CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

A. Introduction:

One characteristic of the Filipino culture is having a close-knit family ties. Part of

this is the “mother-child relationship”1 or the “maternal bond.”2 Mother plays a significant

role in the family, most especially in the Philippine society. Filipino culture points to the

mother as a source of comfort and of relief in the family. There is a high regard and love

for the mother; there is no wonder that Filipinos have a heart close to Mary. For the

Filipino faithful, the Blessed Mother occupies a special place in the heart of every Filipino

Christian family. The loving concern and affection of a mother is clearly seen in Mary’s

role as the Mother of God. Like any mother, Mary gave to her Son the best she could offer.

This mother-child relationship is manifested in the Church through the practice and

observance of the Marian devotions. Filipinos express their maternal bond to Mary, which

reflects the biological mother-child relationship, by way of honoring Mary as a mother

who cares, protects, and listens. As Pope Paul VI used to say, “to be a Christian is to be

Marian.” 3 Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.

1
This phrase refers to the quality of emotional interactions between mothers and their children. Eileen G.
Espina, “Mother-Child Response in the Philippines,” Philippine Studies 40, no. 22, (1996) 153.
2
The maternal bond is typically the relationship between a mother and her child. While it typically occurs
due to pregnancy and childbirth, it may also occur between a woman and an unrelated child, such as in
adoption…. Bonding is a gradually unfolding experience that can take hours, days, weeks or months to
evolve. Many believe that early bonding ideally increases response and sensitivity to the child's needs,
bolstering the quality of the mother-baby relationship. Science Daily, Maternal Bond,
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/maternal_bond.htm (accessed February 26, 2021).
3
Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation for the Right Ordering and Development of Devotion to the Blessed
Virgin Mary, Marialis Cultus (Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, 1974), 5. Henceforth, MC.

1
 These Marian devotions belong to the “expressions of faith that extends the liturgical

life of the Church”4 where man experiences God. In fact, in man’s vocation to live and to

announce the message of salvation which he experiences and discovers, aside from the

sacraments, popular devotions also serve as avenues of its expression. These are the pious

exercises, devotions, popular piety, and popular religiosity which the Directory of Popular

Piety had distinguished. These expressions of faith, which gained place in the hearts of

every believer, are being passed from generation to generation. The Constitution on the

Liturgy states:

Popular devotions of the Christian people are to be highly commended, provided they
accord with the laws and norms of the Church, above all when they are ordered by the
Apostolic See. … But these devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonize with
the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived from
it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses
any of them.5

In propagating these devotions, one important thing is not guaranteed, which needs to

be considered for validation and evaluation: whether there is a proper process of

catechizing the people into a particular devotion as it was being passed and transmitted to

the next generation for profound understanding and appreciation. Now, having a proper

process, the next important thing is its validity in the sense of providing a proper catechesis

for the exercise of the devotion. And if there is none, the devotion must have a renewal in

order to animate it. Pope Paul VI in his Evangelii Nuntiandi says that while popular

devotions are basically sound, they also need correction or improvement, since popular

devotions evolved from the people’s faith.6 Pope Paul VI said that,

4
Catechism of the Catholic Church (Manila: ECCCE Word and Life Publications, 1994), 1675.
Henceforth, CCC.
5
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum
Concilium (Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, 1963), 13. Henceforth, SC.
6
Leonardo N. Mercado, SVD, Inculturation and Filipino Theology (Manila: Divine Word Publications,
1992), 145.

2
 We must be sympathetic in our approach, quick to appreciate its inherent nature and
its desirable qualities and zealous to direct it so that the dangers arising out of errors
may be avoided. When it is wisely directed popular piety of this kind can make a
constantly increasing contribution towards bringing the masses of our people into
contact with God in Jesus Christ.7

The Catholicity in the Philippines is “deeply rooted in popular religiosity.” 8 In fact,

from its being rooted in popular religiosity, Filipino Catholicism is Marian. Filipinos are

characterized as “Pueblo amante de Maria – people in love with Mary.”9 Undoubtedly, the

devotions especially in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary with her various titles and

attributes, are being propagated in every local Church in the Philippines. Most of the local

Churches and their parishes and chapels are entrusted and under the titular of Mary.

Mary is right when she prophesied, “…all generations will call me blessed.”10 She is

the most celebrated and honored. Mary’s special place, according to the Vatican II, is “the

highest after Christ.”11 However, Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco, in his book Shaping the

Filipino Marian Piety, says that part of this truth is her being “the most controversial.” 12 In

all parts of the world, Mary is known in two ways: 1.) as a woman being recognized and

always connected with Jesus and 2.) as a woman being opposed in her exaltation. The

point is that Mary would always be a part of every generation, both of the believers and

non-believers, of the Christian faith. Mary’s being as the focal point of religious attention

gaining a lot of both exultation with her numerous titles and attributes and opposition led

into very significant questions, Who is Mary for her devotees? And how do they treat
7
Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelization in the Modern World, Evangelii Nuntiandi
(Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, 1975), 48.
8
Anscar J. Chupungco, Jr., O.S.B., Pastoral Liturgy: Shepherding God’s Flock (Manila: Archdiocesan
Liturgical Com., 2013), 232.
9
Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines, Catechism for Filipino Catholics (Manila: ECCCE
Word and Life Publications, 1997), 45. Henceforth, CFC.
10
Luke. 1:48.
11
Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium (Vatican City: Liberia
Editrice Vaticana, 1964), 54. Henceforth, LG.
12
Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco, Jr., S.Th.d., Shaping the Filipino Marian Piety (Makati: St. Paul Publishing
Com., 2019), 1.

3
Mary? Is she divine? Mary is first and foremost a human being and later on became the

Mother of Jesus Christ, Theotokos. With the mission entrusted to her to be the Mother of

God, mystery came unto her from the conception of her by St. Anne where she became an

Inmaculada. Mary, as the Mother of God, shares with divine praises and prerogatives

attributed to God. She became a mirror of the divine mystery.

She is an icon of God who represents the feminine “dimension” of the divine, giving

us an insight into that “side” of God’s reality. 13 One concrete example is La Virgen Divina

Pastora of Gapan City, Nueva Ecija. The title “Divina Pastora” appeared to be a title

assuming divine prerogative and is seemingly questionable. Is she really what is said of

her: Divina Pastora? A Divine Shepherdess? In what sense? With these floating queries,

however, the image of the Virgin Mary under the name La Virgen Divina Pastora

venerated in Gapan, received its Church recognition on the 19th of December 1963 where

Pope Paul VI issued a Papal Bull for the Canonical Coronation of the Divina Pastora. In

13th of February 1986, upon the deliberation of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the

Philippines (CBCP), the declaration of the Three Kings Parish Church as the National

Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora was approved.

The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) “calls for a renewal of

popular piety.”14 This is where, from their adaptation of the Marialis Cultus, they issued a

pastoral letter, Ang Mahal na Birhen; Mary in the Philippine Life Today which addresses

the “renewal of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.” 15 The devotion to La Virgen Divina

13
Elizabeth A. Johnson, C.S.J., “Mary and the Female Face of God,” Theological Studies 50 (1989): 500-
502.
14
Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippine, Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary Council of the
Philippines (Manila: Paulines Publishing House, 1992), 175. Henceforth, PCP II.
15
Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines Ang Mahal na Birhen; Mary in the Philippine Life
Today, A Pastoral Letter on the Blessed Virgin Mary (Manila: Kadiwa sa Pagkapari Foundation, Inc., 1975),
4. Henceforth, AMB.

4
Pastora is included here. A Theological Analysis of the Novena Prayer to La Virgen

Divina Pastora would be a great help towards an active and renewed devotion. First, it is

active in a sense that the devotion is not stagnant to the devotee alone. Instead, the

devotion leads the devotees into a life of faith that is manifested in their lives, and becomes

the starting point of its animation. And second it is renewed since the title “Divina

Pastora”, which is seemingly making Mary a Divine (Christologizing Mariology 16), would

not lead the devotees away to Jesus. Instead, the devotion to Divina Pastora would lead

into a thirst for God and enables people to be generous and sacrificing in witnessing to

their faith. Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus says, “Marian

devotion takes its origin and effectivity from Christ, finding its complete expression in

Christ, and leading through Christ in the Spirit to the Father.” 17 A genuine and authentic

devotion to Mary is always towards Jesus Christ, and thus, the novena prayer to La Virgen

Divina Pastora would be genuine and authentic once it is really grounded in Jesus Christ,

who is the Good Shepherd.

B. Theoretical Framework:

The Church, in announcing the message of salvation, calls for “a renewal of popular

piety”18 and the need “to foster these popular religious practices.” 19 It emphasizes the

“centrality and primacy of Christ”20 in the life of a Christian who always finds its religious

16
It is an exaggeration of Mary where the title of Jesus Christ is being applied to her.
17
MC, Introduction.
18
CFC, 1535.
19
LG, 67.
20
Everything –the Blessed Virgin Mary, the saints, the sacraments, word of life, devotions, etc.–must be
taught in relation to Christ, and with the purpose of leading the catechetical into intimacy with Christ. PCP II.
157.

5
sense in expression of various forms of piety. 21 According to the Second Plenary Council

of the Philippines,

A renewed life of worship will also mean the critical and fervent use of popular
religious practices. These religious practices are rich in values. They manifest a thirst
for God and enable people to be generous and sacrificing in witnessing to their faith.
These practices show a deep awareness of the attributes of God: fatherhood,
providence, loving and constant presence. They engender attitude of patience, the
sense of the Cross in daily life, detachment, openness to others, devotion. 22

Together with this renewal of popular piety, the Church also calls for the fostering

of these popular religious practices which must not become distortions of religion or

remain at the level of superficial forms of worship, instead a genuine and authentic

expressions of faith.23 Besides, among the forms of popular religiosity, it carries the

distinction of being encouraged by the Church. Current ecclesiastical legislation identifies

the following forms of popular devotion and among those that should “be reverently

preserved and spread among Christian families and communities,” namely the rosary,

Stations of the Cross, and certain novenas, one which is the novena to La Virgen Divina

Pastora.24 Hence, the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary must be continuously fostered

as it helped spread, foster and protect our faith.25 The study will be in the realm of the

teachings and the life of the Church, since the researcher got his encouragement and

enthusiasm from these teachings to study and to make a theological analysis on the novena

prayer in devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija.

The study is drawn from the teaching of Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation,

Marialis Cultus (1974) and the Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the

21
CCC, 1674.
22
PCP II, 172.
23
Ibid., 173.
24
Congregations for Bishops, Directory on the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops (Vatican City: Liberia Editrice
Vaticana, 2004), 91.
25
Ibid., 174.

6
Philippines entitled, Ang Mahal na Birhen (1975) that all veneration to Mary is to be

subordinated to the adoration of Christ who is the Mediator. Mary’s dignity is the most

exalted among all the saints because of her divine maternity and hence she is worthy of

special veneration as the Mother of God. Mary has a special place in the Christian worship.

Indeed, renewal of Marian devotion is a primary duty of the Church, of every local church

having popular devotions to Mary.

With this, the faith of the people in the Local Church of Cabanatuan and of those in

nearby provinces and other regions that express their faith in Christ through their devotion

to La Virgen Divina Pastora acquires their faith’s deepest meaning. In familiarizing

themselves on the teachings about Mary under the title “La Virgen Divina Pastora”, the

Mother of the Good Shepherd, as they recite the novena prayer, it expresses not only their

petitions, but also of the God’s divine plan through the life of Jesus Christ with the power

of the Holy Spirit which reflects on the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role in the

plan of salvation as the Mother of the Good Shepherd. It is not merely rooted in history,

but above all, rooted in the hearts of the faithful. This serves as their expression of faith

and of Church’s mission –to live in and proclaim the Divine Mysteries. This novena prayer

to La Virgen Divina Pastora serves as an avenue for the faithful to share in the place of

Mary in the Church – to evangelize the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ. In this sense, this

study gives a maternal example of Mary, the Mother of the Good Shepherd, to the Church

especially in the Philippines in particular, in Cabanatuan, for a more Trinitarian,

Christological and Ecclesiological response to her mission in the entire world.

7
C. Conceptual Framework

This study is a theological investigation in the realm of Systematic Theology. The

researcher aims to animate and to renew the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora by

means of evaluation through the Magisterial Teachings and the Principles and Guidelines

on the Popular Piety. This study is a constructive evaluation under the pattern of See-

Judge-Act in order to arrive at the claims of the study.

SEE JUDGE ACT

The Novena to La
Virgen Divina
Pastora
The History and
Devotion to La Virgen
Divina Pastora
Theology of the title
“Divina Pastora”
The theology of the
hymns, prayers, and
petitions to the novena
prayer to La Virgen
Divina Pastora
The Church’s Critique and
Magisterium on Mary Proposals for
and the Principles and Renewal
Guidelines on Liturgy Hymns, prayers, and
Lumen Gentium (Chap. petitions that
8) conforms and not
Marialis Cultus conforms to the
Redemptoris Mater Church’s teachings
Ang Mahal na Birhen
Directory on Popular Points and
Piety and the Liturgy recommendation for
the improvement to
the novena prayer and
theology of the title

8
Fig. 1: Conceptual Framework of A Theological-Analysis on the Novena Prayer to “La
Virgen Divina Pastora”, the Mother of the Good Shepherd.

D. Statement of the Problem:

The researcher, through this study, aims to theologically analyze the novena prayer

to the most popular Marian Devotion in Nueva Ecija, La Virgen Divina Pastora and it

seeks to answer the following questions:

1. How did the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora start?

1.1. What are acts of piety and practices related to her?

2. How did the proponent present the title “Divina Pastora” or “Divine Shepherdess”

and how do devotees understand it?

2.1. What are the implications of the title “Divina Pastora”?

3. How is the novena prayer to Divina Pastora formulated?

2.1 Is the novena prayer valid in accordance with the magisterial teaching on the

devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary?

9
 2.2. Is the novena prayer valid in accordance with the liturgical principles and

guidelines of popular piety?

E. Significance of the Study:

The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Good

Shepherd, has a positive and powerful force in the Christian life of the people. It is

affirmed by the Second Vatican Council as it encourages the people to foster generously

their devotion and the practices and exercises of piety which keep their faith alive. The

local Churches, having such devotions, have responsibility to animate and to renew them

by way of purifying them and vigorously incorporating them into the mystery of Christ.

This study, since it aims to analyze theologically the novena prayer in Devotion to La

Virgen Divina Pastora towards an active and renewed devotion, is significant in the

following areas:

1. Universal Church – This study contributes to the continuous theological reflection of

the Church in deepening the understanding of the special place of Mary in God’s plan of

10
 salvation. It aims to respond to the call of the Church for the renewal of Marian

devotions making it more authentic and useful in strengthening and deepening the faith

and the communion of the people to Christ, the Son of Mary.

2. Church in the Philippines – This study may contribute in the renewal of the Marian

devotions of the Filipino to Mary by providing a deeper appreciation and understanding

of the Church’s teachings on Mary and the Principles and Guidelines on Popular Piety

towards a critical and fervent use of popular religious practices. So the Philippine

Church, as Pueblo amante de Maria, may become a living witness to Universal Church

not only of a deep trust and devotion to the Mother of the Good Shepherd but also and

more importantly, a living witness of a deep trust, hope and faith to Christ, the Good

Shepherd.

3. Diocese of Cabanatuan – This study may contribute to the reception and the response

of the Local Church of Cabanatuan to the call of renewal in popular piety, particularly

Marian devotions, addressed in the 1974 Apostolic Exhortation of Paul VI, Marialis

Cultus and the 1975 Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the

Philippines, Ang Mahal na Birhen: Mary in the Philippine Life Today. This may help

and serve as a complement for the Commission on Liturgy in the Local Church of

Cabanatuan who will organize the publication of the Official Catechesis on the

Devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora, the History and Devotion, Theological-

Catechesis on the title “Divina Pastora” and the revision of its novena prayer which has

to be firmly grounded in Trinitarian, Christological and Ecclesiological aspect in nature,

leading the people into a deep faith in Christ, the Good Shepherd. Hence, the faithful of

Cabanatuan having a deep devotion to Mary, the Divina Pastora will have a deep

11
 appreciation and understanding of their devotion which could lead into an active and

renewed devotion to Mary and an avenue into the widespread of the devotion.

4. Immaculate Conception Major Seminary especially the Graduate School of

Theology – This study may contribute to the ongoing theological endeavors of the

institution that serves as one of the foundations in preparing a seminarian in his future

priestly ministry. With this, the formation of the seminarians may enrich being good-

servant leaders of the Church who always seeks the intercession of Mary and her

example of discipleship and in evangelizing Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. This

study may lead the seminarians into the root and heart of Mariology, which is

Christology. Thus, the future shepherds of God’s flock will uphold a better promotion

and fostering of Marian devotions.

5. Researcher – This study is significant, not only for it is the researcher’s preferred topic,

for this would widen and deepen his understanding and appreciation of relevance of his

theological endeavor. It would guide him in dealing with the concrete life and

experience of the people who are in a deep trust and devotion to the Blessed Virgin

Mary with her numerous titles, in particular the Divina Pastora. Through this study, the

researcher in evaluating the novena prayer to Divina Pastora in their Diocese may see

deeply the treasure and the meaning of his call to the priesthood, to be God’s shepherd

to His flock and he may continuously respond, like Mary, with full obedience to God

through following Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

F. Scope and Limitation:

12
 This study focused on the evaluation of the title “Divina Pastora”, the novena

prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija, and in presenting the

history and origin of this devotion where millions of devotees from the central plains and

other neighboring provinces are going there every 26th of April in the anniversary of her

Canonical Coronation (1964) and the establishment of the Three Kings’ Parish as her

National Shrine (1986) and during her feast on the 1st of May.

It covered the significance of La Virgen Divina Pastora in the lives of the faithful

which is possibly the cause of the flourishing and the spread of devotion to her. The

researcher analyzed the acceptance and understanding of the people to the title “Divina

Pastora” and its theological impact to the devotion. And most importantly it theologically

analyzed the faithfulness of the Hymns, Prayers, and reflections of the novena prayer to the

magisterial teachings of the Church on the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and on the

liturgical guidelines laid down by the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy.

This study aims to provide and to come up with a comprehensive exposition of the

history and devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija, a profound

theological understanding on the title “Divina Pastora” and a recommendation for the

purification and improvement of the novena prayer to Divina Pastora.

The study no longer used statistical study since the period of conducting this research

fell on the period where people were securing one’s health due to pandemic effects.

Instead, the researcher will utilize the available literary (which some would be subjected

for external criticism) and documents on the devotion since there are less number of

sources for the subject matter due of various reasons such as the lack of established archive

of the diocese and the loss of important documents on the devotion.

13
 This study is limited on the theology and liturgy on evaluating the novena prayer to

Divina Pastora as the primary intention of the researcher. Thus, this excluded the

musicality of the novena, how the hymns and prayers are composed.

In conducting this research, the researcher foresees the following limitations. First,

the lack of sufficient sources, the researcher found out there’s no sufficient written

accounts were made and also, he sees the limited access to some reading materials. And

secondly, language facility, the researcher sees that since the study will locate the origin of

the devotion that is proper to the country of Spain. Some of the reading materials are in

Spanish so he will ask the assistance of some professors who are well versed of language.

G. Definition of Terms:

1. Canonical Coronation – “A pious institutional act of the Pope, duly expressed

through a Papal Bull in which a Marian Image under a specific devotional title

being venerated in a particular diocese or locality is designated a crown, tiara, or

stellar halo.”26

2. Devotions- “In the present context, this term is used to describe various external

practices. Animated by an attitude of faith, such external practices manifest the

particular relationship of the faithful with the Divine Persons, or the Blessed Virgin

Mary in her privileges of grace and those of her titles which express them, or with

the Saints in their configuration with Christ or in their role in the Church's life.”27
26
National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora, Three Kings Parish, Gapan City, A Canonical Coronation,
https://www.facebook.com/LaVirgenDivina PastoradeGapan/posts/a-canonical-coronation-latin-coronatio-
canonica-is-a-pious-institutional-act-of-/863192060389766 (accessed, July 5, 2021).
27
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Directory on Popular Piety
and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines (Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, 2001), 8. Henceforth,
DPPL.

14
 3. La Divina Pastora- “In the Philippines, she is venerated at her shrine at Gapan,

Nueva Ecija, on May 1st. The image there received a Canonical blessing in 1964.”28

4. Liturgy- the public worship, which our Redeemer as head of the Church renders to

the Father, as well as the worship which the community of the faithful renders to its

Founder, and through him to the heavenly Father.29

5. National Shrine- “For a shrine to be called a national shrine, the Conference of

Bishops must give its approval; for it to be called an international shrine, the

approval of the Holy See is required.”30

6. Novena - a spiritual devotion consisting of the recitation of a set form of prayer for

nine consecutive days, in petition for a divine favour or in preparation for a

liturgical feast or as participation in an important event such as a Year of Jubilee.31

7. Papal Bull- “One of the most solemn documents emanating from the Roman

pontiff, having a determined external form and varying in content according to the

intention of the pope.”32

8. Pious exercises- “The expression refers to those public or private expressions of

Christian piety which, although not part of the Liturgy, are considered to be in

harmony with the spirit, norms, and rhythms of the Liturgy. Moreover, such pious

exercises are inspired to some degree by the Liturgy and lead the Christian people

to the Liturgy. Some pious exercises have been established by mandate of the

Apostolic See or by mandate of the Bishops. Many of these exercises are part of the
28
Nicholas J. Santoro, Mary in Our Life: Atlas of the Names and Titles of Mary, the Mother of Jesus and
their Place in Marian Devotion (Bloomneto: iUniverse, Inc., 2011), 27.
29
Anscar J. Chupungco, What, Then, Is Litturgy?: Musings and Memoir (Quezon City: Claretian
Publications, 2010), 65.
30
Canon Law Society of America, The Code of Canon Law (Makati: Paulines Publishing House, 2014),
can. 1231. Henceforth, CIC.
31
Britannica, Novena, https: //www .britannica .com/ topic/ novena (accessed September 25, 2021).
32
Dictionary of Dogmatic Theology, s.v., “Papal Bull”.

