The fifth of the nine-day novena masses that began on October 8 will be held Tuesday, Oct. 12, at the Santa Cruz Parish in Manila, in observance of the Feast of Our Lady of Pillar.

Holy masses in honor of the feast will be held on Sunday, Oct. 17. Manila Archdiocese Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula will preside over a high mass at 10 a.m. Holy masses will also be held at 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m., and at 5:45 p.m.
All masses will be streamed live through the parish Facebook page. Only the fully vaccinated will be allowed inside the church to fill in 10 percent of its capacity or about 100 persons.
In Zamboanga City, where the image of Nuestra Senora La Virgin del Pillar has been venerated for almost four centuries, a holy mass will be offered at her shrine in Fort Pilar.
Special masses in honor of Our Lady of Pillar will also be offered in Imus, Cavite; Tagbilaran City, Bohol; Las Pinas City; Morong, Bataan; and Pilar, Capiz.
At her major shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of Pillar in Zaragoza, Spain, where miraculous healings had been reported for centuries, the “pillar” or column which was believed to be the one used by the Blessed Mother when she appeared in a vision to St. James the Greater in 44 A.D. has been a point of pilgrimage for many years.
According to accounts, St. James was making very little progress spreading the Gospel in Spain during the early days of the Church. The Blessed Mother, who was still living in Jerusalem at the time, bi-located and appeared to him in a vision atop a pillar carried by angels and encouraged him to continue his apostolate and evangelization work. The pillar is believed to be the same one venerated in Spain today.