The faithful are invited to join the festivities leading to the grand feast of La Naval de Manila on Oct. 9.
The Santo Domingo Church (National Shrine of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary La Naval de Manila) in Quezon City will be holding activities from Sept. 29 to Oct. 9 in celebration of the event.
Enthronement rites for the revered image will be held on Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. A motorcade will be held in the morning at 8 a.m.
The Alab ng La Nava (online prayer petition) will be held from Sept. 1 to 29. The first of the nine-day novena that will be preceded by the praying of the holy rosary will begin on Sept. 30 and daily until Oct. 8 at 5:20 p.m.
The much-awaited procession will be held on Oct. 9 at 4 p.m. This year’s theme is Journeying with Mary, Towards a Church of Communion, Participation, and Mission.
The feast of La Naval de Manila coincides with the observance of October as Holy Rosary Month.
The first celebration of the Feast of La Naval de Manila was held on Oct. 8, 1646, in Intramuros, Manila to mark the naval victory of the Spanish and Filipino Catholic forces against the invading Dutch fleet. Reminiscent of the victory of the greatly outnumbered Christian naval forces against the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, which was attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Mother, the joint Spanish and Filipino forces, upon the advice of the Dominican friars, prayed the Holy Rosary before each encounter with the invading forces between March 15 and Oct. 4. Finally, the Dutch fleet gave up and left the country.
In thanksgiving to God and the Holy Mother for the victory, Spanish church leaders initiated the celebration of the first feast of La Naval de Manila, which has since then been annually marked with holy masses and a grand procession of the sacred image.