15
 cultic patrimony of particular Churches or religious families. Pious exercises

always refer to public divine revelation and to an ecclesial background. They often

refer to the grace revealed by God in Jesus Christ and, in conformity with the laws

of the Church, they are practiced "in accordance with approved customs or

books.”33

9. Popular piety- “The term designates those diverse cultic expressions of a private or

community nature which, in the context of the Christian faith, are inspired

predominantly not by the Sacred Liturgy but by forms deriving from a particular

nation or people or from their culture.”34

10. Popular religiosity- “It refers to a universal experience: there is always a religious

dimension in the hearts of people, nations, and their collective expressions. All

peoples tend to give expression to their totalizing view of the transcendent, their

concept of nature, society, and history through cultic means. Such characteristic

syntheses are of major spiritual and human importance. Popular religiosity does not

always necessarily refer to Christian revelation.”35

11. Sacrament- “A visible sign, instituted by Christ, that reveals and communicates

grace.”36

12. Sacramental- “A sacred sign, instituted by the church, that resembles the

sacraments and that signifies and obtains spiritual effects through the church’s

intercession.”37

33
DPPL, 7.
34
DPPL, 9.
35
DPPL, 10.
36
A Concise Dictionary of Theology s.v., “Sacrament”.
37
Ibid., 232.

16
 13. Shrine- It “is understood a church or other sacred place to which numerous

members of the faithful make pilgrimage for a special reason of piety, with the

approval of the local Ordinary.”38

14. Theology- it is the conscious effort of the Christian to hearken to the actual verbal

revelation which God has promulgated in history, to acquire knowledge of it by the

methods of scholarship and to reflect upon its implications.39

H. Research Structure in Narrative Form:

This study composed of six chapters considering all the relevant discussions to be

included to effectively and systematically serve its aim that is to evaluate the novena

prayer in devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija. The Chapter I

introduces the problem and provide the general overview to it while giving the urgency for

this study both in the life of the Church and the life of the faithful having devotion to La

Virgen Divina Pastora it understands the main concepts of the study in its geographical

presentation. This chapter presents the significance of the study in the Church, while

recognizing its scope and limitations. Also, this chapter includes the stated questions, the

operational definition of term and its structure in a narrative form.

38
CIC., 1230.
39
Theologial Dictionary, s.v., “Theology”.

17
 The Chapter II presents a review of related literature that tackles the same level of

concern as that of the researcher. This provides a selection of competencies and authorities

in order to support the endeavor of this study.

The Chapter III presents the methodology of the research, including the design of the

research and its methods that is the manner by how the interpretation of data is made and

the instrumentations to be employed in gathering the needed materials and data for the

interpretation.

The Chapter IV is the presentation of the history and devotion to La Virgen Divina

Pastora. It discussed the origin of the devotion and how it flourished in Gapan, Nueva

ecija. Moreover, it presents the devotion, including the related practices piety being

attributed to her.

In Chapter V, the theological understanding of the title “Divina Pastora” discussed

and the nature of the novena prayer is presented and be evaluated through Church’s

teachings on the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here the Marialis Cultus, Ang

Inang Mahal and other supporting Church documents that speak on the devotion to the

Blessed Virgin Mary together with the Principles and Guidelines for Popular Piety

enriched theologically and pastorally the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan.

Lastly, the chapter VI provides the summary of the study and recommendations

based on the findings of the study. With this research paradigm, the researcher presents the

following flowchart of this study: A Theological-Analysis on the Novena Prayer to “La

Virgen Divina Pastora”, the Mother of the Good Shepherd.

Chapter I
The Problem and Its Setting

18
Chapter II
Review of Related Literature
 Chapter III
Methodology

Chapter IV Chapter V
La Virgen Divina Pastora: The Theology of the Title “Divina Pastora”
Findings on Novena to La Virgen Divina
History and Devotion Pastora
Teachings of the Magisterium on the
Devotion to Mary

Chapter VI
Summary, Conclusions and
Recommendations

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In this chapter, the researcher presents a review of related works regarding the

pertinent topics in order to justify the authority of the study. There are some aspects in

these works that are relevant to the objectives and the methodology of the study. Also, the

researcher seeks guidance from these works in order to avoid any duplication. As such, this

review comprises works on the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. These works also

point out the novelty of this study and help the study to identify the points of improvement.

A. Literature:

19
1. Books

De Montfort, St. Louis, True Devotion to Mary: with Preparation for Total
Consecration, Translated by Rev. Frederick William Faber. London: Catholic
Way Publishing, 2013.

This work is from the original and best ‘True Devotion to Mary’ translated by Faber.

It is considered as the greatest book on the Blessed Virgin Mary ever written and had been

recommended and practiced by eight Popes. This book has two parts: On the Devotion to

Our Lady in General and On the Most Excellent Devotion to Our Blessed Lady, or the

Perfect Consecration to Jesus by Mary. The first part speaks of the necessity of our Lady

and the discernment of the true devotion to our Blessed Lady. In the discernment of the

true devotion, it tackles the false devotion to Mary and the characteristics of the true

devotion to Blessed Lady. The second part speaks on ways of honoring the Blessed Lady.

It tackles how perfect consecration to Jesus happens through Mary and at the same time

presents the eight motives of the perfect consecration to Jesus. Likewise, it presents the

wonderful effects produced by this devotion. Finally, it presents the practices of this

devotion such as the external, particular and interior practices towards a perfect

consecration.

This great work is a great companion for the researcher and guides him in

discerning and evaluating the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora including the practices

and tributes being offer in her honor, whether it is an invalid or valid devotion –where the

faithful is being led towards an authentic consecration to Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

Gentle, Judith Marie and Robert L. Fastiggi, De Maria Numquam Satis: The
Significance of the Catholic Doctrines on the Blessed Virgin Mary for All People.
London: University Press of America Inc., 2009.

20
 This book is a collection of doctrinal reflections on the Blessed Virgin Mary. The

editors organized this book in order to provide the readers a way of better understanding on

how the Blessed Virgin Mary is touched, blessed and consecrated by God’s Word. Though

the councils and Magisterium’s efforts in providing doctrine which expresses the belief,

today, still some Christians fail to recognize how Mary cooperate in God’s plan of

salvation. This book hopes to provide both all Christians and all people with some

theological resources for deepening the common reflection upon the meaning and

significance of the Blessed Virgin Mary's person, life and role in salvation history,

specifically, from a Catholic viewpoint. At the same time, the editors hope and pray that

the Holy Spirit will use these collected essays to lead many people from wide and varied

religious backgrounds into a deeper knowledge of and love for the Blessed Virgin Mary so

that people might collectively offer praise to the Blessed Trinity for the Great Mother of

God, Mary Most Holy.

The second essay of this book speaks of the divine maternity of the Blessed Virgin

Mary. The author writes on how the Marian Co-redemption reveals the mystery of the

Blessed Trinity and how the mothering face of Mary expresses and reveals the mystery of

the Blessed trinity. Also, the sixth essay in this book speaks of John Henry Newman’s

explanation of key Marian texts, titles and typologies in both Anglican and Catholic

doctrines and devotions. Here, Newman distinguishes Mary’s role from that of Christ,

utilizing the titles themselves to clarify the subordinate role that Mary has in the work of

salvation.

The researcher takes part of discussion on the title of Mary when he analyses and

evaluates the Devotion to the La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan. These essays are great

21
help for him when he deals on this matter. Since, he will be delving on the Christological

aspect of this devotion to Mary.

Mactal, O.P., S.Th.D., Roland, D., Mary: Seat of Wisdom, A Contemporary Marian
Reflection. Manila: UST Publishing House, 2001.

In this book, Mactal speaks of the scientific study of revelation concerning the

Blessed Virgin Mary that is contextualized in the present generation. He reassesses the

status of Mary in Vatican II whether the conciliar document Lumen Gentium and the other

Church’s documents such as Marialis Cultus of Paul VI and Redemptoris Mater of John

Paul II have been instruments for other Christian brethren to better appreciate the Mother

of God. He puts emphasis on the teaching of Vatican II on Mary and presents it

application to the present Marian teachings of the Church. He also analyzes the pastoral

letter “Ang Mahal na Birhen” issued by the CBCP in order to provide a local expression of

the Marian Dogma. This book has been objectivized to ascertain the point’s common

among two trends: Christotypical and Ecclesiotypical in Mariology of the Vatcan II

Council and it attempts to rediscover the essentials of Mariology, to present the meaning of

Mary’s role in the revelation of the Christian mystery. Further, it aims to point out the

importance of explaining the Catholic belief on Mary in a manner that is intelligible and

understandable to the separated brethren. The main task of this book is to acquire a proper

knowledge of the doctrine of the Church about the Mother of God especially about the

teachings of the Vatican II, and to discover the proper position and place of Mary in the

plan of salvation. In this book, the researcher’s method of understanding and assessing the

doctrinal development of Mariology is through library research and gathering of pertinent

22
materials related to the topic. He tries to understand the essential Church’s documents on

Mary and finds a relation to the development of Marian doctrines after Vatican II.

This book supplements this study. The researcher used the same documents in order

to evaluate the devotion to La Virgen Divina in order to provide a Theological-Catechesis

towards the renewed devotion to Divina Pastora that is founded in the Church’s teachings

on Mary. Thus, the work of Mactal is really helpful for this study. This really serves as a

good guide for the researcher’s when he delve on these documents.

Rubin Miri, Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary. New Heaven: Yale
University Press, 2009.

The book is about the history of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, and how she

became a familiar global figure. It explores the history of Mary’s emergence from the

earliest decades of Christianity. According to the author, Mary is not just born in this world

but made by those who cherished the memory of Jesus. Mary became the subject of

theological discussions and she became associated with the theological debates in Church

Councils where official formulations of Christian faith and imperial religious policy were

being determined. At the heart of discussion was the exact nature of Christ – Man and God

and this often led to formulations about his mother, too. She is depicted as a majestic

person: enthroned, facing the viewer with a powerful gaze. Mary emerged as the perfect

companion: mother, bride and consoler. She is understood to be both ordinary in her

humanity, and unique in her paralleled purity; she is imagined both as exalted and as

modest. Mary became available and accessible in the languages that people speak, and

through the poetry, drama and imagery that were created with the aim of making Mary part

23
of their common lives. This book also recognized several phases when making Mary

material and accessible seemed to be closed to idolatry and blasphemy. It offers an

historical understanding of the processes which made Mary so utterly available to humans,

and utterly desirable as a friendly face of the divine core.

The researcher aims to provide a comprehensive presentation of the history of Divina

Pastora. The approach of this book in presenting the history of the Virgin Mary, the

Mother of God is a great help for him to establish his aim properly. Many parts of this

book are helpful to enrich the research approached of the study.

Shoemaker, Stephen J., Mary in Early Christian Faith and Devotioni. New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2016.

The book is about the origins of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and offers a

new approach for a better understanding of how Mary emerged as a focus of Christian

devotion. It tries to assemble the scattered and often overlooked evidence for early Marian

piety, from the beginnings of Christianity up to the events of the Council of Ephesus. It

focused on the period from the latter half of the second century to the first half of the fifth

century.

The introductory part of this book is of great help as it gives the new approach in

understanding the Marian piety which is presented in the sixth chapters of this book. The

researcher, in presenting the history and devotion to Divina Pastora is guided with this

approach. The book is rooted in the emergence of Marian devotion from the beginning of

the Christianity. This could also be applied in this study in order to come up with a clear

and precise history of the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora.

24
2. Articles

Mc Letchie, Alison. “La Divina Pastora, the Dougla Madonna”. Open Cultural Studies
3 (2019): 62-74.

Mc Letchie contextualizes the adoration of la Divina Pastora (Siparia Mai) in

Trinidad with the racially charged politics of the island nation. It explains the historical

events that shaped the cultural, political and ethnic landscape of Trinidad and Tobago with

a significant focus on the island of Trinidad where la Divina Pastora is located. Then, it

discusses some of the common theories of race specifically as they pertain to multi-ethnic

and Carribbean societies and Trinidad in particular. Then it turns to the voices of the

pilgrims to understand how their experiences of la Divina Pastora helps them understand

race, politics and Trinbagonian society. It concludes that though la Divina Pastora pilgrims

are aware of the attempts of politicians to divide and rule, their devotion to la Divina they

can recognize in each other.

The researcher discusses the theological impact of the devotion to La Virgen Divina

Pastora in Gapan and the last topic of this article which presented the study conducted to

the devotees and laypersons and to the pilgrims is useful as it emphasizes the fruit of their

devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora that is their common bond, their shared experience

which drives out their religious and racial differences.

O’Brien, Catherine. “Mythological Readings of Mary’s Motherhood”. Marian Studies

57, no. 9 (2006): 173-189.

In this article, Catherine O’Brien presents the Marian mythology by first giving the

chief definitions of the term “myth”: the chronicle and the real person. It deals on the

contemporary commentators on the Marian mythology – the identity of Mary which has no

25
Scriptural foundation. It distinguishes which myths are helpful or hindrance to our

understanding of Mary. The author presents various Marian thinking from different

personalities and one of them is Pope Paul VI who acknowledged some of the difficulties

on the identity of Mary in his exhortation, Marialis Cultus. In the end, she encourages the

theologians and secular writer to explore mythology, both pagan and contemporary.

This article indeed, could be a great help for the researcher. In this study, he used

Marialis Cultus in evaluating the devotion, and at the same time he dealt with the various

origins and history of Divina Pastora presented by different personalities involved in

fostering the devotion to her. This helped him in distinguishing which of the claimed origin

and story would really lead the faithful towards Jesus Christ.

Roten, Johann G. “Marian Devotion for the New Millenium”. Marian Studies 51, no.
7 (2000): 52-95.

This article speaks of Marian devotion of the new millennium by inquiring about the

past. It describes Marian devotion as an icon and mirror. It is like an icon and it allows a

glimpse into eternity where our relationships to Mary widens the heart to God and opens

the mind for a deeper understanding of his ways. The author says that Marian devotion

must have a solid theological foundation. He proposes three observations and suggestions

regarding Marian theology and devotion of the past hundred years.

This article is a great help for the study especially the third, fourth and the fifth part.

The third part speaks of the challenges of the present and it speaks of the presence as the

criterion of devotion. It also speaks of the sacramental sensitivity, and eschatological

orientation of Marian devotion. Next, the fourth part speaks of the suggestions for the

26
future which includes the paradigm of pilgrimage and the narrative and the iconic aspects

of Marian devotion. And lastly, the fifth part speaks of the two pillars of devotion: the

keeper of light and traveling companion and the identification and ideal – the decisive role

in Marian spirituality which pinpoint the conditions of human development and maturity.

This article enriched the researcher’s understanding in his evaluation and analysis of the

devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora.

Sullivan, Patricia A. “Marian ‘Spiritual Attitude’ and Marian Piety”. Marian Studies
65, no. 4 (2014): 43-73.

Doctor Sullivan writes an article on the Marian spiritual attitude and Marian piety

forty years after the Marialis Cultus was issued. She presented the unity between Marian

spiritual attitude and Marian piety. At the same time, she defined them through Pope Paul

VI’s perspective and distinguished them by referring to Hans Urs Balthasar and the

following Marialis Cultus.

This article will help the researcher for he will be using also Marialis Cultus in

evaluating the validity of the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan City, Nueva

Ecija which is one of the forms of venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Tsuji, Teruyuki. “The Power of the Illegitimate, La Divina Pastora and the “Collie
Mission” in Colonial Trinididad”. New West Indian Guide 94 (2020): 211-244.

This article critically revisits the history of La Divina Pastora in colonial Trinidad,

focusing on how the spirituality and materiality of the two statues of this Marian image

intersected, competed and reinforced each other: a fair-complexioned La Divina Pastora in

northern Trinidad, created and patronized by the Catholic central authorities; and a dark-

27
skinned, miracle-working La Divin/Sipari Mai’s in Siparia, formerly a peripheral Spanish

mission in southern Trinidad.

The introductory part of this article which discusses that the former image which had

is a fair-complexioned La Divina Pastora in northern Trinidad is a good help for the

researcher as he discusses the origin and description of the image of the La Virgen Divina

Pastora.

B. Studies:

Pangle, Teresa, M. Medjugorge’s Effects: A History of Local State and Church

Response to the Medjugorge Phenomenon. MA Thesis, Graduate College of
Bowling Green State University, 2011.

In this work, the researcher examines the impact of the alleged appearances of the

Virgin Mary which began in Medjugorje, Yugoslavia in 1981. It examines the primary

sources, namely the Catholic Church and the United States Department of State

documentation and eye-witness interviews. This study provides an academic history of the

events surrounding Medjugorje and provides historical insight into the motivations behind

the response of the local villagers and clergy members, the Yugoslavian state and the

Vatican. It challenges the claim that the apparitions in Medjugorje have been officially

condemned by the Catholic Church. This study is conducted to promote and to serve

further research into the Medjugorje phenomenon by providing the historical groundwork

for further study. This work helps the researcher in this study with his aim to present

comprehensively the history of Divina Pastora.

28
Seeger, B.A., Mary Olivia., Mary for Today: Renewing Catholic Marian Devotion after
the Second Vatican Council through St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s True Devotion
to Mary. MA Thesis, University of Dayton, 2019.

The study of Seeger investigates and assesses how the St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s

True Devotion to Mary contributes to a renewal of Marian devotion in the Catholic Church

after the Second Vatican Council. It focuses on a close reading of the primary texts of the

True Devotion to Mary, Vatican II Lumen Gentium, and St. John Paul II Redemptoris

Mater.

The chapter II of this work dwells on the discussion of Mary at the Second Vatican

Council. It speaks of the conciliar criteria for true Marian devotion, namely: the Ecclesial,

the Soteriological and Eschatological, and the Christological and Trinitarian criteria. In

chapter III, it speaks of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the pilgrim Church. This

covers the Marian thinking of John Paul II where Mary is seen in the mystery of Christ. At

the same time, he sees the maternal role of Mary at the center of the pilgrim Church.

Finally, he speaks of the maternal mediation of the Mary between Jesus Christ, the Son of

God and the people of God. This study, especially these chapters, is a great aid for the

researcher’s evaluation of the devotion to Divina Pastora using these same documents.

C. Synthesis:

The researcher made use of the foreign and local literature and studies that focused

on the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. These literature and studies identified the

place of Mary in God’s plan of salvation and her maternal relationship with the Son of

God. Proper approached of the history in understanding Mary is tackled for a better

29
understanding of Mary and for a proper discernment and evaluation of the devotion to her

through Church’s teaching on the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Evidently, the literature and studies speaks of Mary and Marian devotion in General.

Only two among them speaks of Divina Pastora which are located from other countries.

Nonetheless, the others remain helpful since this study would also dwell on the evaluation

of the history and devotion of La Virgen Divina Pastora with the same documents being

used by the respected author of these foreign and local literature and studies. Moreover, the

uniqueness and significant of this study is being emphasis.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The objective of this study is to evaluate the novena prayer in Devotion to La Virgen

Divina Pastora through the Magisterial Teachings of the Church and the Principles and

Guidelines on Popular Piety on the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Likewise, the

researcher presents the systematic methodology that can help for the formulation of the

30
valid arguments and recommendations. It includes the Research Design, the Research

Methods, and the Data Analysis.

A. Research Design:

This work is primarily a theological analysis of the novena prayer in devotion to La

Virgen Divina Pastora that is contextualized in the Local Church of the Diocese of

Cabanatuan. It is based on the research pattern See, Judge, and Act. Descriptive-

evaluative method is utilized in order to present the origin of the history of the devotion.

Under this method is the historico-critical approach which according to José Antonio

Aureada, OP, in his book entitled, Thesis Writing for Theology Student: A Primer,

historical method “is a systematic endeavor to locate, collate, evaluate, analyze, interpret

and synthesize evidences about the past.”40 This is used in order to understand

systematically the problems of the present day. This research method has its purpose to

give light to the “questions if current interest” through the study of the materials that are

available.41 From here, the researcher exposes how people consider Mary as the Divina

Pastora, their understanding of the title, where he could possibly see the areas for

consideration and renewal. And he makes an exposition of the nature of the novena prayer

in devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora. At the same time, this study is a qualitative

inquiry in order to understand the people’s recognition of Mary, the Divina Pastora, and to

expose and to emphasize the nature of the prayer of novena in honor to her. Content

analysis is a method where a researcher analyses and interprets “manifest content” of

available material text.42 This method is the appropriate one since the research focuses
40
José Antonio Aureada, Thesis Writing for Theology Students: A Primer (Manila: University of Sto.
Tomas Publishing House, 2009), 159.
41
Robert Burns, Introduction to Research Methods (London: SAGE Publications, 2000), 388.
42
Aureada, 160.

31
more on abstracting relevant information in documents to help understand and find

solution to the problem, so the Church would be an effective in teaching her members and

in renewing their faith, including their religious practices particularly the devotions to the

Blessed Virgin Mary.

B. Research Methods:

The Local Church of Cabanatuan is the suited setting for this study. The abundance

of the faith expression among the Novo Ecijanos and all the faithful people in popular

devotions supports this together with the unique “panata” or devotion of the faithful to

Divina Pastora which adds to the benefits of the selection of the setting. One of the

prominent characteristics among the Filipinos is that they always express their faith

through their devotion to Mary, asking for her intercession, to help them in praying to her

Son. This is beneficial to the evaluation people’s understanding of the title ‘Divina

Pastora’ or ‘Divine Shepherdess’ and of the novena prayer in devotion to her, considering

its rootedness in the Trinitarian, Christological and Ecclesiological aspects.

The main procedure to this study will be an extensive gathering of necessary

descriptive data to support the study. Publications, in particular, on the devotion to the

Blessed Virgin Mary and the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan are the

primary consideration. The publications that attempted to introduce the Marian Filipino

theology and the Filipino Christology are also sought. The devotion to La Virgen Divina

Pastora works on anthropology and sociology on the topics are sought in order to grasp the

context and the root of the devotions in the people’s mindfulness. Content-based analysis is

32
employed to the novena prayer in honor of Divina Pastora in order to see whether it is

directed towards Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.

To establish the credibility of this work through the gathering literary sources, the

researcher inquiries from the collections of the Immaculate Conception Major Seminary

Library, Bulacan. He inquires some information, through his contacts persons, from

different libraries and archives concerning the topic. Also, he considers some accounts and

literary texts from online sources.

