By Christina Hermoso
Laoag Bishop Renato Mayugba has gifted Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki, Japan with a replica of the revered La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc, also known as the Japanese Madonna.
Bishop Renato Mayugba of Laoag holds the replica of “La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc” that he gave to Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki
(CBCP / MANILA BULLETIN)
The Japanese prelate is expected to enthrone the image in the Nagasaki Cathedral or display it in a museum dedicated to the hidden Japanese Christians in Nagasaki.
In a CBCP News post, Mayugba, who is in Nagasaki said, he hopes to help promote devotion to the revered image of the Blessed Mother. “I’m also here promoting devotion to La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc-Nagasaki. I received a very warm welcome by the descendants of the hidden Christians,” Mayugba said.
Contained in a box, the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary with distinct Japanese features, was found floating on the shores between the Ilocos towns of Badoc and Sinait in 1620 along with the image of a crucified Christ, known as the Santo Cristo Milagroso de Sinait.
Mayugba said “the wooden images came to Ilocos shores in a tightly sealed wooden box which was discovered by Badoc and Sinait fishermen four centuries ago. The sacred images are believed to have come from the persecuted Christians in Japan who had jettisoned these religious artifacts to the sea to avoid being implicated as Christians.”
“The martyrs of this persecution include Blessed Justo Takayama Ukon and San Lorenzo Ruíz,” he added.
Bishop Mayugba’s visit in Nagasaki is expected as the starting point of a relationship between the Diocese of Laoag and the Archdiocese of Nagasaki with La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc as the link, the CBCP said.
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle canonically crowned the image on May 31, 2018. On Feb. 5, the church of Badoc was declared as a Minor Basilica, with Cardinal Thomas Aquinas Manyo Maeda of Osaka in attendance.
Aside from Japan, Bishop Mayugba said replicas of La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc will also be brought to Christuskirche in Heilbronn, Germany on May 25 and to Los Angeles, California in the United States this summer. A replica will also be enshrined in the Basilica of Santa Pudenziana, the National Church of the Filipinos in Rome, Italy and the Titular Church of Cardinal Maeda, later this year.