Holy Masses, candle light processions and parlor games highlighted the feast day of the Nuestra Señora dela Annunciata (Our Lady of the Annunciation) in Old Boso-Boso, Antipolo City.

The celebration of the Holy Eucharist by Fr. John Jay Magpusao, parish priest of the Nuestra Señora dela Annunciata Church, at 5:30 p.m. on March 8 ended the novena masses in honor of Boso-Boso community’s Marian image.

The fiaccolata, or the candlelight procession, will happen at 6:30 p.m. right after the Mass by Fr. Magpusao on March 8.  A similar procession of the image of the Nuestra Senora dela Annunciata and Saint Gabriel the Archangel was held on Friday evening as part of the feast day activities.

On Friday afternoon, the parishioners gathered at the parish church to attend the Holy Mass presided by Antipolo Bishop Ruperto Cruz Santos in celebration of the feast day of the white-skinned image of the Virgin Mary, commonly referred to as "Inay Ciata".  

Antipolo Bishop Ruperto Santos chats with parish priest Fr. John Jay Magpusao prior to the afternoon Mass on March 7 (photo from the parish's social communication team)

The candlelight procession on Friday was a solemn activity for the community.

The image of Archangel Gabriel was brought all the way from Pililla, Rizal for this year’s religious activities.

The image of Our Lady of the Annunciation and Angel Gabriel 

Parishioners were scheduled to join the “Larong Lahi” or the parlor games that highlight the traditional Filipino fiesta games in the afternoon of March 8.

Fr. Magpusao said this year’s feast day celebration in honor of Boso-Boso’s Virgin Mary, which carries the theme “Inay Ciata, Gabay sa Lakbay Pag-Asa, is a prelude to the pontifical coronation of the Marian image of Boso-Boso on May 25.

Known among the parishioners as "Inay Ciata", the revered image was crafted in 2016 by Paete, Laguna artist Maestro Justino “Paloy” Cagayat, Jr. under the guidance of then parish priest Fr. Wilson Peñaranda of the Order of the Ministers of the Infirm (MI), or the Camillians, a religious order which was founded by Saint Camillus de Lellis.

The image of the Nuestra Senora dela Annunciata dressed in its feast day gown during the March 7 procession (photo from the parish social communication team) 

The devotion in honor of the Virgin Mary’s annunciation event was revived in the upland communities of Barangay San Jose and its surrounding areas by the Camillian priests who took over the parish church after being abandoned for years.

Early this year, Pope Francis issued a decree, through the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, granting the coronation of the Antipolo City Marian statue. 

The white-skinned image of the Virgin Mary holding a scepter will become the seventh Marian image to receive the pontifical crown in the Diocese of Antipolo.

To help the parish church to spread the devotion to the Nuestra Senora dela Annunciata, the church is accepting donations through bank transfer via Metrobank Account: Account Name: Nuestra Señora dela Annunciata Parish; Account Number: 471-347119931-2.