Finally, he employs a field research using the method of focus group discussion of

the novena prayer. It has at least 6-8 participants who are familiar or have devotion to

Divina Pastora. The researcher, with well orientation to the participants (from age of 26-

65), conducted an online meeting in order to gather information and understanding of the

nature of the Novena.

C. Data Analysis:

In order to answer the first question, the “See” part of the research, is discussed in the

fourth chapter, historical method and content analysis are be used. It traced the origin of

the history of the devotion from the available sources such as the documents, books and

articles written by authoritative person on the matter. The researcher in chapter five,

through content analysis, determined the depth of the title “Divina Pastora” or “Divine

Shepherdess” especially its theology and at the same time the different elements found in

the novena prayer in devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora. The elements that are

discovered in this chapter are used as the basis for evaluation.

33
 The researcher, with the findings now proceeds to the “Judge” part of research where

the elements found in the novena prayer is subjected to critical analysis according to the

principles and guidelines laid down by the magisterium such as the Marialis Cultus: For

the Right Ordering and Development of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Apostolic

Exhortation of Pope Paul VI promulgated on February 2, 1974, ANG MAHAL NA BIRHEN

/ Mary in Philippine Life Today, A Pastoral Letter on the Blessed Virgin Mary, Catholic

Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines, Manila, February 2, 1975, and the Directory on

Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines, Congregation for Divine

Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, December 2001.

To complete the research framework, the “Act” part of the research is applied in the

sixth chapter where he listed down the summary of findings and recommendations. The

researcher commences the extensive process in order to attain the main objective of this

study, all for the greater glory of the almighty and triune God and for Christ’s Bride, the

Church.

CHAPTER IV

VIRGEN DIVINA PASTORA: HISTORY AND DEVOTION

In Central Luzon, the object of the most prominent devotion to the Blessed Virgin

Mary is no other than La Virgen Divina Pastora43. The said devotion in Gapan City, Nueva

Ecija started from the propagation of the devotion by Friar Isidro de Sevilla in Spain and

later the various accounts of the arrival of the image in the Philippines, particularly in

43
The Divina Pastora is the only Marian image native to Nueva Ecija and Central Luzon. Accordingly,
there is no existing record that there is any other Divina Pastora in the Philippines except the one in Gapan,
Nueva Ecija. Mary Anne Barcelona and Consuelo B. Estepa, Ph.D., Ynang Maria: A Celebration of the
Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines (Manila: Anvil Publish Inc., 2004), 133; Manuel E. Reyes, Ika 400-
Taon Pagkakatatag ng Bayan: Gapan, Nueva Ecija 1595-1995, Kasaysayan ng Bayan (Quezon City: LSF
Printing Services, 1996), 146.

34
Gapan, Nueva Ecija, will be presented comprehensively. Rooting from the origin of the

history of Divina Pastora, this chapter presents the images of La Virgen Divina Pastora,

which add impact to the people’s devotion. Also, this chapter will speak of the acts of piety

and practices related to the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title “Divina

Pastora.”.

A. The Origin of Divina Pastora: Seville, Spain

The tracing of the story of the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora, the Mother of

the Good Shepherd takes us back from the vision of the Capuchin. It was the Capuchin

Fray Isidoro of Seville,44 a devout Franciscan with a deep love for Christ and a profound

reverence for His Mother, who on the eve of June 24, 1703, on the edge of the city walls,

in the cloister under his convent while meditating on the Jesus as the Good Shepherd saw

the Mother of God as the Divine Shepherdess.45 As described by the Friar:

In the center and under the shade of a tree, the most holy Virgin seated in a rock,
radiating from her face divine love and tenderness. The red tunic, but covered the bust to
the knees and wears a girdle at the waist. A blue mantle, penciled to the left shoulder, will
envelop the environment of her body, and to the right on her back, she wears the straw
hat, and next to the right hand will appear the staff. In her right hand on a lamb that is
placed in her lap. Some sheep will surround the Virgin, forming her flock and all in their
mouths will carry roses, symbolic of the "Ave Maria" with which they venerate her. 46 

44
Fray Isidoro de Seville is a preacher and chronic of the said Order of Capuchins. He exposed his
discursive and predictable idea by which he presented the Virgin Mary with the attributes of a shepherdess.
This work was La Pastora Coronada. Although it is not published until 1705, it was already prepared in
November 1703 when Fray Isidoro of Seville announced it in the Offering of the Crown of Maria Santisima
Pastora Divina de las Almas (Galbarro & Valiente 2012; Galbarro 2013). As the years passed, Fray Isidoro of
Seville revisited his work in-depth and, in 1732, published La mejor Pastora Assumpta.
45
Ricardo Francisco Cuervo Aranguren, Advocaciones Marianas, Nuestra Señora la Divina Pastora de las
Almas, https: // advocaciones-marianas.blogspot.com /?fbclid= IwAR2qxzUlcIsM8RNC5kPg5pnlifqh-
grGB73OXoosgE0A- x6eS6sye SNZsrQ (accessed August 9, 2021).
46
Also, the Fray Isidoro saw St. Michael the Archangel fighting Satan who is depicted as a wolf who runs
after the sheep who went to the Virgin. Pintakasi, Chronicles on Filipino Popular Piety and Ecclesiastical
History, La Virgen Divina Pastora of Gapan – the Queen of the Central Plains,
https://pintakasi1521.blogspot.com/2017/05/la-virgen-divina-pastora-of-gapan-queen.html (accessed January
17, 2021).

35
 Months later, on September 8, 1703, Fray Isidoro first commissioned the first image

of the Divina Pastora to the artist Alonso Miguel de Tovar of the Escuela Pictórica

Sevillana.47 During the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin, he took out the canvas on his

banner and enhanced it with a garland of flowers and ribbons for the procession of the

evening rosary. As the procession reached the Almeda de Hercules in a large crowd, he

started to preach and propagate, from the top of the stool between the two columns of a

monument, the doctrine and devotion to the pastorate of Mary. 48 Having experienced this

procession with the image of the Divine Shepherdess from the Church of San Gil, miracles

were later reported through the intercession of the Virgin as the Divina Pastora.49

The image became popular in Andalucía during the 18th century, especially in the

port of Cádiz, gateway to the Indies, and Fray Isidro himself founded brotherhoods

dedicated to the image in Sevilla and Cádiz.50 Years later, in October of 1705, the first life

image of the Divine Shepherdess was sculpted by Francisco Antonio Gijón 51, the nuns of

the convent of the Incarnation dressed her in a Shepherdess costume as per the description

of Fray Isidoro and finally had its first procession within a great solemnity until the parish

church of Santa Marina.52 They effectively spread the devotion to this image through

confraternities they founded under the new title of Mary, the Shepherdess of Souls. It is no

surprise that the devotion was spearheaded by the Capuchin Friars.

47
Pintakasi.
48
Aranguren.
49
Pintakasi.
50
William B. Taylor, Theater of a Thousand Wonders, A History of Miraculous Images and Shrines in
New Spain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016), 272.
51
Francisco Antonio Gijón is a professor of Art at the University of Seville, known as one of the top
Sevillian sculptors within Baroque art. Aranguren.
52
Ibid.

36
 The Divina Pastora was mainly a Spanish devotion53 and several replicas of the

Virgin were commissioned and venerated in their localities, but with the intense popularity

of devotion, the Capuchins brought along with them the devotion to Divina Pastora to

different Spanish colonies from Mexico, Latin America, and the Philippines. 54 They

fostered this devotion to La Divina Pastora, or Holy Shepherdess, as a corollary to Christ

as the Good Shepherd.55 In 1706, the Spanish Capuchin missionaries took the devotion to

Venezuela, especially in Barquisimeto and the Estado Lara where she became the patron

saint. In 1744, the port of Veracruz turned to be the first site of the devotion in New Spain

and was important enough by the early 1750s for Oviedo to include a paragraph about it in

the Zodiaca Mariam (1755). In the late 18 th century, several fine paintings of the Divina

Pastora by the leading Mexican artists Miguel Cabrera and José de Paez can be found in

the Museo de América in Madrid, the Museo Nacional del Virreinato at Tepotzotlán, and

the Los Angeles County Museum of Art though not displayed in public. A sixteen-page

prayer booklet dedicated to the Virgin Mary that contained verses to the Divina Pastora

was republished at least fourteen times in Mexico City and Puebla between 1765 and

1819.56 All these were credited to the efforts of Vera Cruz devotees who organized the

devotion, which gained its approval as it began to prosper. They made a documentation on

the process of organizing the devotion between 1750 and 1753. It contains thirteen “tiras”

or separate records arranged in chronological order that document the formalities of

licensing the devotion in 1744, depositions in 1747 by the makers of a celebrated statue of

the Divina Pastora, a petition and witness testimony brought forward by one of the rival

53
Taylor, 272.
54
Pintakasi,
55
Santoro, 27.
56
Taylor, 272.

37
devotees in 1748, reports and certification in 1749 and 1752, instructions issued by the

Consejo de Indias in 1750, a comprehensive summary report by the Governor of Veracruz,

Don Diego de Pañaloza, in 1753, and the Consejo’s final judgment later that year .57 On

August 1, 1795, Pope Pius VI approved the devotion and apparition 58 and he named the

title the patroness of the Capuchin Missions. 59 Thus, it must be clearly said that “this

celebrated statue has a documented history, no legendary beginning from the mists of

time.”60

The image of Mary as a shepherdess was not entirely a novelty started by Fray

Isidoro. The Virgin Mary has been explicitly and implicitly mentioned in relation to Christ

the Lamb and Shepherd, to the flock of God, or as one who leads to the nourishing pastures

of faith. Prior to that century, there are saints and mystics alike who mentioned Mary’s role

as a shepherdess of souls, leading people to Christ her Son. There are references as early as

in the 5th century in the hymn of Akathistos, particularly from its 3 rd and 4th chant, Mary is

referred this way: “Hail, for you have greened anew the pastures of delight!” (3 rd Chant)

and “Hail, O Mother of Lamb and Shepherd! Hail, O Fold of rational sheep!” (4th chant).61

However, although Mary was already being referred as Shepherdess in the early

century prior to that century of Fray Isidoro, still the honor of manifesting the Lady in the

garb and title of Shepherdess of souls is rightfully belongs to the Capuchin order. Whether

it is a vision that came in a dream, an idea that occurred in his imagination in prayer or

57
Ibid., 273-274.
58
Pintakasi.
59
Siparia, Trinidad is one of the Capuchin’s missions where devotion to Divina Pastora is powerful, and
traditions would tell us that the image itself was brought to Siparia by a priest from Venezuela. Santoro,
Mary in Our Life, 27.
60
Taylor, 274.
61
Catholic Online, Akathist Hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, https: //www. catholic. org/ prayers/ prayer.
php? p=249 (accessed October 15, 2021).

38
meditation or an apparition of Mary to the humble friar 62, the promoter of the cult of Mary

under such a sweet invocation would always be traced back to the person of Fray Isidoro of

Seville, Spain.63

B. The Advent of the Devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora in the Philippines

In the Philippines, the Divina Pastora, also known as La Virgen Divina Pastora,

the Mother of the Good Shepherd or the Queen of Central Plains, is venerated at her shrine

in Gapan, Nueva Ecija on May 1st. How does this veneration to her begin? Unlike the

arrival of the image of Divina Pastora in Venezuela and Latin America and other Spanish

colonies which is attributed to the Capuchin missionaries, there was no clear account of the

arrival of this image in the Philippines. Accordingly, as believed by many, there are two

accounts of Divina Pastora’s arrival. The first account that given by the family of

Bartolome Valmonte and the second is the appearance of a beautiful lady wearing a white

robe in the vast field of the Valmonte family in sitio Callos. However, having read various

accounts of La Virgen Divina Pastora from different books of Marian images, there are at

least five accounts from traditions including the two accounts mentioned above. The three

other accounts are the Augustinian account, the Spanish account, and the Capuchin

account.64 Looking at them one by one, there must be an interconnection hidden from each

account which must be emphasized to arrive at a comprehensive presentation of the advent

of this devotion in the Philippines, specifically in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija.

62
With regards to the explanation of the circumstances of his vision, the fact that people readily embraced
the image he proposed of Mary as Shepherdess of souls is enough testimony that this was in fact, inspired by
deep faith and reflection on the role of the Blessed Mother within the flock of God’s holy people.
63
Letter on the occasion of the celebration of 3 rd. Centenary of the dedication “Mary, Mother of the Good
Shepherd” (“Divina Pastora”).
64
These accounts of the arrival of the image of Divina Pastora were found by the researcher from various
sources, given and written from different books, articles, and blogs, on the devotion to La Virgen Divina
Pastora. The names of each account were provided by the researcher as identified from the accounts’ content.
And these, he critically seeks the interconnections of the matter (See page 49-52).

39
1. Different Accounts of the Arrival of the Image of Divina Pastora:

a. The Augustinian Account

Most books about the history of Marian images being venerated in the Philippines

give credits to the Augustinian missionaries for bringing the first image of Divina Pastora

in the Philippines. It is stated that the image was brought by the Augustinian Missionaries

on an unknown date and got lost for quite some time until it was found on the trunk of the

Callos tree.65 This statement was made detailed by the Shrine of Divina Pastora in their

media account and even in their booklet of the novena, which also contains a brief history

of the devotion by including particular “years.”

As stated in their media account:

The Augustinian chronicle in the 16th century mentioned that sometime in the early
part of 1700, an Augustinian priest brought in Gapan a statue of the Blessed Virgin
Mary from Spain. He called the image "Virgen Divina Pastora" because the
surroundings of Gapan were largely a grazing ground of different animals like
carabao, sheep, cows, horses, and many others. He started the devotion to the Virgin
Divina Pastora, which rapidly spread throughout Gapan that reached as far as the
fringes of Candaba (Pampanga) in the southwest and Aliaga (Nueva Ecija) in the
northwest. Thus the devotion to the Virgen Divina Pastora was already widespread in
early 1700.66

In the booklet of the novena, it mentioned that:

Sa mga Sali’t-saling salita ng mga matatanda sa Gapan at kanugnog-nayon, lalo na sa

“Callos”, ay mayroong isang Paring Agustino na nag-uwi buhat sa Espanya ng
larawan ng Mahal na Birheng Ina na kanyang tinaguring “Divina Pastora” dahil sa ang
paligid ng Gapan ay pastulan ng iba’t-ibang mga hayop, tulad ng kalabaw, baka,
kabayo at iba pa. At sinimulan niya and debosyon sa Birhen Divina Pastora, na hindi
nagtagal ay kumalat ng kumalat sa Gapan at mga karatig pueblos at sitios nito. Kaya
noong 1747 pa lamang, ang debosyong ito ay tunay na laganap na sa Gapan at
nagkaroon ng taunang pagdiriwang ang Birhen Divina Pastora sa unang araw ng
Mayo.67
65
Pintakasi.
66
National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora, Three Kings Parish, Gapan City, History of La Virgen
Divina Pastora, https://www.facebook.com/LsVirgenDivinaPastoradeGapan/posts/279892656681296:0
(accessed July 05, 2021).
67
Diocese of Cabanatuan, Nobena alay sa Birhen Divina Pastora (Cabanatuan City, 1989), 3-4.
Henceforth, NBDP.

40
 This Augustinian account, which have dates, at least years, can be easily rooted and

connected both (a) in the origin of the image in Spain initiated by Fray Isidoro in 1703 and

(b) from the history of the Church of Gapan in Nueva Ecija started by the Augustinian

Missionaries which serves as their house on August 28, 1595.68

(a)First, this account is in line with the year of devotion flourishing in Spain by the 1700

hundreds. Considering the year when the Augustinians arrived and brought the image in

the Philippines, particularly in Gapan, probably it was during the year where the

devotion in Spain is spreading out to the other nations through the efforts of Spanish

Capuchin missionaries. It was in 1703 when Fray Isidoro had a vision of Mary as a

shepherdess, and then the spreading of devotion to her began in 1705 and looking at the

year when the Augustinian arrived and brought the image, following the aforementioned

statement, it was in the same year and century. Thus, there is a strong possibility that the

Augustinians brought the first image, which was lost and later found in the Callos tree

by the shepherds and farmers.

(b)Second, in the history of Gapan, it can be traced back to the Augustinian missionaries

who made a settlement in the latter part of 1595, which later on turned into a chapel and

convent until it was created a parish with the Magi as its patron saints. 69 It is said that
68
On August 28, of the 1995, another definatory was held where the convent of the town of Aybon was
accepted in the area of Bongabo in Zambales which at present call Gapan in the province of Pampanga (now
Nueva Ecija). Its advocacy is the Ephiphany or the Adoration of the Three Kings…Isacio Rodriguez
Rodriguez, OSA, Historia de la Provincia Agustiniana del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus de Filipinas, Vol.
XVII, Monumenta Provincea Philippinarum OSA (XI) Documentos (5) (VALLADOLID: Ediciones Estudio
Agustiniano, 1985), 156; Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, OSA, Conquistas de las Isla Filipinas1565-1615, Int.
by Pedro G. Galende, OSA, Ph.D. and trans. by Lius Antonio Mañeru (Manila: San Agustin Museum, 1998),
1019.
69
In the later part of 1595, four Augustinian priests, namely, Fathers Contreras, Tendillo, Caballo, and
Salazar, managed to carve out a settlement in the thick forest of the Sierra Madre mountains in the Northeast
portion of Luzon, which came to be known as "pueblo" of Gapan. They built a small chapel and a convento

41
 Gapan is one of the towns towards the north where the order of St. Augustine had

administered in teaching.70 Since it was the Augustinians who took charge of the Church

of Gapan (Ayumbon as its old name) from August 28, 1595 until 1898, 71 there is a

possibility that this account has liability as to the source of the advent of the devotion to

Divina Pastora.

However, in spite of the mentioned syllogisms above which strengthen this account,

it has a possible contention which can be considered. There is no question that

Augustinians was the earliest Order of missionaries that arrived and established the Church

in Gapan and that they were administering it until the end of 1800s. The contention

remains in this logic is the question whether the Augustinians intended to brought the

image for them to initiate the devotion. Given the fact that the image was popularized by

another Order, namely the Franciscan Capuchins, why would they promote this devotion

instead of their own? Probably, there would be a reason why it turned out that the first

image of Divina Pastora which arrived in Gapan was brought by an Augustinians which

alongside the "presidencia". The chapel and convent were used by the Augustinians as their station in their
missions to Cagayan, Isabela, and Aurora or Baler. Not long after, Gapan was created into a parish with the
Magi or Three Kings as its principal patron saints. History of La Virgen Divina Pastora.
70
Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, OSA, Conquistas de las Isla Filipinas1565-1615, 55. The zealous
Augustinian missionaries who preached the Good News in Pampanga and eventually evangelized the entire
province extended their outpost at an early period into what is now the Province of Nueva Ecija by following
the Rio Grande la Pampanga. Thus, Gapan was established as early 1595…Catholic Bishop’s Conference of
the Philippines, 1981 Catholic Directory of the Philippines (Manila: Catholic Trade, Inc., 1981), 417.
71
On May 4, 1596, during the provincial chapter of OSA at the Manila convent with Fr. Antonio Serrano
presiding as senior definitor, priors were also appointed for the convents of Caluntian and Ayambon, the
same as Gapan. It was also known by another name, Aybon, in Zambales. Ibid., 1027. See appendix for the
copy of the table of the list of Augustinian missionary and secular clergy being assigned in Gapan Church.

42
the Church itself, where the image is now enthroned, recognized and being conveyed to the

faithful and devotees.

b. The Spanish Missionary Account

In some books such as La Virgen Maria, Venerada en sus Emagenes Filipinas,

Madonnas of the Philippines, Pictorial History of the Philippines, and Hail Mary, the

Blessed Virgin of the Incarnation and other Shrines & Sanctuaries of Mother Mary in the

Philippines, it was stated that the image was brought by a Spanish missionary. In La

Virgen Maria, it affirmed:

La historia de esta milagrosa Imagen es poco menus que desconocida, porque ningun
relato escrito se conserva de su origen y de los muchos prodigios que se le atribuyen.
Créese piadosamente y sábese, por tradicion no interrumpida, que esta Imagen de la
Virgen fué traida á esta pueblo por un Religioso español, que ejerció la cura de almas
en estos lugares.72

Following this, it would be possible that it was a Spanish missionary who brought the

first image, considering that there are no available written accounts of the origin of this

devotion to Mary under the title Divina Pastora in the Philippines that could debunk it. In

2010 a book entitled Hail Mary, the Blessed Virgin of the Incarnation and other Shrines &

Sanctuaries of Mother Mary in the Philippines was published containing a brief history of

the National Shrine of Divina Pastora, which stated: “In 1802, the image was originally

brought to Nueva Ecija by a Spanish missionary for the double purpose of promoting the

72
La Virgen Maria: Venerada en sus Emágenes Filipinas (Manila: Imp. de Santos y Bernal, 1904), 122.
The history of this miraculous image is little less than unknown because no written account is preserved of its
origin and the many wonders attributed to it. Piously believe and know, by an uninterrupted tradition, that
this Image of the Virgin was brought to this town by a Spanish Religious, who exercised the healing of souls
in these places. Translation mine, ed. Rev. Fr. Raynold H. Oliveros, JCD.

