mm (10.7 in), shows the Virgin as tilting slightly forward, her hands clasped across her breasts below her right shoulder. One eye is slightly bigger than the other. It was found wearing a simple, red tunic gathered above its waist that billowed into huge folds around the ankles, and clad in a green shawl.
Our Lady of Guidance enshrined in Ermita, Manila, is the oldest known Marian image in the country. The report and documentation of the apparitions of 1611-1619 and 1639, are unique in Philippine church annals as they are believed to be the first Marian apparitions in the Philippines. In those days, the country was under the autonomous Mexican vicariate; Fr. Casimiro Díaz, who reported the confirmation of the apparitions and miracles, was a deputy of the order's Mexican center.
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Wikipedia