Grand Marian Festival – Statues of the Virgin Mary from all over the Philippines gather together in this religious procession

The Festival

Every first Sunday of December each year, the Grand Marian Festival brings life to the walled city of Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. The Catholic nation truly awaits the coming of this religious procession. The traditional Feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated for about four centuries now, evolved into a grand display of variety of images of the Virgin Mary. Pope Paul V introduced the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception to the people and since, grand celebration is held in honor of the Virgin Mary.
During the feast, thousands of devotees take part in the celebration with hundreds of images of the Virgin Mary, as it signifies her day of birth. The Grand Marian Procession starts from the Manila Cathedral and into the streets of the Walled City.
Statues of the Virgin Mary from all over the Philippines gather together in this religious procession making this event unique. Highlight of the festival is to witness the tradition and the devotion of the Catholic nation making this once a year celebration very appealing to the masses.
The procession usually starts in the afternoon at five and progresses for two to three hours.
Thousands of devout Catholics share ardent emotions in joining the celebration, with the history of the Old Manila preserved at every wall of Intramuros.
Carozas carry the images of the Virgin Mary of different titles, from different places in the Philippines, while thousands of Catholic devotees and other spectators flood the streets of Intramuros in awe during the grand celebration.

Origin

The religious tradition of celebrating the birth of the Blessed Mother believed to have started in 1980 when the most beautiful images of Virgin Mary from all over the Philippines went into procession in Intramuros.

History

The grand procession ceased in the year of 1945 until revived in 1954 led by the late President Magsaysay, the first Marian Procession joined by about 60 images of Virgin Mary.

The Scoop

The Lady of Guibang

Being canonically crowned by the Apostolic Nuncio Carmine Rocco, the Lady of Guibang was also elevated her church in Guibang to a shrine in 1986 by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. She has come to be known as her official title of Our Lady of the Visitation of Guibang. People of Isabela brings the image of the Lady to Intramuros joining hundres of other images in the yearly celebration of the Marian Procession.

The Origin of the Lady of Guibang

Way back in 1905, the image of the Lady of Guibang was brought to the small shanty of a couple named Francisco and Maria Noble by a unknown young man and asked the couple to pray the Rosary and offer good deeds in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mother.
Following as what is told, the couple lighted a candle infront of the image and the whole night they prayed. The following day at dawn, the scent of unusual sweet fragrance broke in the hut, and later being discovered by the couple that the scent was coming from the image of the Blessed Mother. The occurrence of the unusual event lingered for several days.Soon, news spread throughout the village of Guibang about the extraordinary event. People of huge number came rushing to the hut of the poor couple and offered hymns to the Lady.

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