43
devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and of developing the sheep industry in the

region…”73

Recognizing the given date, it is close to the date when the devotion had flourished in

Spain and started to spread out and be propagated in other nations. At the same time,

Spanish missionary has the reputation on this matter, since the devotion originally started

in Spain by a Spanish missionary in the person of Fray Isidoro de Sevilla and was brought

by the Spanish missionaries (brotherhood founded by Fray Isidoro under the protection of

Mary, the Divine Shepherdess) to other nations.

c. The Capuchins’ Account

The image, since it has its origin in Spain particularly under the Capuchin

missionaries who initiated the propagation and spread of this Marian cult, is said to be

brought by the Capuchin Order who arrived at the shores of Manila in 1882. On the 8 th of

May 1892, they settled in Intramuros and, there, opened their first chapel to the public. 74

This first chapel is dedicated to La Virgen Divina Pastora, as the Patroness of the Order.75

In Memoria Hístórica de la Cofradía de Ntra. Sra. de Lourdes establecidad en la

Capilla de P.P. Capuchinos de Manila, it says:

73
Sylvia G. Lazo, Hail Mary, the Blessed Virgin of the Incarnation and other Shrines & Sanctuaries of
Mother Mary in the Philippines (Antipolo: Antipolo Montessori Integrated School, 2010), 29.
74
La Divina Pastora de Intramuros, History of La Divina Pastora de Intramuros, https:// www. facebook.
com/ 102331828680330/ posts/ 105020011744845/ ?el=n (accessed, June 26, 2021).
75
On August 1, 1795, Pope Pius VI, at the request of the Definitor General Nicolás de Bustillo in the name
of all the religious of the Order in Spain, approved the celebration of the office liturgical on the second
Sunday after Easter for all Capuchins residing in the dominions of the Catholic king to worship the Mother of
the Divine Shepherd as Patroness privileged of its sacred missions. The office and Mass were later extended,
with Pius VIII, to the dioceses of Etruria, Tuscany, including the religious Alcantarinos and the kingdom of
the Two Sicilies. In 1870 the Sacred Congregation of Rites extended the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mother of the Divine Shepherd, as principal patroness of the Capuchin missionaries of Central America.
Finally, on November 19, 1885, at the request of the Capuchins of Spain, the superiors general obtained from
Pope Leo XIII that this feast be extended to the entire Order. Letter on the occasion of the celebration of 3 rd.
Centenary of the dedication “Mary, Mother of the Good Shepherd” (“Divina Pastora”), trans. James Patrick
A. Sampana and ed. Rev. Fr. Raynold H. Oliveros, JCD.

44
 Con sumo placer del alma reproducimos el grabado de la encantadora imagen de la
Divna Pastora, por ser ella la Patrona de las Misiones de la Orden Capuchina y Titular
de esta Capilla de Manila. Imagen bella y encantadora, que honra á esta Orden y en
ella á la humilde persona de un hermano Lego, Fr. Antonio de Vera, cuyo alto
renombre de artista, dignamente conquistador á fuerza de trabajos brillantisimos, no se
borrará jamás de la memoria de los que saben apreciar las bellezas de este sublime
arte.76

The data presented could strengthen the reliability of this account which validates the

presence of the Capuchins in the Philippines. However, what lessens its probability is that

the date of their arrival was a little bit late compared with the first two accounts namely,

the Augustinian missionaries (early 1700s) and the Spanish missionaries (1802). More so,

the image La Divina Pastora de Intramuros was succumbed by the ravages of the wartime

bombings of Manila, together with other precious icons and images treasured by the

different religious orders who owned churches in what was known before as the “city of a

hundred churches.”

d. The Appearance of the Image under the Callos Tree Account

On July 5, 1985, Most Rev. Ciceron S. Tumbocon, D.D., the third bishop of the

Diocese of Cabanatuan, on behalf of the Three Kings Church of Gapan that requests to be

declared the National Shrine of the La Virgen Divina Pastora, had submitted some crucial

data regarding the widely known devotion Divina Pastora or Divine Shepherdess to the

76
Juan María de Ansoain, O.F.M., Cap., Memoria Hístórica de la Cofradía de Ntra. Sra. de Lourdes
establecidad en la Capilla de P.P. Capuchinos de Manila (Manila: Tipo-litografía Germania, 1904), 139.
With the great pleasure of the soul, we reproduce the engraving of the charming image of the Divine
Shepherdess, for being the Patroness of the Missions of Capuchin Order and Holder of this Chapel of Manila.
Beautiful and charming image, which honors this Order and in it the humble person of a priest, Fr. Antonio
de Vera, whose high renown as an artist, worthily conquered by dint of brilliant works, will never be erased
from the memory of those who know how to appreciate the beauty of this sublime art. Translation mine, ed.
Rev. Fr. Raynold H. Oliveros, JCD.

45
National Liturgical Commission77. One of its essential data is the brief history of La Virgen

Divina Pastor which says:

Divina Pastora first came into notice sometime in 1850 in Callos, a sitio of Gapan
named after the Callos trees which grew abundantly in the place. It adjoined a river
where the farmers and shepherds of the place bathed and washed their flocks…
Sometimes she appeared in a small image floating on the river. The image would
disappear instantly should any farmer or shepherd bathing his cow or sheep attempted
to pick it up. One time, she appeared beautifully in white flowing gown that reaches to
her ankles, seated on an embankment of a Callos tree, a shepherd’s cane on one hand
while the other hand tapped the head of a sheep near her. This vision occurred twice to
a group of shepherds who tried to seek shelter to the place for a short afternoon nap. 78

This account is quite interesting for all of the accounts mentioned above, including

the historical account of Doña Juana, lead to it. These accounts would say that the image

was lost before the end of the 18th century, and was later found under the trunk of a Callos

tree surrounded by many sheep in the town of Peñaranda. Following this thread, however,

it would mean that this account would define the advent of the devotion to Divina Pastora

in the Philippines. This only means, before to this account, the image is already present,

existing, and known in the archipelago of the Philippines, especially in Gapan.

e. The Historical Doña Juana Valmonte Account

Now, aside from the accounts mentioned, there is this which they considered the

actual history of how the image arrived in the Philippines. In Ave Maria, La Divina

Pastora, it somehow contradicted and rejected the legends 79 on the origin of the image, as

77
During this period, the Most Rev. Jesús Dosado, CM, Archbishop of Ozamis is the in convent Chairman
of the Commission on Liturgy, CBCP.
78
Diocese of Cabanatuan, Documents for the National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora (Gapan City,
Nueva Ecija, 1985). See also, NBDP, 3-4; Association of Shrine Rectors & Promoters of Pilgrims in the
Philippines (ASRP), Shrines Incarnating Christ Today, eds. Msgr. Robert Esperila and Estela P. Denoga
(Makati: St. Pauls Publishing House, 2004), 153-154; Reyes, Ika 400-Taon Pagkakatatag ng Bayan, 15.
79
This refers to account number 4, the appearance of the image under the Callos tree. They rejected the
possibility of having its origin in the floating image on a river or discovered under the tree.

46
it mentions “the fact is the image did not have a supernatural but rather historical origin.” 80

They refer to the story of a lady in the near end of the 1700s in the person of Doña Juana

Valmonte who said to be the owner of the original image of Mary, Divina Pastora from

Spain, which is now enshrined in the Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora Gapan, Nueva

Ecija.

Doña Juana is one of the eight children of the influential Don Bartolome dela Cruz

Valmonte, overseer of the family farm in Barrio Callos and Gapan’s first gobernadorcillo,

and Doña Eulalia Fernandez. As narrated by many, especially by the descendants of the

Valmonte:

One night, Doña Juana had a strange dream about the Mary wanting to be fetched
from Spain. Perplexed… the following morning…told her father about the dream,
asking what it could have meant. Her father, at a loss for an answer, advised her to
consult the family’s friar friend in Intramuros, Manila…Finding the friar friend,
Doña Juana recounted to him her dream. Impressed, he told about a Marian devotion
gaining popularity in Spain – that of the Divina Pastora…He described what the
Divina Pastora looked like and she at once realized how relevant she was to her life
on the farm. She expressed her desire to order a small image… from Spain and
enshrine her as the patron saint of the family farm, interpreting that as a fulfillment
of what the Virgin Mary had asked her… to be fetched from Spain. 81

In this narration, the other accounts, despite being grounded also in history, are

seemingly being debunked and somehow turned to be dependent. This very detailed

account almost contains all the essential elements present in other accounts, considering

the dates, the person involved, the place, and even some instances. Moreover, the

continuation and completion of this historical Doña Juana story account could cover up all

the other accounts. As the story of Doña Juana in pursuing the image continues, the

Valmonte says:

80
Ramon R. Valmonte, Ave Maria La Divina Pastora, Commemorating the 50 th Anniversary of the
Canonical Coronation and the 28th Anniversary of the Declaration of the National Shrine (Cabanatuan City:
Diego Printing Press, 2014), 17.
81
Ave Maria La Divina Pastora, 17-18; Reyes, Ika 400-Taon Pagkakatatag ng Bayan, 15.

47
 After months of waiting, the image of the Divina Pastora arrived in manila via the
Acapulco galleon and Doña Juana was there to receive… It was a wooden image of
the Virgin Mary, as much like the one described by her friar friend – a little over foot
high, seated on a rock, dress as a shepherdess, wearing the peculiar hat with an
upturned brim, holding a shepherd’s crook in her left hand and caressing with her
right hand a lamb perched on her lap. Doña Juana took the image first to the family
home in Gapan and then to her farmhouse in Barrio Callos and installed it in a
special place at the altar…The family would pray for abundant harvest which was
always granted. In thanksgiving, the family would hold a fiesta in her honor every
May 1, the end of the harvest season and the start of the Marian month.”

Having this data, the family was associated with the Callos account where in some

books and articles of history of the Marian images in the Philipinnes claimed Doña Juana

as the owner of the vast tract of land where the lost image, owned by her, was found or

appeared.82 On the part of Gapanenses and even Novo Ecijanos, to recognize this account,

it is such an honor and a privilege to have the person of Doña Juana who served as an

instrument of God so that the flourishing devotion from Spain be brought in their place to

be honored and to be an intercessor not only by them but also of the other faithful through

the witnessing of the faithful devotees to get closer to Jesus Christ, the true Shepherd.

However, this would imply that the other accounts are simply that of legendary and

misinterpreted due to the absence and loss of the written history of account about the

advent of the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora. At the same time, it can also be said

that due to the same reason of the lack of written documents, the story is being scattered

and unorganized which resulted in different interpretations and narrations now present in

various historical books of Marian images and shrines in the Philippines.

Taking these arguments, then, queries will arise. One could ask which account must

be recognized, or there is a need to choose among these accounts? Otherwise, instead of

82
Fr. Pedro O. Balagtas, Las Jornadas De La Divina Pastora, Santo Rosario, Vol IX-4, no. 100 (Manila:
Apostolate of the Rosary under the Dominican Father, Cacho Hermanos, Inc., 1954), 29.

48
trying to answer these somehow misleading queries, it is better to see and delve into the

interconnections present among them.

2. The Interconnection of Accounts of the Arrival of Image of Divina Pastora

At the outset, reviewing the available and given accounts of the advent of the

devotion to Divina Pastora in the Philippines, there are already interconnections that are

visibly present and established. Some of these interconnections are the following:

a. The Augustinian and the Callos tree accounts – It is stated that the image was brought

by the Augustinian missionaries on an unknown date and got lost for quite some time

until it was found on the trunk of the Callos tree.83

b. The Augustinian, Doña Juana, and the Callos tree accounts – In one of the interviews,

the Valmonte is claiming that Doña Juana had consulted an Augustinian priest in

Manila to interpret her dream that portrayed the Virgin Mary as the divine shepherdess

(Divina Pastora).84 So, it was the Augustinian who brought the image in Gapan on

account of the order of Doña Juana. This image was once lost and later found by the

farmers and the shepherds under the Callos tree near the vast track of lands owned by

the Valmonte family.

c. The Spanish missionary and Callos tree accounts – The connection between these two

accounts is the same as with that of thee Augustinians who say that the image brought

by the Spanish missionary in Gapan had disappeared and was later found under a Callos

83
Pintakasi,
84
Anselmo Roque, Miraculous image makes Gapan City top site for pilgrimage in Central Luzon,
newsinfo-inquirer.net/594595/miraculous-image-makes-gapan-city-top-site-for-pilgrimage-in-central-luzon
(accessed, January 17, 2021).

49
 tree.85 This account of Spanish missionaries being linked with the Callos tree affirms its

validity.

d. In the case of the account on the Capuchin missionary, due of its late arrival on the

shore, it is quite challenging to make some link between some other accounts, especially

that of Doña Juana who went to a friar in Intramuros, Manila to have inquiry and

consultation of her dream about the Virgin Mary as Divine Shepherdess.

Each account claims a particular date, person, and circumstance and must be

respected. These accounts, however, by suspending the dates and some events given in

each account, can be put up into one integrated narrative of how the image arrived in the

Philippines, particularly in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija.

It can be said that Doña Juana had a dream, asking Don Bartolome (his father)

about it and with a loss of answer, the latter referred her to their friend friar in Intramuros.

Their friend friar is an Augustinian who confirmed her dream to the flourishing devotion in

Spain. Doña Juana had ordered it, and after months of waiting it arrived aboard the

Acapulco galleon. The image was brought by Spanish missionaries from Spain,

particularly of that Capuchin Order who opened their first chapel to the public under the

title of Mary, Divina Pastora as their patroness. The image, being brought in the

Philippines by the Spanish missionary, was brought by the Augustinian friend of the

Valmonte family in Gapan and gave it to Doña Juana. Then, Doña Juana placed it to her

altar and the whole family prayed to the image for a bountiful harvest. As gratitude, the

family would hold a fiesta in her honor every May 1, the end of the harvest season and the

start of the Marian month. Then, here comes the miracles, the image would disappear from

85
LVM, 95; Lazo, Hail Mary, 29.

50
the altar, and later would be found by the farmers and shepherds under a Callos tree nearby

the vast tract of fields owned by the Valmonte family.86

Having seen each of them, every account has its unique contribution to the

establishment of devotion. Through these accounts, the devotion or the image itself, having

different forms of presentation and narration given by various authors, becomes more

significant in the lives of the faithful. For this reason, appreciation of these accounts makes

the devotion much inclusive, instead of putting tensions on them that makes it exclusive as

it attempts to lessen the credibility of the other narrated account. Seeing the issue of its

origin, whether it is brought by the Augustinian, Spanish, Capuchin, found the Callos tree,

or bought in Spain and owned by Doña Juana, it has an effect in the life and faith of every

faithful in their acceptance and understanding of this devotion.

Indeed, unprecise and complex presentation of account leads to confusion and

lessens the authenticity and credibility of one’s devotion. But this does not mean that in

order to come up with a precise and accurate presentation of history, there would be a need

to come up into one particular account of the origin, for it would affect not only the present

devotees’ right for a more comprehensive perspective but also the future generation of

devotees to come.

C. The Flourishing of the Devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastor in Gapan, Nueva Ecija

Various accounts were given to the advent of the devotion to Divina Pastora in the

Philippines. Though apparently, this case led to controversy, what matters now is the

86
It is only an attempt of interpreting and trying to make inter-connections among these different available
accounts. However, it should not be for each account has its uniqueness and must be respected in its form.

51
devotion and the image which arrived in the 1700s in the Philippines and started to flourish

in Gapan, Nueva Ecija in the early 1800s.

The controversial image,87 according to the historical account, was brought to

Gapan and with the blessing of the parish priest was installed in the top center of the

Church altar where it has been the object of veneration and supplications for a long time

and brought down only on the occasion of pilgrimage. 88 After the image was transferred

and installed in the Church altar, stories of miracles began to be reported and be attributed

to the image of Mary, under the title “Divina Pastora.”

89
One of the miracles attributed to her is the miraculous spring. It is said that it

gushed forth at the back of the altar near the parish’s premises. The water from this spring

caused miraculous healings. Miraculous cures were told and retold by thousands of

devotees. It is said that the mere use of water from the spring was an instrument of these

many miraculous cures of different illnesses, some of which are the “many sick crippled

persons have unanimously confessed to having recovered their health in this sanctuary.” 90

Thus, the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora spread far and wide such of the provinces

of Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Norte, Abra, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya,

Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, and Zambalez. 91 However, due to the commercialization of

some unscrupulous devotees, the spring had dried up in the early years of the 1940s. But

the Lord continues to perform miracles through the intercession of La Virgen Divina

87
The image is said to be the one being found under the Callos tree planted on the land owned by Doña
Juana. The shepherds after spreading what they witnessed which they considered a miracle, the head of the
shepherds found the image. He got it and gave to the owner of the vast land (hacienda). Reyes, Ika 400-Taon
Pagkakatatag ng Bayan, 15.
88
Documents for the National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora, 1.
89
NBDP, 3-4; Pintakasi; History of La Virgen Divina Pastora.
90
Lutgarda A. Aviado, Madonnas of the Philippines, with Illustrations (Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing
Co., 1975), 95.
91
NBDP, 4; History of La Virgen Divina Pastora,

52
Pastora. With this, if before the Valmonte family held a simple family thanksgiving affair,

the celebration of May 1 turns into a day of pilgrimage for the devotees from distant places

to pray before the image Divina Pastora for intercession and thanksgiving for granted

petitions.

In the early 1950s, the Church, aware of the miracles attributed to La Virgen Divina

Pastora, enthroned her as Patroness of the Diocese of San Fernando, Pampanga that,

during that time, encompassed the provinces of Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and

Tarlac. Since at this time, Cabanatuan then was not yet erected as a diocese. But later, on

December 19, 1963, when the Holy See, in the pontificate of Pope John XXIII, had already

erected Cabanatuan as a diocese with its first bishop, Most Rev. Mariano A. Gaviola 92 with

the joint efforts of the late Archbishop Emilio A. Cinense, former Archbishop of San

Fernando (Pampanga), and late Msgr. Paterno E. Bernabe, Parish Priest of Gapan together

with the faithful of the Diocese of Cabanatuan especially the people of Gapan, and the

devotees from the neighboring provinces, Pope Paul VI, the successor of John XXIII,

issued a Papal Bull, Novissima93 for the Canonical Coronation of the Divina Pastora, a

Church recognition of the image of the Virgin Mary under the name Divina Pastora

venerated in Gapan.94 The coronation rites took place on April 26, 1964, led by the first

bishop of the newly created Diocese of Cabanatuan, Mariano Gaviola.

92
Pope John XXIII, Sacra Congregatio Consistorialis, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 55 (1963), 246.
93
It is, see appendix for the image of original copy of the Bull and some pictures during the Canonical
Coronation. The researcher in search for some supporting documents of this event for its authentication,
unfortunately, was not able to find any related documents related to it, especially in the Diocesan Archives
where the subject matter is situated. Also, it is not located in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS), the official
gazette of the Holy See. According to Rev. Fr. Winston F. Cabading, OP, these concessions are not often
written in the AAS. More so, the researcher tries to request in the Nunciature Archives for a possible existing
documents related to it. Unfortunately, according to Rev. Fr. Rolando Garcia, Jr., Nunciature staff, the
documents of the Nunciature dating 1963 have already forwarded to the Vatican Archives for safekeeping.
However, the bull has the seal of the Supreme Pontiff Paul VI dated 1963.
94
Documents for the National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora, 2; NBDP, 4; History of La Virgen
Divina Pastora; Shrines Incarnating Christ Today,154; Salve Regina, On Crowning Images of the Virgin
Mary, 96; Reyes, Ika 400-Taon Pagkakatatag ng Bayan, 15.

53
 The Divina Pastora was subsequently proclaimed as Patroness of the Diocese of

Cabanatuan and the province of Nueva Ecija. 95 Thus, La Virgen Divina Pastora is regarded

as “The Queen of the Central Plains.” 96 On February 13, 1986, the Catholic Bishops’

Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) declared the Three Kings Parish Church as the

National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora.97 Through the untiring efforts of Msgr. Felix

Hernandez, the former parish priest of Gapan, the family Valmonte who owned the

miraculous image, was motivated to give it to the Three Kings Parish. 98 On April 26, 1986,

His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the Archbishop of Cebu and then CBCP president

presided over the solemn proclamation. Eventually, the number of devotees has been

increasing through the years, with testimonies of answered prayers, foremost of which are

healings, continuing to multiply.

D. The Images of La Virgen Divina Pastora and Its Symbolism99

95
Ibid.
96
Translated in Tagalog as “Reyna ng Gitnang Kapatagan,” this devotion to Mary, La Virgen Divina
Pastora, though began initially been in a humble field in Nueva Ecija, has spread through the neighboring
provinces, which consists the Central Luzon, or “Gitnang Luzon,” which is primarily a land rich in rice fields
and mostly plains – a flat bodies of land.
97
On January 24, 1985, during the 52nd CBCP assembly, the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines (CBCP)
approved the petitions on the National Shrines. The document says: On November 14, 1985, two petitions are
endorsed to the Commission on Canon law, asking for the approval of the CBCP as national shrines the
Church of Our Lady of Visitation of Guibang in the Diocese of Ilagan, and the Church of Mary, Divina
Pastora of Gapan, in the Diocese of Cabanatuan. The Chairman of the Commission on Canon law,
Archbishop Salvador, reported that his Commission recommended that the respective bishops should first
declare the churches mentioned as diocesan shrines. When told that they were already diocesan shrines, Abp.
Salvador replied that if the CBCP approved them as national shrines for pastoral reasons, the Commission
would pose no objection. Abp. Dosado, chairman of the Commission on Liturgy, also endorsed the petitions.
The Body approved the petitions unanimously. Documents for the National Shrine of La Virgen Divina
Pastora. See appendix for the copy of the document of the approval of the Three Kings Parish as National
Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan, Nueva Ecija.
98
On February 19, 1986, Mrs. Donata Valmonte-Cala entrusted the care of the original image of La Virgen
Divina Pastora in the Parish Church of Three Kings in Gapan, Nueva Ecija. Reyes, Ika 400-Taon
Pagkakatatag ng Bayan, 17.
99
See appendix for the images.

54
 In Gapan, there are three statues/images of the Blessed Lady under the title La

Divina Pastora: the original image, the coronada, the viajera. One might ask why there are

many statues of the Divina Pastora. The following are the descriptions and explanations:

1. Original Image

The original image is only more than one foot tall and originally was privately owned

by the Valmonte Family. It is said that it is the very image that Doña Juana fetched in

Intramuros via Acapulco trade. It is said that the image is more than two centuries old and

is now permanently enshrined at the left side antique retablo of the old stone Church. The

original image is usually brought down from her retablo every 26 th of April (on her

canonical coronation anniversary) for the grand procession.

2. Coronada

During the canonical coronation rites in 1964, the original miniature image was still

privately owned by the Valmonte Family. At that time, the Three Kings Parish possessed a

replica that was bigger than the original but was not faithful to the original image. It shows

a shepherdess holding a shepherd’s staff and wearing a crown instead of a hat. The image

is usually enthroned nine days before her canonical coronation anniversary and remains

enthroned until the end of May for the Flores de Maria.

3. Viajera

The viajera is the official pilgrim image of the La Virgen Divina Pastora and is

usually brought from one place to another whenever the faithful request the image to visit

their place and their community. This replica is faithful to the original image. The image

has a hat with an upturned brim and a young sheep perched on her lap.

4. The Symbols Attributed to Her

55
 Faith in God is expressed in worship. This particular devotion to the Blessed Mother

entails symbolism in the liturgy and communitarian worship. As such, there are symbols

present in the image of the La Virgen Divina Pastora.100

a. Sheep

Below the image of the Divina Pastora are sheep which represent the devotees and

the entire People of God. The Gapanense faithful consider themselves sheep as they let the

Virgin Mary lead them to Jesus. This is a quite fitting point in a prayer of Pope Emeritus

Benedict XVI in one of his encyclicals, “Show us Jesus. Lead us to Him. Teach us to know

and love him, so that we too can become capable of true love and be fountains of living

water in the midst of a thirsting world.”101

b. Callos Branch

The Callos branch represents the Callos tree and the Callos town from where the

devotion to Marian piety began. It represents the barangay of Doña Juana Valmonte, the

lady behind the history of popular devotion. The Callos tree also represents Mary as giving

shades – protection from harm for those who seek her motherly care.

c. The Cape and the Veil

Both the cape and the veil symbolize the motherly care and protection of La Virgen

Divina Pastora especially as experienced by the People of God in Gapan and to all of her

devotees throughout Central Luzon and even throughout the world. Moreover, in times of

great sufferings and dark moments, Mother Mary invites her children to come to her and

100
Cf. Valmonte, 46-50.
101
Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est (Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, 2005), 42.

56
feel her consoling embrace just as she once embraced her Son Jesus, when he was born 102

and when he died and was brought down from the Cross.103

d. Corsage

The corsage symbolizes the traditional flower offering especially to a guest or a

prominent and respected person. The image of La Virgen Divina Pastora has a corsage as a

sign of her great importance to the devotees’ spiritual life regarding her as Mother of Christ

and Mother of the Church.

e. Cane

Also known as a shepherd’s staff, this cane symbolizes how Mary guides the

devotees to the path towards her Son – the way to justice, peace, and righteousness amidst

the cultures of today’s world: materialism, diversion, crime, violence, corruption,

indifference and the disrespect to the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person.

At the same time, it serves as a reminder to those who are lost to return, be sorry for their

sins, and be reconciled to the Lord.

f. The Hat and the Golden Crown104

The fifth Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary is the coronation of Mary as Queen of

heaven and earth. The coronation symbolizes the gratefulness of the Gapanenses and of all

the faithful devotees of Mary the Divina Pastora as their Queen and the whole of Central

Luzon.105 She is the Mother of God, the Incarnate Word Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd

who entrusted the flock in her care. Thus, she is the Mother of all nations. It also

102
Cf. Luke 2:16.
103
Cf. Luke 24:53. This scene presents to us La Pieta, which is another icon of being a mother of Mary to
Jesus.
104
The hat and the golden crown are interchangeably used depending on the occasions. During ordinary
times, the hat is worn while during her feast day, the Divine Shepherdess has her majestic glorious golden
crown.
105
This is the reason why the Divina Pastora is dubbed as the “Reyna ng Gitnang Kapatagan.”

57
symbolizes our recognition of God’s great success for the history during the time of Jesus

and Mary does not end with the defeat. Instead, the end of the story is the victory Jesus

Christ, the glorification of God which manifested in the life of Mary, the Divina Pastora

wearing the hat who continuously, with the help of the Holy Spirit, shepherding the flock,

the people of God closer the Son, their true Shepherd. All these are symbolized by the

golden crown for Mary is the Queen who serves faithfully to God by serving her Son in

shepherding his flock.

E. Acts of Piety and Practices Related to the Devotion to “La Virgen Divina Pastora”,
the Mother of the Good Shepherd

Though generally, the Blessed Lady is much loved by the Novo Ecijanos, there are

concrete ways in which they show their love and devotion to Mary, La Divina Pastora:

1. Traslacion

The traslacion recalls how the original image is fetched from the farmhouse in

Callos, Peñaranda, and was brought to the old stone church of Gapan for the liturgical rites.

There was circulating tale that when Doña Juana was sick and cannot change the vestment

of the Lady for the liturgical rites, the men in charge of the carroza cannot move even one

meter the carroza. Upset, Doña Juana, went up to change the vestment of the Blessed

Lady. The modern-day traslacion starts at midnight of April 23 with a Holy Hour and a

long walk begins from the Three Kings Parish to the Divina Pastora Chapel in Barrio

Callos in Peñaranda. The viajera is set atop her andas and devotees help one another like

in the case of bayanihan until it reached its destination. The traslacion would last for

almost six hours. Devotees who sacrificed during the traslacion would testify that their

intentions were granted.

58
 At some date in the 1800s now lost to history, the Parroquia de Gapan – now called
the Three Kings Parish -- adopted the Divina Pastora as its second patron saint after
the Three Kings, and involved itself in the staging of the fiesta. The image would be
brought from the farmhouse in Barrio Callos to the bahay na sim, dressed up in richly
embroidered vestments, set on a silver carroza bedecked with flowers and transferred
to the church a block away for the religious rites, and afterward returned home and
taken back to Barrio Callos.”106

2. Canonical Coronation Anniversary

Every 26th of April, Gapanenses recall and re-enact the canonical coronation rites

that happened in 1964. People from Gapan and neighboring towns would gather at the

Church and solemnly re-enact the coronation rites. After the Eucharistic celebration, it is

followed immediately by the grand procession of all the patrons of the different barangays

of Gapan. Indeed, it is considered as a city’s celebration.

3. Intramuros Grand Marian Procession

Every first Sunday of December, the pilgrim image or viajera joins the annual

Intramuros Grand Marian Procession held at Intramuros, Manila. The purpose of

participating in this activity is to promote and propagate the devotion to La Virgen Divina

Pastora. There are some suggestions regarding the image to be brought for the procession.

Some would suggest that the original image should be obtained because the last time the

original image went to Intramuros was the time it was fetched by Doña Juana Valmonte

some two centuries ago.

F. Summary

The object of the most prominent Marian devotion in Central Luzon, Divina Pastora,

originated from Spain in the year 1703. It is the Capuchin Friar Isidoro de Sevilla who had

a vision of the Blessed Virgin and commissioned it to the Alonso Miguel de Tovar. He

106
Valmonte, 19.

59
took the feast of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an avenue to expose to the

public worship the image commissioned by de Tovar. The image became popular and the

devotion began to spread out through the Spanish missionaries “Primitive Brotherhood of

the Flock of Mary” who brought the devotion with them and spread within Spain, then

later on, to the different Spanish colonies such as Mexico, Latin America, and the

Philippines.

In the Philippines, the Divina Pastora, also known as La Virgen Divina Pastora, the

Mother of the Good Shepherd, the Queen of the Central Plains, is venerated at her National

Shrine in Gapan, Nueva Ecija on May 1 st. Regarding the arrival of this image in Gapan,

there is no one particular and precise account narrating the story. Instead, various forms of

narration accounts given by different authors were presented from the various books and

catalogs on the history of the venerated Marian images in the Philippines. The research

traces at least five versions of narrative accounts about the arrival of the image in Gapan,

namely: The Augustinian account, the Spanish account, the Capuchin account, the Callos

tree account, and the historical account of Doña Juana. All of these accounts manifested

their uniqueness, and at the same time, they had shown factors of their validity as they

corresponded to a particular era of the history. Nonetheless, despite the lack of certainty

about the arrival of the image in the archipelago, the devotion to Mary, under the title

Divina Pastora, had flourished in Gapan way back 1800s.

The image, which was found under the Callos tree, was brought to Gapan Church,

through the permission of the parish priest, and was installed on the top center of the

Church altar. Over the period, stories of miracles began to be reported and be attributed to

Divina Pastora. The devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora spread far to the neighboring

60
provinces. In the early 1950s, the Church authority aware of the miracles enthroned her as

Patroness of the Diocese of San Fernando. On December 19, 1963, the Virgin Mary as

Divina Pastora was recognized wherein Pope Paul VI issued the Novissima for her

Canonical Coronation which took place on April 26, 1964, presided by the first bishop of

the newly created Diocese of Cabanatuan, Mariano Gaviola. It was also in this celebration

that the Divina Pastora was regarded as the “Queen of the Central Plains.” On February

13, 1986, the Three Kings Parish Church was declared by the CBCP as the National Shrine

of La Virgen Divina Pastora. Then, the Valmonte family who owned the considered

original and miraculous image entrusted the care to the Three Kings Parish. And finally, on

April 26, 1986, the solemn proclamation had presided by Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the

CBCP’s president during that time.

And finally, the images, symbols, and practices related to the devotion to Divina

Pastora in Gapan, Nueva Ecija was presented with their explanation, to complete the

comprehensive presentation of the history and the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora,

the Mother of the Good Shepherd

CHAPTER V

THE THEOLOGY OF THE TITLE “DIVINA PASTORA”

AND THE LITURGICAL DATA
ON THE NOVENA PRAYER TO “LA VIRGEN DIVINA PASTORA”,
THE MOTHER OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD

In the whole Marian piety, the Virgin Mary, under the title “Divina Pastora,” while

receiving her recognition and veneration in the life of Christian worship, can also be

considered a controversial matter due to the opposition and allegation given by her

critiques. One major allegation to the Virgin Mary is her being like a goddess, a treatment

61
given to her by the Church, especially by those paying homages— her devotees.

Accordingly, this treatment of Mary as a goddess is manifested in the attribute given to her

as a “Divine Shepherdess.”107 However, despite the controversy affiliated to Mary, the

devotion of the people to her was continuously increased and established. Mary, as the

Divina Pastora, serves as intercessor between God and humanity. The devotees manifested

their deep faith in God as they offer their prayers through the intercession of La Virgen

Divina Pastora. One expression of their deep trust to the Divina Pastora is their payer of

novena to her.

A. The Theology of the title “Divina Pastora”

Mary’s title as “Divina Pastora” or “Divine Shepherdess” resulted into some

significant questions, such as: “Who is Mary?”, “Why call her Divina Pastora?”, “Is she

Divine?”, “What does it mean?”, “How does it affect us, especially her devotee?” These

must be discussed and analyzed for without a profound understanding of the meaning of

this title “Divina Pastora”, this devotion will fall into distortions of doctrine, superstitions

or purely mechanical exercise. Comprehension of the meaning is necessary not for the sake

of information per se or out of curiosity, but to lead the faithful, especially her devotees

into a broader horizon of understanding and appreciation of this devotion.

1. Origin and Meaning

Divina Pastora. This title of Mary, as mentioned in the history originated in Spain and was

coined by the Capuchin Franciscans who fostered this devotion to Mary under the title La

Divina Pastora, or Holy Shepherdess, as a corollary to Christ as the Good Shepherd. 108

107
Vengco, 2.
108
Santoro, 27.

62
Going back in the century, there are references that would speak of Mary as Divine

Shepherdess. As mentioned by José Francisco Cruces Rodriquez in his article at

Advocaciones Marianas de Gloria entitled La Divina Pastora de las Almas: historia de la

advocación e iconografia, y su vinculacíon con la ciudad de Málaga:

Existen referencias ya en el siglo V en el himno anónimo Akáthistos, en los escritos

de Juan el Geómetra, Gonzalo de Berceo, María de Jesús de Ágreda y en dos
sermones de San Juan de Ávila -en los que afirma que “la Virgen sin mancilla es
nuestra Pastora, después de Dios”-, así como también en episodios de las vidas de
los santos Juan de Dios y Pedro de Alcántara. A nivel artístico, también aparecen
algunas representaciones de la Virgen María rodeada de ovejas. 109

Nevertheless, in the end he still recognized the Order of Capuchin Franciscan,

especially the person of Fray Isidoro de Sevilla in promoting it, as he says,

Pero el honor de manifestar a la Señora con atuendo y título de Pastora de las almas
le corresponde con todo el derecho a la Orden Capuchina, la cual, en la persona del
Venerable Fray Isidoro de Sevilla, fue la promotora del culto a María bajo tan dulce
advocación.110

Mary’s attribute as Divina Pastora resulted to some implications: one of which is

the affirmation of the opposition that Mary is being recognized as a goddess as if she has a

touch of divinity like her Son Jesus Christ that through her humanity is being divinized.

Why Divina Pastora? The title can indeed give rise to misinterpretations. ‘Divine’

Shepherdess can give the impression that Mary is considered at par with God in majesty,

glory and divinity. Going back to Fray Isidoro’s account of apparition, the Virgin Mary
109
José Francisco Cruces Rodriquez, La Divina Pastora de las Almas: historia de la advocación e
iconografia, y su vinculacíon con la ciudad de Málaga, Advocaciones Marianas de Gloria (San Lorenzo del
Escorial, 2012), 986. There are references as early as in the 5th century in the anonymous hymn Akathistos,
in the writings of John the Geometrician, Gonzalo de Berceo, Maria de Jesus de Agreda and in two sermons
of St. John of Avila - in which he affirms that "the Virgin without stain is our Shepherdess, after God"-. as
well as in episodes from the lives of Saints John of God and Peter of Alcantara. At the artistic level, there
also appear of the Virgin Mary surrounded by sheep. Translation mine, ed. Rev. Fr. Raynold H. Oliveros,
JCD.
110
Rodriguez, 1001. But the honor of manifesting the Lady in the garb and title of Shepherdess of souls
rightfully belongs to the Capuchin Order, which, in the person of the Venerable Friar Isidoro of Seville, was
the promoter of the cult to Mary under such a sweet invocation. Translation mine, ed. Rev. Fr. Raynold H.
Oliveros, JCD.

63
dressed as a “shepherdess.” The Virgin Mary is exclusively referred to as “Shepherdess,”

without the adjective ‘Divine’. Now, as to why Mary is called “Divina Pastora” or

“Divine Shepherdess”, there is no identified basis. Here, the friar never assumed Mary as

‘divine’ but only as a shepherdess. He never elevated Mary to the category of a goddess,

since, the incurring of “Divine” making implicit movement in the denomination of Mother

and Shepherdess of the Divine Lamb.111 In 1742, through the request of Fray Isidoro, the

Provincial Friar Miguel de Ardales pointed out the convenience of representing the Divine

Shepherdess without additions of the image of the Child Jesus, a rosary or a scapular. 112

However, the incorporation of the Child Jesus in Mary’s lap was demanded by the

Alcantarine Fathers, underlining the denomination of Mother of the Good Shepherd. On

the other hand, the document issued in 1795 by the Sacred Congregation of the Rites, in

the name of Pope Pius XI, referred to the Virgin Mary as "Mother of the Divine Shepherd",

discarding the term "Mother of the Good Shepherd", ruling out any reference to a possible

invocation of Mary as Mother of the Divine Lamb.113

Despite the efforts made to avoid any implication as such of what was mentioned

above, still, the devotees did not grasp fully these theological appreciations and always

opted the title of “Divina Pastora” or “Divine Shepherdess” exclusively. This scenario also

happens in Gapan, Nueva Ecija where devotees opted to address Mary as Divina Pastora,

she is rarely called the Mother of the Good Shepherd. Although, one clear thing that shows

that their understanding of Mary’s role for them is correct, is their another form of

addressing the Divina Pastora, as they call her “Inang”.114

111
Fray Isidoro de Sevilla, Novena a la Sobrena Empertriz de los Cielos y de la Tierra Maria Santisima
Nuestra Senora Pastora Amantisima de las Almas (Sevilla, 1926), 6-7.
112
Rodriguez, 1001.
113
Rodriguez, 1001.
114
The researcher, in his conversation with one of the member of the Focus Group, became aware of the
devotees’ reason why they still call Mary as Divina Pastora and rarely as Mother of the Good Shepherd.

64
 What, then, is the proper term to address Mary who appeared to Fray Isidoro as a

“shepherdess”? The best way to answer this is to see first the theology that lies behind the

title “Divina Pastora.” The use of the title Mother of the Good Shepherd seems better as it

is introduced and presents who Mary is. Still, is there a need for correction of the title

“Divina Pastora?”

1. Theological Basis, Explanation, and Implication

For unknown reasons, what dominates between Divina Pastora and Mother of the

Good Shepherd is the former. Because one possible reason is the uniqueness of the title

which attracts the devotees to ask for the intercession of Mary. It seems that the

controversy on the correct form of the title is simply reduced strictly to a theological and

clerical level and people find no reasons to stop calling her Divina Pastora. The title,

though seemingly a misused attribute for Mary, since Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, is

the only ‘Divine’, does not affect the faith of the people.

Having the controversy on the use of the title, the Provincial of the Capuchins of

Andalusia, Fray Juan Jesús Linares Fernández in 2003, on the occasion of the third

centenary of the invocation settles the question definitively in his letter to the fraternities,

saying:

El pueblo sencillo acoge la advocación de Divina Pastora con gozo. Nunca entendió
que al llamar así a la Virgen, se la estuviera elevando a una categoría de diosa. Lo que
es divino no es la persona de María, sino su estilo y manera pastoral; su estar al
servicio de Dios y el hombre, porque eso es fruto del Espíritu Santo… El pastorear de
María, como el pastoreo ministerial o el de todos los fieles viene por la inquebrantable

Accordingly, the issue can be best explained through a mother-child relationship. A child will dearly address
his/her mother in their personal and dearest name and won’t easily change how they call their mother just
because it was changed or corrected. Since their childhood, it is how they address their mother. In the case of
Divina Pastora, they knew her since their childhood with her title Divina Pastora, so whether the proper title
to her should be Mother of the Good Shepherd it would be difficult for them to simply change or disregard
the name which is so sweet and dearly in their hearts.

65
 unión con el Buen Pastor, es una participación fruto de la comunión con Cristo,
ÚNICO Y VERDADERO PASTOR.115

This statement of Fray Juan Jesús Linares Fernández sufficiently clarified the

question of which form is correct to be used; Divina Pastora or Mother of the Good

Shepherd? Clearly, it says how both forms respond to the same invocation and are equally

valid. Even before this letter of Fray Juan Jesús Linares Fernández appeared in history, it

was already explained and settled by a well-known professor and theologian in the person

of Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco, Jr., who during the deliberation in the CBCP, in the year 1985,

of the Church of Three Kings Parish being proposed to be the National Shrine of La

Virgen Divina Pastora, provided the theological basis and explanation. During this time, as

mentioned above, the title was seemingly questionable, particularly, theologically doubtful.

Msgr. Vengco says:

In giving this title to Mary, it is not to claim divinity for her, but plainly to express the
deep faith that in her we discover and experience divine love. Mary as Divina Pastora
is indeed the bearer to us like a tabernacle of the divine saving presence. Out there in
the open fields and amidst the animals that support human life, Mary stands in the
world as a gentle symbol and a powerful sign of the ineffable divine love for us the
flock of the Lord. She is the guide and shepherdess, the servant of the Lord, dedicated
to our spiritual welfare, growth, and safety. We are guaranteed that she will be there
for us always, never abandoning us especially at the approach of perils and threatening
predators. Mary’s wish as our Divina Pastora is to lead us all, intact as the Lord’s
flock, to the eternal bliss of the heavenly sheepfold. And in calling our Mother Divina
Pastora, we commit ourselves to be the children who are like their mother. As devotees
of the Divine Shepherdess, we are summoned to imitate her concern for the flock of
the Lord, the Church. We need to be personal witnesses of the Gospel of the Kingdom
of God in Jesus Christ. Our Christian Vocation is to be bearers and signs of God’s

115
Rodriguez, 1001. The simple people welcome the invocation of Divina Pastora with joy. They never
understood that by calling the Virgin in this way, she was being elevated to the category of a goddess. What
is divine is not the person of Mary, but her pastoral style and manner, her being at the service of God and
man because this is the fruit of the Spirit. Mary's shepherding, like the ministerial shepherding or that of all
the faithful, comes from the unbreakable union with the Good Shepherd, it is a participation that is the fruit of
communion with Christ, the ONE communion with Christ, the ONLY TRUE SHEPHERD. Translation mine,
ed. Rev. Fr. Raynold H. Oliveros, JCD.

66
 saving presence in the world in imitation of Mary our Mother, the Divine Shepherdess,
in the spirit of Jesus, her Son, and the unique Good Shepherd.116

These statements by Msgr. Vengco in 1985 and Fray Fernández in 2003, are enough

to say and explain how the title Divina Pastora is never an attribute that tries to treat Mary

as a goddess, which tries to divinize the humanity and an act of idolatrous worship. Most

importantly, these are enough to say how the title Divina Pastora is, though theologically

incorrect, not anymore need to be corrected. Instead, it manifests her Motherly role in the

plan of salvation, it is alright to call her, Divina Pastora, as what Msgr. Vengco and of

Fray Fernández would say, Mary, is our Mother, the Divine Shepherdess, who shepherds

the faithful towards her Son, only and unique Good Shepherd. For this reason, some

theological implications would follow.

a. Mary, Mother of the Good Shepherd

This employs the Christological dimension of Mary as Divina Pastora or the Mother

of the Good Shepherd. “The devotion to the Blessed Mother began then also to develop

especially after the Council of Ephesus (431) which declared her to be truly the Mother of

God.”117 Athanasius expressed Mary as the Theotokos when he mentioned that, “she is the

Mother of God in the true and proper sense since God the Word, begotten from the Father

before the ages, became incarnate from her in the latter days.” 118 Mary is admired, praised,

and exalted as the locus of the Christological paradox. The faithful, searching for the truth
116
Valmonte, 24.
117
Bernhard Raas, Popular Devotions Making Popular Practices More Meaningful Vehicles of Spiritual
Growth (Manila: Divine Word Publications, 1992), 122.
118
J. Neuner, S.J., and J. Dupuis, S.J., The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic
Church, ed. by Jacques Dupuis, 7th revised and enlarged edition (Banglore: Theological Publications in India,
2016), 234.

67
of God among the paradox of Christian faith, found inspiration in the Marian devotion.

Mary is always within the context of God. St. Irenaeus drew parallelism between “that pre-

eminent birth which is from the Most High Father” and “that pre-eminent birth which is

from the Virgin.” This was canonized by the Council of Chalcedon in the scheme of the

double generation: the Son’s eternal, divine generation from the Father and his human

generation in time from the Virgin Mary.119 St. Ambrose, in his treatise on the Patriarchs,

writes: “As we understand that (divine) generation from the Father, thus, to complete our

faith, we should also understand his (human) birth from Mary.” 120 Mariology is a

significant consequence of Christology. It is a developed Christology to the fullest

potential in which Mary and her Son are similar but different in Catholic theology.

In line with this thought, Mary as Divina Pastora or the Mother of the Good

Shepherd shows the person of Jesus to devotees. Though Mary did not make herself divine,

parallel to God, as this title seemingly wanted to imply literally: Mary is divine (Divine

Shepherdess). Instead, Mary has been constantly aware of her mission. Since the

beginning, being chosen in her role and place in the mystery of God’s salvific plan, she is

mindful that the task of shepherding the faithful corresponds exclusively to Jesus Christ,

the Good Shepherd.121 It means to venerate her and to worship her Son who became man

and dwelt among us. These devotees expressed their faith in the cooperation of Mary to the

work of shepherding of her Son, the Good Shepherd. An authentic devotion to Mary

always leads toward her Son, Jesus Christ our sole mediator to the Father in Heaven. As

mentioned in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium:

119
Gerald O’Collins, S.J., The Tripersonal God, Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity, Second
edition, Revised (New York: Paulist Press, 2014), 99.
120
Hilda Graef, Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion, Part I (Mumbai: The Pauline Sisters Bombay
Society, 2013), 117.
121
Letter on the occasion of the celebration of 3 rd. Centenary of the dedication “Mary, Mother of the Good
Shepherd” (“Divina Pastora”).

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 There is but one Mediator as we know from the words of the apostle, "for there is
one God and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself
a redemption for all". The maternal duty of Mary toward men in no wise obscures or
diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows His power. For all the
salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner
necessity, but from the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the
merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its
power from it. In no way does it impede, but rather does it foster the immediate
union of the faithful with Christ.122

The Council ensures with all precision that the cult of Mary must be Christocentric,

for the functions and the same privileges granted to Mary always refer only to her Son,

Jesus Christ, who is the Good Shepherd. In this context, the Marian devotion to La Virgen

Divina Pastora in Gapan, Nueva Ecija can be considered as a unique devotion since the

focus of veneration to her as Divine Shepherdess is on the shepherding mission of her Son,

Jesus Christ, though the one who is adorned is La Virgen Divina Pastora, his mother. This

only signifies that Divina Pastora is the mother of the Good Shepherd who is truly present

in every circumstance of the faithful and devotees in shepherding them closer to her Son.

Thus, the annual celebration of her miraculous intercession to her devotees is not just

simply a ritual. More than that, it is an expression of their faith which manifests their union

with God, through Mary, the Divina Pastora.

b. Pneumatological Vision

Another dimension implied to Mary, under the title Divina Pastora, is her link with

Holy Spirit. There is a relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit in the divine plan of

salvation. This is manifested in Mary’s role in this divine plan:

The part played by Mary is situated within that played by the Holy Spirit, who made
her the mother of the incarnate Word and who is the principle of all holiness and of the
communion of saints. This is the work of the Spirit in Her. That is why Christians try
to model their lives according to the image of Mary, who welcomed Christ and gave
him to the world, and they pray to her so that this may be accomplished in them. Mary

122
LG, 60.

69
 is the first recipient of grace and the first to have been associated with the sovereign
action of the Spirit in Christ.123

Mary is linked to the Holy Spirit wherein Mary is for the Holy Spirit an instrument in

fulfilling God’s plan of salvation. Through the Holy Spirit, Mary helps the faithful to

understand the Church. The faithful, especially the devotees, in looking at Mary, are being

immersed more deeply in the mystery of the Church. This is why, the devotion to the

Virgin Mother should never keep the faithful away from the Holy Spirit since the Lord

Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, on account of whom she shepherds the faithful closer is

in communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. “Mary, the Mother of the Good

Shepherd had represented for the Christian people an extraordinary bond of communion of

men with God and with men to each other.” 124 And this is the ultimate goal of all prayers

and devotions to Mary, all men are gathered back into the fold of Christ, the Good

Shepherd. This gathering of all sheep in one only flock and under one shepherd (Jn. 10:16)

happened and happening in the life of the Christian faithful having devotion to Mary who

is being unified and where reconciliation and peace were being promoted. Mary as La

Virgen Divina Pastora being filled with the Holy Spirit serves as an instrument of

shepherding the flock of God towards one assembly of the faithful getting closer to her

Son, Jesus Christ who is in communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This is why

she is Pastora. Mary as a Shepherdess had a special mission from God. She is to unite

herself to Jesus the Good Shepherd in guiding and guarding the flock with simplicity,

determination and kindness.

c. Ecclesiological Context
123
Yves Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, trans. by David Smith (New York: The Crossroad Publishing
Company, 2001), 163-164.
124
Letter on the occasion of the celebration of 3 rd. Centenary of the dedication “Mary, Mother of the Good
Shepherd” (“Divina Pastora”).

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 Mary as a Divine Shepherdess serves as a significant icon. Mary’s way of exercising

the mission of being a mother is marked by “minority.” 125 Often, she is maintained as

central focus in Christology next to Christ himself. Mary is the Real symbol of the Church,

imparting to it all the qualities of womanliness: openness, receptivity, and

responsiveness.126 Mary sincerely opened herself to God and humbly accepted to partake in

the plan of salvation as she made her fiat –which serves as a gateway of salvation open to

all nations.

In one miracle attributed to Mary in Gapan, Nueva Ecija, she manifested her

minority to God and her Son. When people began to acknowledge and venerate her

through her miracles, the Lord manifested also his affirmation by the continuous miracle of

healings attributed her, the Divina Pastora. However, when seemingly the people turn their

focus on Mary alone, the Lord ceased to manifest His abundant grace and healing by

making the spring dried, especially when it was commercialized by the unscrupulous

devotees. Mary had shown how all the miracles through her intercessions were from God

and not from her – that she only serves as a channel of God’s power. Mary, serving as a

symbol of the Church, leads her Son’s flock into a communion of communities who are

conformed to Christ by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, since Mary is the human being

most fully conformed to Christ, the “preeminent member of the Church.” 127 This was

affirmed by Pope Paul VI as he pointed out that: “Mary remains a most excellent exemplar

of the Church in the order of faith, charity, and perfect union with Christ.” 128 By an active

devotion to Mary, the Divina Pastora, may the faithful renew their lives into a humble

125
Ibid.
126
Richard P. McBrien, The Church, The Evolution of Catholicism (New York: HarperCollins Publishers,
2008), 335.
127
LG, no.53.
128
McBrien, 335-336.

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service. Being disinterested, lacking in control and power, by the predilection of the weak

sheep, wayward or strange, by merciful goodness, always close and silent patterned to

Mary, the perfect icon of the motherhood of the Church. And finally, as a response to Mary

being the icon of minority, always open and willing to accept and respond to the will of the

Father, Mary as Divina Pastora is shepherding the faithful towards the mission of her Son.

As Pope John Paul II emphasized in his Marian encyclical Redemptoris Mater, Mary’s

Magnificat incorporates the Church’s “preference for the poor,”129 and his reflection on her

discipleship stresses the Church’s call to the service of others, as “she was always a giver

of Jesus to people.”130 Mary, as the Mother of the Good Shepherd, serves as an icon of the

people to lead men through her goodness to the fold of Christ, the only and Good Shepherd

not forgetting also to lead them to her Son doing the mission, as Jesus has commanded.

This mission is no other than to lead men to Jesus. This is what Mary as Divina Pastora

implies ecclesiologically, to shepherd all the faith, with care, to Jesus. As Pope Leo XIII

said, “ad Iesum per Mariam”: a safe way to go and lead men to Jesus. 131 Mary as a

Shepherdess protects, consoles, and soothes every Christian who put his or her trust in her

motherly love and solicitude. Considering the sure influence of Mary on her Son, it is not

so unusual to regard her as “the Good Shepherdess,” the Mother of the Good Shepherd,

Jesus the Lord.

B. The Liturgical Data of the Novena Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora

129
Pope John Paul II, On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church: Redemptoris Mater
(Rome: Vatican City, March 25, 1987), 37. Henceforth, RM.
130
PCP II, 150.
131
Letter on the occasion of the celebration of 3 rd. Centenary of the dedication “Mary, Mother of the Good
Shepherd” (“Divina Pastora”).

72
 The Novena Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan, Nueva ecija was censored

by Rev. Msgr. Jesus B. Estonillo, J.C.D. and published by the Diocese of Cabanatuan on

April 26, 1989.132 It was during the administration of the Most Rev. Sofio G. Balce, Jr.,

D.D., S.T.D., the fourth bishop of Cabanatuan. Tracing this Novena Prayer in the history of

the devotion to Divina Pastora in Gapan, it was, then, 25 years since the solemn

celebration of the Canonical recognition to Divina Pastora on 1964.133 This version of the

Novena Prayer to La virgin Divina Pastora, which is the object this study, is not the first

edition made and released, at least, by the Church of Gapan.

The Novena Prayer is considered under the period where the Church clarifies the

place and the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the teachings and guidelines issued

by the magisterium of the Second Vatican Council. The period of formulating this novena

was predisposed in the Church’s teaching on the right order and development of devotion

to the Blessed Virgin Mary particularly by the Apostolic Exhortation of His Holiness Paul

VI Marialis Cultus and the Encyclical letter of Pope John Paul II. Also, it was during the

time where the Philippine Church just celebrated its Marian Year which calls for the

renewal of Marian devotions in the Philippines. This call for the renewal was addressed in

Ang Mahal na Birhen: Mary in the Philippine Life Today Pastoral Exhortation of the

CBCP in February 2, 1985. This pastoral letter reechoes the Church’s teachings on the

132
The Novena Prayer to La virgin Divina Pastora is available in both Tagalog and English language.
However, the Church of Gapan (and the devotees at least accordingly to whom I encountered and dialogue
with) is using the Tagalog version in praying the novena to Divina Pastora. See appendix for the full text of
the Novena Prayer and the authentication from the Rector of the National Shrine.
133
The researcher having a conversation with Rev. Fr. Mark C. Ancheta, the current parish priest and
rector of the Three Kings Parish, the National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan, and the
chairman of the Liturgical Commission of the Diocese of Cabanatuan, was informed that there was the
previous prayer of the novena to Divina Pastora that the elders were using in their prayer. However, the
researcher is not able to encounter these old versions of Novena Prayer which accordingly, during his focus
group discussion with some devotees of Divina Pastora, these novenas are containing indulgences at the
beginning of the booklet. Unfortunately, as one devotee had said, they can no longer find a copy of these
novenas.

73
devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and it provides the special opportunities to give the

Marian catechesis in line with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council.

1. Findings on the Novena Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora

The researcher, after venturing on the history and devotions to La Virgen Divina

Pastora in the previous chapter, through the aid of group134 which broaden and deepen his

understanding and knowledge of the context of his study led him to discover the following

in the Novena Prayer:

a. Biblical Foundations of the Novena

Having careful and intense analysis, the novena, including the image and the symbols

attached to it, the hymns, the prayers, the readings, and the reflections, manifest how it is

scripturally ground and supported.

In the guidelines given in Marialis Cultus, biblical nature is mentioned appealing to

the use of scriptural text with the great schemes of the Christian message. The devotion

should not simply use the text and symbols skillfully selected from the Scriptures. Instead

it should draw the inspiration and the wording from the Bible. 135 The Philippine Church,

implementing the guidelines of Marialis Cultus, elaborated this biblical nature of the

devotions by stressing the need for renewal, particularly in the novenas. The Pastoral Letter

Ang Mahal na Birhen states, “novenas will then be renewed by making them more

scriptural, avoiding a verbosity present in some of them and a sentimentality less in

134
To put himself in the context of the devotion, the researcher conducted a focus group discussion as
mentioned in his methodology (Chapter three of this study). Through the assistance of Fr. Ancheta, he invited
devotees who are praying and familiar with the Novena Prayer in honor of La Virgen Divina Pastora. These
devotees are active in the Church’s apostolates, and some of them are well equipped and familiar with the
history and issues of the object. The basic criteria given by the magisterium in evaluating the nature of
devotion to Mary is used to facilitate the discussion. See Appendix for the focus group discussion on the
Novena Prayer.
135
MC, 30.

74
consonance with today’s religious attitudes.”136 At the same time, the Second Plenary

Council of the Philippines following the lead of the Second Vatican Council declared,

A study should be made of the potential of popular religiosity, purified and enriched
by the Word of God and transformed into a vehicle for effectively proclaiming the
Good News and incarnating it in the lives of our people…Devotion to the Blessed
Virgin Mary and the saints should be Christ-centered…be true expressions of our
faith, and that novenas have the Word of God as an integral part.137

This is also the same with the principles and guidelines provided Tagalog by the

Directory on the Popular Piety and the Liturgy mentioned the essential of having constant

recourse to Sacred Scripture, as understood in the sacred Tradition. 138 In addition, it states

that,

Prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture so that a dialogue takes
place between God and man. Thus, it is highly recommended that the various forms
of popular piety normally included biblical texts, opportunely chosen and duly
provided with a commentary.139

The image of Divina Pastora is very important in the Novena as it manifests the

scriptural, theological, and liturgical content of the novena itself. The history of the

devotion to Divina Pastora emphasized the miracles attributed to her by the faithful which

led to the recognition of the Church’s authority to make Mary the Divina Pastora

enthroned in the Church of Gapan and later on declared as the Queen of Central plains. It is

proven how miracles are important in the life of the faithful. Thus, God made use of

miracles manifested in Jesus Christ who is the center of all miracles. Jesus Christ, himself

is God’s revelation. The most fundamental of these miracles is his incarnation, as an

expression of God’s love for us. While the incarnation is the fundamental element and root

of salvation, its definitive and ultimate sign is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. From Jesus’

136
AMB, 84.
137
CFC, 1547.
138
DPPL, 186.
139
DPPL., 88.

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incarnation and resurrection, he worked miracles, especially in his three years of public

ministry. Jesus used miracles to teach and touch people with the gift of faith and more so to

call them to faith in Him. Jesus accompanies his words with many “mighty works and

wonders and signs.”140 In the Sacred Scriptures it manifests how Jesus affirmed the direct

connection between faith and healing works,141 when he cured the paralytic, and the

woman with the issue of blood; when he gave sight to the blind Bartimaeus and restored to

life Jairus’ daughter; when he cured the centurion’s servant boy at Capernaum, and the

daughter of the persistent Canaanite woman; when he cleansed the ten lepers, of whom

only the one Samaritan returned to give thanks; when he changed the water into wine, and

in the multiplication of the bread. All these miracles of Jesus have the primary purpose of

glorifying God and calling them to salvation, as John states in his Gospel: “Jesus did this as

the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples

began to believe in him.”142 Clearly, Jesus is the miracle worker and not Mary. Mary as the

Divina Pastora serves as a channel and instrument of God to introduce them to Jesus and

have faith in him. Mary, the Divina Pastora, in her miracles through her image should

always be seen in the context of discipleship. This is what the scene in the wedding feast at

Cana is portraying when Mary says, “Do whatever he tells you.” 143 Mary serves as an

intercessor of humanity to get closer and to receive miracles from Jesus Christ. She was

always ready to submit to the will of God. When she agreed to be the Mother of the

Messiah, she also agreed to serve for the redemption of mankind144.

140
CCC, 547.
141
CFC, 485.
142
John 2:11.
143
John 2:12
144
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila, The Second Provincial Council of Manila, Acts and Decrees
(Manila: Excel Printing Services Inc., 1997), 142.

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 The intercessory role of Mary is established in the image of the devotion to Divina

Pastora. It is manifested in the history of the devotion from Seville, Spain up to the other

parts of the world that reached by this devotion, especially in the Philippines particularly in

Gapan, Nueva Ecija. Many faithful revered the image due to the numerous miracles

attributed to her, the healings and apparitions which helped this devotion to flourish and

spread in the neighboring province of Nueva Ecija. Thus, the image of Mary the Divina

Pastora is but an instrument of God in touching faithful by giving miracles so that they

may have a sense of deep faith in Him.

As a form of prayer, the Novena Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora is biblical. The

structure of novena has a proclamation of the Word in its daily prayer which is followed by

a short reflection. Looking at the other parts as well including its image, its hymns (Sa

Divina Pastora, Sa Hari ng Langit and Mahal na Ina ng Diyos), its reflection, and its

prayers (Opening prayer, Daily prayers, and the prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora) are

grounded biblically, thus following the guidelines of Pope Pius VI’s Marialis Cultus,

CBCP Pastoral Letter Ang Mahal na Birhen, and the Directory on the Popular Piety and

the Liturgy on the manner how these documents wanted the devotions, particularly the

novenas to be biblically founded.

The image of Mary as La Virgen Divina Pastora, though seemingly theologically

incorrect, has several references in the Scriptures. The title of Mary as Divina Pastora

would speak of Divine Shepherdess, however implicitly, manifests her motherhood sharing

in the mission of her Divine Son in gathering God’s flock and leading them into salvation

brought by her Son through the help of the Holy Spirit. This, for instance, can be found in

the book of the prophet Isaiah which says: “Sharon shall be a pasture for the flocks and the

77
valley of Achor a resting place for the cattle of my people who have sought me.”145 This

Old Testament account can be a typology to Mary as in the Gospel of John. Jesus entrusted

us to her mother when He was on the cross saying, “Woman, behold, your son” then

afterward he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” 146 In the Gospel of Matthew,

Mary is also addressed by Jesus as His mother. When out of the blue someone tells Jesus

that His mother and His brothers wanted to talk to Him. He replies, “Who is my mother?

Who are my brothers? And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, here are

my mother and my brothers.”147 These verses show that Mary, being the mother of God, is

entrusted by her Son in shepherding His flock, the people of God, the Church.

The novena’s hymns, prayers, and reflections have a biblical nature regarding Mary’s

motherhood, as the model of perfect discipleship and as mediatrix. The hymn “Sa Divina

Pastora” and “Ina Divina Pastora” are Mariological in nature and grounded biblically.

These are compositions of prayers asking help from her for their daily struggles and

temptation until death. The hymns indicate Mary’s intercessory role, which can be seen in

the fourth gospel. The maternal intercession of Mary in her actions at the Wedding feast at

Cana, wherein she respectfully asking her Son Jesus to intervene without predetermining

his response.148 People knowing how close Mary is to her Son Jesus, in singing these

hymns, asks intercession from Mary. The hymn “Sa Hari ng Langit”, besides its Chorus

“Ave, ave, ave, Maria!” which is derived from the greetings of the angel Gabriel to Mary

during the Annunciation149 and of her cousin Elizabeth during the Visitation, 150 particularly

145
Isaiah 65:10
146
John 19:26-27
147
Matthew 12:48-50
148
Cf. John 2:1-12
149
Luke 1:26-38
150
Luke 1:39-56

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the phrases “Ina ni Hesus” and “mahal kong Ina” proclaims Mary as the chosen to be the

Mother of the Lord. The hymn “Mahal na Ina ng Diyos” emphasizes Mary being the

beloved Mother of God, which is seen in the fourth gospel as Jesus entrusted her beloved

mother to his disciple.151

The prayers and the reflections as well, are biblically grounded as they manifested

and reflected on the particular scriptural passages being read based on the theme of the

nine-day novena in honor of La Virgen Divina Pastora. The Opening Prayer, once again,

acknowledges Mary’s maternal intercessory function: “itinagubilin kaming Iyong bayan sa

kalinislinisan Mong Ina nang Ikaw ay nakabayubay sa krus,” and “ipagkaloob Mo sa amin,

na kasama ng Birhen Divina Pastora ay makasunod kami sa Iyo na aming tunay ng Pastol

dito sa lupa upang makasama mo kami sa buhay na walang hanggan.” Mary serves as the

mediatrix of the people towards Christ, the Good Shepherd as stated in the Prayer to

Divina Pastora “Salamat sa iyong pagpapala na nagpalalim ng aming pagkilala kay Jesus,

na iyong anak, ang Mabuting Pastol na tagapagligtas.” Mary serves also as the perfect

model of discipleship wherein the Christians, especially the faithful and devotees, are

called to: “sa aming paglalayag, ang halimbawa mo nawa ang tunay na maging gabay

tungo sa buhay na ganap at kasiya-siya.”

And finally, the scriptural readings in the novena that makes the structure very

biblical and its reflections are reflective, catechetical, and doctrinal. Each day has a

corresponding theme derived from readings both in the Old and New Testament. The

readings are succeeded by reflections based on the theme of the reading and some include

dogmatic teaching on Mary with Trinitarian, Christological, Pneumatological,

151
John 19:27

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ecclesiological and ecumenical aspects. Thus, Mary, the Divina Pastora, in this novena, as

mentioned in Ang Mahal na Birhen, is seen in a Biblical context.152

TABLE 1

Nobena alay sa Birhen Divina Pastora Biblical Foundation

The Image: La Virgen Divina Pastora/ Isaiah 65:10 “Sharon shall be a pasture
Divine Shepherdess/The Mother of the for the flocks and the valley of Achor a
Good Shepherd resting place for the cattle of my people
who have sought me.”

John 19:26-27 “Woman, behold, your

son” then he said to the disciple, “Behold,
your mother.”

Matthew 12:48-50 “Who is my mother?

Who are my brothers? And stretching out
his hand toward his disciples, he said,
here are my mother and my brothers.”
Hymns: Sa Divina Pastora, Ina Divina Jn. 19:26-27 “When Jesus saw his mother
Pastora, Sa Hari ng Langit, Mahal ng Ina and the disciple there whom he loved, he
ng Diyos said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your
son.” Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.” And from that
hour the disciple took her into his home.”

Mt.12:49-50 “But he said in reply to the

one who told him, “Who is my mother?
Who are my brothers?” And stretching
152
Mary should always be seen in a Biblical context, for she was the product of the heritage of patriarchs,
prophets, and psalmists of the Old Testament. AMB, 94.

80
 out his hand toward his disciples, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my
heavenly Father is my brother, and sister,
and mother.”

Cf. Jn. 2:1-12 The Wedding at Cana

Prayers: The Introductory Prayer, Daily
Prayers, Prayer to Divina Pastora Cf. Lk. 1:26-38
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
Lk. 1:39-56 Mary Visits Elizabeth

Jn. 19:27 “Woman, behold, your son.”

b. The Novena Prayer and its Harmony with the Magisterium

The researcher, having observed the biblical nature of novena, also noticed its

adherence to the magisterial teachings on Mary. It possesses the criteria that the Church is

expecting in a particular devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary for it to be promoted in the

liturgy of worship being celebrated by the flock of God, the Church. The Constitution on

the Church, Lumen Gentium speaks of the hierarchy in giving honor to the Blessed Mother:

The various forms of piety toward the Mother of God, which the Church within the
limits of sound and orthodox doctrine, according to the conditions of time and place,
and the nature and ingenuity of the faithful has approved, bring it about that while the
Mother is honored, the Son, through whom all things have their being and in whom it
has pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, is rightly known, loved and
glorified and that all His commands are observed. 153

In the novena from its hymns, prayers, and reflections manifested being Trinitarian,

Christocentric, Pneumatological, ecclesial and ecumenical. The Trinitarian aspect of the

novena is expressed. It was highlighted in the novena as it was first and foremost addressed

153
LG, 66.

81
to the Most Holy Trinity.154 First, the novena in honor of La Virgen Divina Pastora, like

another novena such as the Novena to Mother of Perpetual Help, starts with the “Sign of

the Cross.”155 Second, the prayers, from its “Opening Prayer, “Daily Prayer,” until the

“Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora,” are clearly Trinitarian in composition and nature

and lastly, the reflections given following the preceding biblical passages are Trinitarian as

they present Mary as an obedient handmaid of the Lord. Having examined the novena

particularly its prayers and reflections, the researcher finds out that it gives expression of

the Trinitarian aspect which is one of the essentials of an authentic and renewed novena

prayer. As the Directory on the Popular Piety and the Liturgy would say, “Marian

devotions should give expression to the Trinitarian note which characterizes worship of the

God revealed in the New Testament, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” 156

Its Christocentric aspect seconds its the Trinitarian dimension. The hymns, prayers,

and reflections are about the relationship of Mary with her Son. Their indissoluble link and

essential relationship are being highlighted. The Marialis Cultus states: “In the Virgin

Mary everything is relative to Christ and dependent on Him.” 157 Mary is always in the

154
Fr. Roland Mactal, a Mariologist from the Order of Preachers, in presenting Vatican II’s criteria for an
authentic Marian devotion says that all prayers addressed to Mary must be in such a way that she is related to
the Trinity. In the prayer, Mary should be seen as an obedient handmaid to the will of the Father, as Mother
of the Son of God, and as the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. Only then, devotion is truly Christian when its
origin is found in Christ, its efficaciousness in the following of Christ finds its expression in Christ, and
directs the faithful to Christ in the Spirit of the Father. Roland Mactal, “Mariological Development after the
Second Vatican Council and the Impact of Marian Devotion in the Philippines,” Philippiniana Sacra 42, no.
125, (May-August 2007): 283.
155
Christian worship is of itself worship offered to the Father and the Son and to the Holy Spirit, or, as the
liturgy puts it, to the Father through Christ in the Spirit. MC, 25.
156
DPPL, 186.
157
MC, 25.

82
realm of God’s salvific plan through her Son, Jesus Christ. It reflects Mary’s participation

in God’s plan, being the mother of her divine Son. In these hymns, prayers, and reflections,

Mary is always in subordination to her son. Mary, being taken up to heaven, did not lay

aside her salvific duty. Through her constant intercession, we continue receiving the gifts

of eternal salvation. Through her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son,

who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cultic, until they are led into the

happiness of their true home. Therefore, the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under

the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix. This, however, is to be so

understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and

efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator.”158 The unique mediation of Mary with her

Son, which never diminishes the “unique mediation of Jesus Christ”, 159 is shown as stated

in the lines of the hymns of “Sa Divina Pastora” (Kanyang tulong lagging-lagi kami ay

humuhinigi/ kung kami’y nasa panganib kay maria tatakbo, tatawagin naming siya kung

lalapit ang tukso), “Ina Divina Pastora” (Ikaw sa ami’y namamagitan), and “Mahal na Ina

ng Diyos” (tulungan ninyo kami sa araw-araw naming suliranin). In the prayers, as well,

expresses the unique mediation of Mary as stated in daily prayers such as in the “8 th day”

(upang mailapit naming kay Maria, Birhen Divina Pastora, ang mga hindi

sumasampalataya sa knaya), “9th day” (Dalhin nawa kami ng mga panalangin ni Maria,

Birhen Divina Pastora, sa pagtubos ni Kristo) and in the “Prayer to La Virgen Divina

Pastora” (Patuloy mo nawa kaming akayin sa liwanag ng salita ni Kristo). In addition, in

158
LG, 62.
159
There is but one Mediator as we know from the words of the apostle, "for there is one God and one
mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption for all" (1TM 2,5-6). The
maternal duty of Mary toward men in no wise obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ but
rather shows His power. For all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some
inner necessity, but the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests
on His mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it. In no way does it impede, but rather
does it foster the immediate union of the faithful with Christ. LG, 60.

83
the reflection of the “8th day” (Sa maraming pagkakataon ay ipinakikita at ipinadarama ni

Maria sa Iglesia Katolika ang kanyang pagmamahal, pag-aaruga at pagtulong na lubos na

ikinalulugod ng kanyang Anak na si Hesus) shows how Mary is a mediator between God

and humanity in a unique way as she was the mother of Jesus Christ, the sole Mediator 160.

In this sense, the novena is valid for having reference to Christ, the incarnate Word since

its context revolves and takes its form from Him.

The Pneumatological aspect also is present in this novena. While it is addressed in

the Most Holy Trinity and takes its form in Christ, the novena on its 3 rd day, the daily

prayer in one of its lines states: “kitang-kita at damang-dama naming ang pagtanging

ginawa ng Espiritu Santo sa Mahal na Birhen”, and in its reflection it says, “Ang

kapangyarihan ng Espiritu Santo ang may gawa ng hiwagang naganap kay Maria”. Mary is

seen also in link with the Holy Spirit. Thus, the devotion is exercised not solely because of

Mary’s intercession to the people of God and her devotees instead, it is through the Spirit

of God, the Holy Spirit.161

The researcher also discovers the “ecclesial character”162 of the novena wherein the

people of God, the faithful especially the devotees of La Virgen Divina Pastora, are being

gathered in prayer (adoring the God in his wonders through Mary, asking for a supplication

through the intercession of Mary, expressing sincere gratitude for all the blessing being

bestowed on them through their devotion in Mary, asking Mary to always pray for them,

protect them, and guide them to the Lord). In the novena, particularly in the “Opening

160
This dogma is also being affirmed in the Philippines through the Second Plenary Council of the
Philippines as mentioned in the matter of renewal of popular piety. It encourages the continuous fostering of
devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as long as it is seen in relationship with, and insubordination to, Christ,
the one Mediator between God and humankind. PCP II, 174.
161
Since every true form of piety comes from the Spirit and is exercised in the Spirit. DPPL, 186.
162
The ecclesial character, in virtue of which the faithful are constituted as the holy people of God,
gathered in prayer in the Lord’s name (cf. Mt 18:20) in the vital Communion of Saints. Ibid.

84
Prayer”, it states: “Panginoon naming Jesucristo, Mabuting Pastol na inihain Mo ang Iyong

buhay para sa Iyong mga nilalang, at itinagubilin kaming Iyong bayan sa kalinis-linisan

Mong Ina nang Ikaw ay nakabayubay sa krus; ipagkaloob Mo sa amin, na kasama ng

Birhen Divina Pastora ay makasunod kami sa Iyo na aming tunay na Pastol dito sa lupa

upang makasama Mo kami sa buhay na walang hanggan.” This depicts Mary’s privilege of

becoming the model and realization of the meaning of the Church. Clearly, it shows the

place of Mary in the Church. She is full of significance and gives grounds for hoping that

the different forms of devotion to the Blessed Virgin may everywhere be open to all those

who possibly embrace them, so as, all of the nations are people of God, and this is the

“ecclesial perspectives.”163 This only means that Mary is “the mother of the members of

Christ . . . having cooperated by charity that faithful might be born in the Church, who are

members of that Head and that she is hailed as a pre-eminent and singular member of the

Church, and as its type and excellent exemplar in faith and charity. Thus the Church honors

her with filial affection and piety as a most beloved mother.” 164 As a matter of fact, this

novena with its ecclesial character expresses Mary’s role in the Church and its history of

salvation. It serves as a sign of hope to the people of God, especially to the faithful and her

devotees, and to the many people who will be engaging in this novena, as it confesses the

glory of God. Since “what is given to the handmaid is referred to the Lord, thus what is

163
That is (a)to appreciate more easily Mary's mission in the mystery of the Church and her preeminent
place in the communion of saints, drawn to the Second Vatican Council's references to the fundamental
concepts of the nature of the Church as the Family of God, the People of God, the Kingdom of God and the
Mystical Body of Christ, (b) to a deeper realization of the brotherhood which unites all of them as sons and
daughters of the Virgin Mary, "who with a mother's love has cooperated in their rebirth and spiritual
formation," and as sons and daughters of the Church, since "we are born from the Church's womb we are
nurtured by the Church's milk, we are given life by the Church's Spirit," (c) that both the Church and Mary
collaborate to give birth to the Mystical Body of Christ since "both of them are the Mother of Christ, but
neither brings forth the whole (body) independently of the other," (d) and that the action of the Church in the
world can be likened to an extension of Mary's concern.
164
LG, 53.

85
given to the Mother redounds to the Son, and thus what is given as humble tribute to the

Queen becomes honor rendered to the King.”165

Lastly, the researcher finds out that the novena also has an ecumenical aspect. In its

daily prayer, “8th day”, it states “Papag-alabin Mo po ang aming pagmamahal sa kanya

upang mailapit naming kay Maria, Birhen Divina Pastora, ang mga hindi pa

sumasampalataya sa kanya.” It manifests how the faithful/devotees desire the unity of all

Christians. This adds to the conformity of this Novena Prayer in harmony with the

magisterium since Pope Paul VI, in Marialis Cultus, pointed out that the Mother of God

has in its view an ecumenical movement and thus has in itself an ecumenical dimension. 166

This ecumenical point of view is due to the reason that Mary is not just the Mother of the

Catholics but also of the Mother of all who received baptism and has faith in Christ.

Devotion should be oriented towards “unity in the Church with Christ in a spirit of

gratitude”167 Thus, in the end, the Directory on the Popular Piety and the Liturgy would

tell, “She (Mary) is the mother not only of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but also of

mankind in the order of grace.”168

The researcher knowing how the novena is being biblically founded, compatible with

the magisterium, and sensible to the liturgical norms is not reducing the difference between

the liturgy and popular devotion. According to Father Anscar, through this gap, the task of

liturgist comes in since not every element of popular religiosity is liturgically suitable or

even capable of expressing the nature and purpose of the liturgy. But the difference

165
MC, 25.
166
Given the ecclesial character, one that preoccupation of the Church, being reflected in the devotion to
the Blessed Virgin Mary, is her anxiety for the re-establishment of Christian unity. In this way devotion to
the Mother of the Lord is in accord with deep desires and aims of the ecumenical movement, that is, it
acquires an ecumenical aspect. MC, 32.
167
Raas, Popular Devotions, 292.
168
DPPL, 183.

86
between the two must always exist, although this gap between the official worship of the

Church and the popular worship in the Church has to be bridged to bring about a mutual

and enriching exchange between the liturgy and popular devotion.169

TABLE 2

Nobena alay sa Birhen Divina Pastora Documents of the Church

Prayers: Opening Prayer, Daily Prayer,
Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora

Mary is an obedient handmaid of the Lord Christian worship is of itself worship

being the Mother of Jesus Christ. offered to the Father and to the Son and
the Holy Spirit, or, as the liturgy puts it, to
the Father through Christ in the Spirit.
MC, 25

“Marian devotions should give expression

to the Trinitarian note which characterizes
worship of the God revealed in the New
Testament, the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.” DPPL, 186.

Also, DPPL nos. 77 and 79;

RM nos. 4 and 21; CFC no. 1549
Hymns: Sa Divina Pastora, Mahal na Ina
ng Diyos
Prayers: Daily Prayers 8th and 9th day,
Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora
Reflection: 8th day

Their indissoluble link and essential “In the Virgin Mary, everything is relative
relationship between Mary and her Son are to Christ and dependent on Him.” MC, 25.
169
Anscar J. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation: Sacramentals, Religiosity, and Catechesis (Chicago:
Liturgical Press, 1992), 96.

87
being highlighted.
The novena presents the link between
Mary and the Holy Spirit.
The prayer (Opening Prayer) expresses The ecclesial character, in virtue of which
that people were being gathered in prayer. the faithful are constituted as the holy
It manifests how the faithful/devotees In view of the ecclesial character, one that
desire the unity of all Christians.
Also, LG nos. 60 and 62;
SC nos. 103, 104 and 108;
PCP II no. 174; AMB no. 80;
CFC nos. 519, 520, 526 and 1549
Every true form of piety comes from the
Spirit and is exercised in the Spirit. DPPL,
186.
Also, CFC nos. 514, 515, 520 and 1459
people of God, gathered in prayer in the
Lord’s name (cf. Mt 18:20) in the vital
Communion of Saints. DPPL, 186.
Also, LG no. 53; MC no. 25;
CFC no. 159 and 1459
DPPL no. 84; CFC 159
preoccupations of the Church, is reflected
in the devotion to the Blessed Virgin
Mary, is her anxiety for the re-
establishment of Christian unity. In this
way devotion to the Mother of the Lord is
in accord with deep desires and aims of
the ecumenical movement, that is, it
acquires an ecumenical aspect. MC, 32.
“…she is the mother not only of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ but also of
mankind in the order of grace.” DPPL,
183.
88
c. Liturgical Sensibility of the Novena

The Novena in honor of La Virgen Divina Pastora, as mentioned, is a product of the

renewal of Marian’s devotions. It expresses not only the devotion of the people to Mary as

Divina Pastora, instead of a “true expression of faith” 170. The Novena, being a product of a

renewed Mariology, corresponds with the renewed liturgical celebrations of the Vatican II.

“The relationship between the Liturgy and popular Marian piety should be regulated by the

principles and norms. The Liturgy must be the exemplary form, source of inspiration,

constant reference point and ultimate goal of Marian devotion.”171

The Directory on the Popular Piety and the Liturgy is clear on it, as it says: “The

times and modes of popular piety, however, should always correspond to the “times and

modes of the Liturgy.”172 Looking at the structure and formulation of this novena, it has a

sensibility on the liturgical principles and guidelines. First, the novena is prayed either

170
The novena as a product of a renewed Mariology is rich in values. It manifests a thirst for God and
enables people to be generous and sacrificing in witnessing their faith. It has a deep awareness of the
attributes of God such as fatherhood, providence, loving, and constant presence. PCP II, 172.
171
DPPL, 184.
172
Ibid., 189.

89
before or after the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Most often, especially during the

novena in preparation of her feast, it is being prayed before the Mass. The practice is

correct since this must not be done within the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the

Eucharist. The novena serves as an instrument of shepherding God’s people towards Him.

The novenas are preparations for a feast to be celebrated in the Eucharistic banquet of the

Lord, so they should be done before or after the Eucharist or any suitable time for the

proper disposition of the devotees for the graces to be received in the Eucharist, which is

the center of all piety, and so that the faithful may be ready as he or she meditates on the

Paschal mystery present in the Holy Sacrifice. 173 Hence, to put it in a principle, “the liturgy

must not in no way be reduced to a form of popular religiosity, nor should the exercise of

popular piety be elevated to the rank of the liturgy.” 174 Indeed, Sacrosanctum Concilium 7

solemnly declares, the liturgy is considered as an exercise of Christ’s priestly office.

Hence, no other activity of the Church can compare with it in dignity and efficacy. As

Sacrosanctum Concilium 13 concludes that by its nature as the priestly act of Christ to

which he associates the Church, the liturgy far surpasses any of the popular devotions.175

Second, the novena is addressed to the Trinitarian God as is it begins with the “Sign

of the Cross”. “In the liturgy, the sanctification of the man is signified by signs perceptible

to the senses, and is effected in a way which corresponds with each of these signs.” 176The

“Sign of the Cross” is an expression of our faith to the Triune God revealed in the New

Testament as the people say in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit

while doing the sign. Every devotion has an ecclesial character, in virtue of which the

173
Raas, Popular Devotions, 292.
174
Chupungco, Pastoral Liturgy, 229.
175
Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 96.
176
SC, 7

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faithful and devotees are constituted as the holy people of God, gathered in prayer in the

Lord’s name and communion with saints.177 Having in mind this liturgical principle,

Marian devotions must express the believers’ relationship to the Trinity; the novena in

honor of La Virgen Divina Pastora is liturgically sound.

Thirdly, the Novena Prayer observed the importance of singing, gestures or bodily

postures, silence, and responses in praying it. The music serves the expression of faith. It

assists the community in expressing and sharing the gift of faith within them, and at the

same time, it nourishes and strengthens their interior commitment of faith. 178 In fact,

singing is the sign of the heart’s joy (cf. Acts 2:46). It is important as St. Augustine says,

“Singing is for one who loves,” and in ancient proverbs singing well is praying twice 179, so

it is really of great importance. One of the great achievements of the liturgical movement

and the conciliar reform is making the gathered people of God sing in every liturgical

celebration of every liturgical celebration, and the novena of them. Thus, the novena in

honor of La Virgen Divina Pastora is quite good enough to have hymns in its structure.

The gestures and bodily postures speak something in the liturgy as it makes the

celebration resplendent with beauty and noble simplicity and more so, it fosters the

participation of all.180 These serve as signs of the unity of the gathered people of God

expressing their intentions and spiritual attitude. At the same time, these gestures and

bodily postures put dynamics and movements, so the novena having observed this would

provide an additional source of having a proper disposition in attending and praying the

devotion and any liturgical celebration especially the Holy Eucharist. Silence plays an
177
Cf. DPPL, 186.
178
Mary Anne Simcoe, The Liturgy Documents: A Parish Resource (Chicago: Liturgy Training
Publications, 1985), 225.
179
United States Conference of the Catholic Bishops, The General Instruction of the Roman Missal
(Washington, DC, 2011), 39. Henceforth: GIRM.
180
GIRM, 42.

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important role in every liturgical celebration. It is said, “In the silence of one’s heart, God

speaks!” Pope Benedict XVI, in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini,

states,

The word can only be spoken and heard in silence, outward and inward. Ours is not an
age of which fosters recollection; a tie one has the impression that people are afraid of
detaching themselves, even for a moment, from the mass media. For this reason, it is
necessary nowadays that the People of God be educated in the value of silence.
Rediscovering the centrality of God’s word in the life of the Church also means
rediscovering a sense of recollection and inner repose. 181
The novena, by its structure, has always been an observation for a moment of silence

every after the proclamation of the Word of God and every after the giving or reading of

the reflection. It allows every faithful and devotee to have a space for them to have a

dialogue with the Lord or the have listened to His words in the deepest of their hearts. The

General Instruction of the Roman Missal would say it is in the moment of silence that the

individuals were invited to pray, to recollect themselves, to meditate on what they have

heard, to praise God in their hearts, and pray to Him. More so, silence helps them to

dispose themselves to carry out the sacred celebration devoutly and fittingly. 182 The

Novena Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora, in expressing its liturgical sensitivity,

observes these various languages employs by the liturgy that would lead the faithful and

devotees in an active participation and proper celebration liturgical activities. Pope

Benedict, in Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis explains,

These texts contain riches that have preserved and expressed the faith and experience
of the People of God over its two-thousand-year history. Equally important for a
correct ars celebrandi is an attentiveness to the various kinds of language that the
liturgy employs: words and music, gestures and silence, movement…By its very
nature, the liturgy operates on different levels of communication which enable it to
engage the whole human person.183

181
Pope Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of
the Church, Verbum Domini (Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, 2010), 66. Henceforth: VD.
182
GIRM, 45.
183
Pope Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of
the Church’s Life and Mission: Sacramentum Caritatis (Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, 2007), 40.

92
 Fourthly, the novena includes the praying of the Holy Rosary, the Litany of the

Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Holy Hour and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Marialis Cultus had shown its great esteem for the pious practice of the Rosary184. It says,

“the Rosary is a practice of piety which easily harmonizes with the liturgy. Like the liturgy,

draws its inspiration from Sacred Scripture and is oriented towards the mystery of

Christ.”185 In fact, it “is one of the most excellent prayers to the Mother of God. Thus, the

Roman Pontiffs have repeatedly exhorted the faithful to the frequent recitation of this

biblically inspired prayer. ”186 The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the

“Litany of Loreto”187 has been part of many Marian devotions. The Litanies are to be found

among the prayers to the Blessed Virgin recommended by the Magisterium. 188 In the

Liturgy, the litany can also be seen like in the Kyrie at the beginning of the celebration and

the holy Eucharist and during the Agnus Dei in the breaking of the bread just before

communion. The novena, integrating the praying of the Holy Rosary, is in accord with the

prescription of Pope Leo XIII189 in including the recitation of the Litanies of the Blessed

Virgin Mary and the Holy Hour and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament which

according to the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy,

is a form of Eucharistic cult that is particularly widespread in the Church and earnestly
recommended to her Pastors and faithful. Its initial form derives from Holy Thursday
and the altar of repose, following the celebration of the Coena Domini Mass. This
adoration is the aptest way of expressing the connection between the celebration of the

184
MC, 42.
185
MC, 48.
186
DPPL, 197.
187
Loreto is a small town in Italy. It is here that the shrine of the Holy House is found, an important
Marian sanctuary aside from that in the city of Rome. Tradition says that the house of the Blessed Virgin was
transferred to Loreto where a shrine was erected. It is from this sanctuary that the litany of the Blessed Virgin
can be traced. It is from this shrine also that the litany got its name. Raas, Popular Devotions, 134.
188
DPPL, 203.
189
According to the prescription of Pope Leo XIII, the recitation of the Rosary should be concluded by the
Litany of Loreto…for they are important acts of homage to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Ibid.

93
 memorial of the Lord's Sacrifice and his continued presence in the Sacrament of the
Altar.190

Thus, it is good that the devotees, in praying the novena in honor of La Virgen

Divina Pastora, before singing the closing hymn is having this Eucharistic adoration for it

is here where they can extend their prayer and meditation of the divine presence of Christ,

at the same time, the novena manifests the role of Mary. Through the novena, the faithful

especially the devotees were being pointed and shepherded to their true pastor, Jesus, the

Good Shepherd.

Finally, the use of language promotes the active participation of the faithful. The

novena made use of the language familiar and closed to the heart of the faithful. The use of

words and phrases has faithfulness in their culture as Pilipino. Father Anscar J. Chupungco

emphasized the use of vernacular language in the advancement of the people’s

participation in the liturgical celebration.191 The document on the Liturgy made clear this as

it laid out the basic principles and criteria for the use of the mother tongue.192

Now, having seen these elements which are included and observed in the novena, the

Novena Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora manifests its liturgical sensibility, therefore is

in line with the Church’s liturgical norms. And so, this popular devotion must be highly

commended, as the document on the Liturgy would say,

Popular devotions of the Christian people are to be highly commended, provided they
accord with the laws and norms of the Church, above all when they are ordered by the
Apostolic See. At the same time, devotions proper to individual Churches also have a
special dignity if they are undertaken by mandate of the bishops according to customs
or books lawfully approved.193

190
Ibid., 164.
191
See Chupungco, What, Then, Is Litturgy?, 185 for the Use of the Vernacular Language.
192
See SC, 36-40.
193
Ibid., 13.

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 TABLE 3
Nobena alay sa Birhen Divina Pastora
The novena is prayed either before or after
the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
The novena is addressed to the Trinitarian
God as is it begins with the “Sign of the
Cross”.
The Novena Prayer observed the importance
of singing, gestures or bodily postures,
silence, and responses in praying it.
Documents of the Church
The times and modes of popular piety,
however, should always correspond to the
“times and modes of the Liturgy. DPPL, 189.
Also, MC no. 31.
In the liturgy, the sanctification of the man is
signified by signs perceptible to the senses
and is effected in a way that corresponds
with each of these signs.SC, 7.
Also, every devotion has an ecclesial
character, in virtue of which the faithful and
devotees are constituted as the holy people
of God, gathered in prayer in the Lord’s
name and communion with saints. DPPL,
186.
Singing is the sign of the heart’s joy (cf. Acts
2:46). It is important as St. Augustine says,
“Singing is for one who loves,” and in
ancient proverbs singing well is praying
twice. GIRM, 39.
The gestures and bodily postures speak
something in the liturgy as it makes the
celebration resplendent with beauty and
noble simplicity and more so, it fosters the
participation of all. GIRM, 42.
Silence helps them to dispose of themselves
to carry out the sacred celebration devoutly
and fittingly. GIRM, 45.
Also, SC, no. 14;
95

The novena includes the praying of the Holy
Rosary, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, and the Holy Hour and Benediction of
the Blessed Sacrament.
The use of language
Sacramentum Caritatis, 40.
The Rosary is a practice of piety that easily
harmonizes with the liturgy. Like the liturgy,
draws its inspiration from Sacred Scripture
and is oriented towards the mystery of
Christ. MC, 48.
The Roman Pontiffs have repeatedly
exhorted the faithful to the frequent
recitation of this biblically inspired prayer.
DPPL, 197.
The Litanies are to be found among the
prayers to the Blessed Virgin recommended
by the Magisterium. DPPL, 203.
This adoration is a most the aptestt way of
expressing the connection between the
celebration of the memorial of the Lord's
Sacrifice and his continued presence in the
Sacrament of the Altar. DPPL, 164.
The document on the Liturgy made clear
this as it laid out the basic principles and
criteria for the use of the mother tongue.SC,
36;37;38;39 and 40.
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2. Parts of the Novena Prayer which are compatible but has to be improved and need
clarification based on the Magisterial and Liturgical norms of the Church

The researcher, after presenting the novena being biblically founded, compatible with

the magisterium, and sensible to the liturgical norms, would like to highlight his findings

on the Novena Prayer in honor of La Virgen Divina Pastora that has to be improved and

explained further based on the Magisterial and Liturgical norms of the Church.

a. Biblical

The novena to La Virgen Divina Pastora has a proclamation of the Word of God.

Fortunately, it follows the promotion of time for the celebration of the word.194 The

structure of the novena manifests its mindful of the inseparable bond between the word of

God and Mary of Nazareth. On the other hand, Pope Benedict XVI, along with the Synod

Fathers, urged that Marian prayer be encouraged among the faithful since it is an aid to

meditating on the holy mysteries found in the Scriptures. 195 This practice, the proclamation

of the Word, is an occasion of an encounter with the Lord and certainly will benefit the

faithful, thus an important element in the liturgical celebration.

194
See SC, 35.
195
VD, 88.

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 Now, upon reading and analyzing the novena, the things which have to be

highlighted for improvements are the following: first, the inconsistency in putting the

scriptural passages. There were some days in the novena that the given verses were

complete but there were also some incomplete days. Since the novena itself is made as a

booklet, this would be best to include all the necessary materials in praying for it, although,

this has no prejudice of the value of reading the Bible. Another thing is the translation of

the Scriptural passages being used was somehow old, maybe because it was published

more than thirty years ago. But today, since the new generations were being introduced

with the updated translation196 of the Sacred Scriptures, it is good to use the latest

translation. In this regard, unfamiliarity, alienation of some names and terms would be

avoided, as well as the possible confusion in them upon one’s encounter of it.

b. Liturgical

The novena to La Virgen Divina Pastora structurally follows the liturgical norms of

the Church. However, upon venturing into the texts, there are things to be highlighted to

improve the flow of the novena. The first is the use of language. The novena, while using

the vernacular language or the mother tongue of the faithful and devotees, had used some

words which are too ancient or too profound which lead to confusion. To cite, the term

“poot” is used in the daily prayer which states, “at pagkalooban Mo din kami ng poot sa

kasalanan.”197 It is good to consider the antiquity of the language whether it will be kept or

has to be adapted in the modern language. Though considering the linguistic and ritual

196
One of the latest revised translations is the New Revised Standard Version which was first published in
1990; a year after the novena to La Virgen Divina Pastora was published. Roman Catholics are already
familiar with the accuracy and elegance of it. Preface to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV),
Catholic Edition, (Makati: St. Pauls, 2006).
197
NBDP, 9.

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traits of popular religiosity, their language belongs to a different type of literary genre. 198

The document of the Liturgy says, “Some changes have become necessary as adaptations

to the needs of our times.” 199 To add, the consistency of the use of language must also be

observed, unless it is necessary to use the proper noun200 being mentioned or cited in the

reflections. Secondly, the phrases and responses used by the novena is either old version or

inappropriate with the scriptural passage being read. In the reading of the word of God, it

concludes with the words, “The Word of the Lord” or in the Tagalog language “Ito ang

Salita ng Diyos” as an invitation for the faithful to acknowledge the Lord’s presence, and

the response is the joyful assent “Thanks be to God” or in the Tagalog language “Salamat

sa Diyos.” While in the Gospel reading, the reader concludes it with the words, “Ito ang

Mabuting Balita ng Panginoon” and then the faithful response would be “Pinupuri ka

naming, Panginoong Hesukristo.” Thirdly, the formulation of both the reflections and daily

prayers must be developed further. Father Anscar would say, “It is not possible nor it is

necessary to examine all the existing novenas since they varied as the people who created

them.”201 Thus, here the development is not referring to the genre of the text being used in

the prayers and reflections, but rather to the flow of thoughts and the clarity and

consistency of them in the teachings and guidelines of the magisterium. Fourthly the

proper capitalization of the texts and proper use of words must also be observed and

developed for a clear intention of the prayers and the proper evangelization or catechesis

for the faithful and devotees. It has been noted that translations of liturgical texts in various

198
While the Roman liturgical language is sober, direct, and linear, the language of the novena prayers text
is florid, discursive to the point of rambling, and vividly picturesque. The Roman prayers tend to address the
intellect, these normally appeal to the sentiments and emotions of the people. Chupungco, Liturgical
Inculturation, 113.
199
SC, 62.
200
For example, the title of documents or particular bull issued by a Pope or by the Church Authority.
201
Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 113.

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localities require improvement through correction or a new draft. 202 Lastly, the ecumenical

and anthropological aspects of the novena must be developed. Although the novena has

already manifest the aspect of ecumenism in one of its parts, it has to be touched the whole

novena, especially in the prayers and reflections. Mary, as the Mother of the Good

Shepherd, is also the mother of all nations, shepherding them towards Jesus Christ, the

Good Shepherd. Therefore, together, we look to her as our common Mother, who prays for

the unity of God’s family and precedes us all at the head of a long line of witnesses of faith

in the one Lord.203

c. Magisterium

The novena, since it is attributed to Mary under the title “Divina Pastora”, made

use of the term “Divina Pastora” in most of it. To be precise, the term is used in the title of

the novena booklet, as a title of the hymns (Sa Divina Pastora and Ina Divina Pastora), in

the prayers (Opening Prayer, Daily prayers, and Prayer to Her “Divina Pastora”) and even

in some of the reflections. The term as mentioned in the preceding chapters, particularly in

Chapters 1 and 4, is seemingly questionable and therefore dogmatically unsound. As

discussed in Chapter 4 of this study, the term “Divina Pastora” which is a title of Mary

where this novena is being prayed by the faithful, most especially of her devotees, though

not explicitly dogmatically sound, in itself the term implicitly grounded and be considered

compatible with the magisterium. This issue is already made clear by Fray Juan Jesús

Linares Fernández, the Provincial of the Capuchins of Andalusia, saying that both forms

respond to the same invocation and are equally valid. Therefore, the novena in using the

202
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Liturgiam Authenticam
(Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, 2001), 6.
203
RM, 30.

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Marian title “Divina Pastora”, though need not to be corrected it as Msgr. Vengco stated in

his theological explanation of this Marian title, has to come up with a comprehensible

explanation of this term that is founded in the Church teaching on Mary, making the title

always in accord with the understanding of Mary as the Mother of God, whom always

pointed us to her Son, Jesus Christ.

Another thing to consider is the Trinitarian formulation of the prayers. Upon reading

the prayers, seemingly, there is confusion in addressing the Father and in addressing the

Son, Jesus Christ, and here follows the confusion in asking His mediation of to the Father.

Let say, for example, in the “Opening Prayer” it says,

Panginoon naming Jesucristo, Mabuting Pastol na inihain Mo ang Iyong buhay

para sa Iyong mga nilalang, at itinagubilin kaming Iyong bayan sa kalinis-linisan
Mong Ina nang Ikay ay nakbayubay sa krus; ipagkaloob Mo sa amin, na kasama ng
Birhen Divina Pastora ay makasunod kami sa Iyp na aming tunay na Pastol dito sa
lupa upang makasama Mo kami sa buhay na walang hanggan, sa pamamagitan ni
Hesukristo kasama ng Espiritu Santo magpasawalang hanggan. Amen. 204

The prayer is intended to address it in the Trinity; however, it was not successfully

projected as it was intended. Analyzing the prayer, (a) the use of the Son at the beginning

of the prayer is being confused with the Father who is being attributed as our creator, while

it is correct that the Son offered Himself for our sake and who entrusted us to His mother;

(b) the Son is mentioned again in the last part of prayer asking his mediation together with

the Holy Spirit. In the novena, the distinction between the Father, the Son, and the Holy

Spirit must be clearly expressed in addressing them in the prayers.

Thus, for a better Trinitarian form of prayer, the distinction must be clearly

expressed in the manner it was used205 following the format of Christian worship prayer
204
NBDP, 7.
205
The following might be a great help in the formulation of prayers in the Trinitarian and communitarian
manner. If the prayer is directed to the Father: Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever in ever and ever; if it is addressed to the

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which is “offered to the father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, or, as the liturgy puts

it, to the Father through Christ in the Spirit.” 206 If not, the prayers of novena tend to be

attuned with the present context of those who are praying it, as if it is proper. to put it in an

analogy, as if the Son took the fraternal role in the absence of the Father which is

happening in the context of a family where the eldest son being the bread-winner in the

family, trying to fulfill the role of his father to the whole family, and this result to identity

confusion of the son who is trying to be a father to his siblings. And, we know it is not the

case with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Tus it must be appropriated.

Lastly, the novena in the hymns, while using some terms which is very Filipino

such as “sinta ka ng puso at yaman at pag-asa”, made use of the term “Señora” which is a

very foreign and somehow unrelated language with the Filipino culture or has a pessimistic

concept when one tries to attribute it with our Mother. The term is a very monarchial

understanding of Mary as a Señora which can be related to the term “Doña” – so far of

being a mother in the Filipino context. This must be considered for appropriation.

Considering the anthropological aspect prescribes by the magisterium, it is clear that the

Church never “bind herself to any particular expression of an individual cultural epoch or

the particular anthropological ideas underlying such expressions.” 207 Meaning to say, Mary

must be addressed in such a way that culture addresses their “Mary” in their family, the

mother of the family. As mentioned in the background of the study in Chapter 1, the

mother-child relationship is part of the Filipino culture of close-knit family ties. Filipinos

have a heart close to Mary, where the loving concern and affectionate of a mother is seen

Father, but the Son is mentioned at the end: Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one
God forever and ever; if it is directed to the Son: Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. GIRM, 54.
206
MC, 25.
207
MC, 36.

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in Mary’s role of being the Mother of God. This is why Marian devotion and piety seem

co-natural to us Filipinos wherein family altar in so many homes witnesses Mary as the

mother of Jesus and our spiritual mother.208 No doubt, many children call her “Mama

Mary.” This phenomenon is included in the anthropological aspect mentioned by the

Directory of Popular Piety and Liturgy.209

C. Summary

Mary as Divina Pastora is so dearly to the faithful and her devotees. However, aside

from the other controversy related to her such as being treated like a goddess, her being

Divina Pastora gained some oppositions, too. Through her title, Mary was thought of

divinizing humanity. Though, by dealing on the origin and meaning with its theology and

implications, it answered and clarified the seemingly questionable title of Mary “Divina

Pastora” which is strictly speaking, theologically incorrect. As presented, the word

‘divine’ in the title is not meant to attribute to Mary the rank of a goddess but to describe

the nature of her motherhood. The Divine Maternity of Mary refers to her becoming,

through the sheer grace of the Lord, the chosen mother of God’s Incarnate Son, Jesus

Christ, the Good Shepherd. It is the Son she carried in her womb who is divine. The title

shows the unique and irreplaceable role of the Incarnation in the history of salvation. God’s

Only Son truly became a human being, and this through a humble maiden who willingly

and wholeheartedly gave her consent to be an instrument of God’s saving power.

The Novena Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan, Nueva Ecija, considered

a product of Second Vatican Council’s renewed Mariology, is being subjected to a critical

analysis. The researcher, through text analysis with the focus group discussion, finds out

208
CFC, 47.
209
DPPL, 186.

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the nature of the novena’s formulation and whether it is following the magisterial teaching

on the Blessed Virgin Mary and the liturgical principles and guidelines of the Church. As a

result, the following are considered: First, the researcher after having a careful and intense

analysis of the novena, including the image with the symbols being attached, the hymns,

the prayers, the readings, and reflections, showed how it is scripturally grounded and

supported. Second, the researcher noticed its adherence to the magisterial teachings on

Mary. It possesses the criteria that the Church is expecting in a particular devotion to the

Blessed Virgin Mary for it to be promoted in the liturgy of worship being celebrated by the

flock. It observes the Trinitarian, Christological, Pneumatological, ecclesiological and

ecumenical aspects of the devotion to the Blessed Virgen. Lastly, The Novena, being a

product of a renewed Mariology, corresponds with the renewed liturgical celebrations of

the Vatican II which are manifested in its structure.

However, despite its compatibility with the magisterial and liturgical teachings, there

are parts of this novena that has to be in its biblical, liturgical, and magisterial aspect. In

this regard, with its unique expression of the faithful and devotees’ faith, the novena will

be firmly grounded on the Word of God, teachings of the Church, and in the liturgical

norms established by the Second Vatican Council while being faithful to the culture where

it belongs and being exercised.

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 CHAPTER VI

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Summary

The Philippines gained so much from the rich foundations of Catholic faith and

devotion introduced by the Spanish missionaries. Despite their limited resources, they were

zealous evangelizers of the natives. In a short period of time, nearly the whole country, was

almost Christianized. Deep hope, faith, and love for Jesus the Good Shepherd, for his

Mother, and for the Church gradually but steadily grew in the hearts of the people. This

brought the Filipino, while being family-oriented and having close bond with their mother,

into a nation so close and in love with Mary that made the Filipino Catholicism a

matriarchal society. A Pueblo amante de Maria!

In the agricultural town of Gapan City, Nueva Ecija, a unique experience brought the

lovely vision from Seville, Spain to the Philippine shores. In the late 1700’s a daughter of a

wealthy provincial clan had an unusual dream. Doña Juana Valmonte dreamt of the

Blessed Virgin Mary beckoning her to fetch a special image of hers from Spain. Upon

consultation with her father, Don Bartolome Valmonte, she decided to consult a friar friend

in Intramuros, Manila to the dream. Doña Juana, having travelled to Manila and consulted

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the friar, was convinced to consider securing an image of the La Virgen Divina Pastora

from Spain since it was seemingly exact description of her dream.

The image, having transported via the Galleon returning to Manila from Acapulco,

was brought by the friar in Gapan and gave it to Doña Juana. The image, then, was

enshrined in the family home altar and designated as the patroness of the family farm in

Barrio Callos. From then on, as the family continuously prayed to the image, the image

brought an abundant harvest in their barrio. This led the family to start having a family

feast every last day of the harvest that is every first of May. From a small family feast it

turned into a town feast which expresses their thanksgiving and reverence to the Blessed

Virgin for protecting and blessing the family, the farm and the whole town. When Doña

Juana died, being childless and without an heir, the image was entrusted to the care of her

siblings. Until such time, the original image was consigned to the care of the Church of

Gapan in 1986.

A string of miraculous events were reported in connection with image and these

produced local legends that even gave birth to an alternative version of its origin in Barrio

Callos. One endearing story recounted how the Augustinian missionaries brought the

image to province. The image eventually got lost in the year 1795-1800 but later in 1850

was found in the trunks of the Callos trees by the shepherds who were at that time resting

in the area. Similar stories circulated that depicted the image wandering about doing

miracles in people’s lives. For instance it was believed that before the annual fiesta, a

woman with a hat in her head and a staff in her hand went about inviting people to attend

the festivities in the barrio. Those who did so found the details of the Marian image fitted

to the description of the lady who visited them and invited them to the feast.

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 In Nueva Ecija and in some neighboring provinces, people believed how this

presence of the image of La Virgen Divina Pastora provides a sense of security and

protection from all natural calamities or even manmade disasters. The Virgin is believed to

be a powerful intercessor to her children in times of distress, desolation and destruction.

This is manifested in the lively devotion in Gapan, Nueva Ecija to La Virgen Divina

Pastora which speaks of the ingrained appreciation and love of the people of Central

Luzon to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Great number of people gathers to her shrine in an

explosion of joy, gratitude and petition. Occasionally, her image was brought in pilgrimage

to various areas of the country to further spread her message of kindness, care, and

solicitude for the scattered flock of her Son, Jesus the Good Shepherd.

The increase of devotion and fervent love of the Novo Ecijanos and of the Central

Luzon to the revered image of La Virgen Divina Pastora, acknowledge as the “Queen of

Central Province” or “Queen of the Central Plains”, is highlighted in some events and dates

endearing worthy of constant remembrance: first, she was declared as the Patroness of the

Archdiocese of San Fernando in 1950’s; second, she was declared as the Patroness of the

Diocese of Cabanatuan in 1963; third, she was Canonically Crowned in April 26, 1964 by

the virtue of Pope Paul VI’s bull Novissima in Sulis; and finally the declaration of the

Three Kings Parish in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija as the National Shrine of La Virgen Divina

Pastora in 1986 in the celebration of her 20th anniversary as canonically crowned.

In all these, there is no cause for surprise because the Novo Ecijanos, like all

Filipinos, are known for the fire of their attachment and commitment to the memory of the

Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Good Shepherd and Mother of the Church. Gapan

holds pride of place in the devotion to the Divine Shepherdess –the only place in the

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country where the devotion to this image and title of Mary is popular, active, alive, and

massive. La Virgen Divina Pastora is by no means formally venerated in the Philippines

only in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija.

Her title “Divina Pastora” which give an impression of being like God or having a

touch of divinity and which led to the conclusion of its being theologically incorrect has to

be comprehended in its profound meaning, so as to avoid the possible distortions of

doctrine. The Divine Maternity of Mary refers to her becoming the chosen mother of God’s

Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. It is not Mary who was divine but the Son she carried in her

womb. The title shows the unique and irreplaceable role of the Incarnation in the history of

salvation. God’s only Son truly became human being, and this through a humble maiden

who willingly and wholeheartedly gave her consent to be an instrument of God’s saving

power. La Virgen Divina Pastora is all about motherhood and not her divinity. Mary is the

Mother who took in her arms her first lamb –the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of

the world. The title shepherdess, attributed to Mary, is not to be taken literally. As

mentioned, this title is a fitting one for Mary, in the sense that she nurtured Jesus, the Lamb

of God. Indeed, it is Jesus himself who is the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for

his sheep, the one who knows each of his sheep, and whose voice the sheep follow. Mary

is figuratively shepherdess that she cared for Jesus, and she now cares for the flock, the

lambs and the sheep belonging to her Son.

Mary, the Mother of the Good Shepherd, as Divina Pastora is revered by the faithful

through various forms of piety related to her. One of these acts of piety is the Novena

Prayer being prayed by the faithful in her honor, asking for her intercession. The Novena

Prayer was published on April 26, 1986. It is available in both Tagalog and English

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language however the Church of Gapan is using the Tagalog version in praying for the

novena to Divina Pastora. This was not the first prayer of novena being issued by the

Church of Gapan. There are old versions of novena being used by the “manangs”.

Accordingly, these novenas contain indulgences which the faithful can gain for themselves

and offer to the souls of the faithful departed. But, unfortunately, there is no more available

copy of them and even chance to find one of these novenas is not being permitted by the

situation right now. Nevertheless, the matter of the study is the Novena Prayer published in

1986 entitled “Nobena alay sa Birhen Divina Pastora”. This novena in honor of Divina

Pastora was issued and published in the era where the Church had already clarified her

teaching on the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thus, without any presumptions, the

novena can be considered a product of renewed Mariology of the Second Vatican Council.

In response, the local Catholic Church of the Philippines wishes that a Marian devotion in

a particular diocese or institution especially those recognized by the Church must be in

accordance with the magisterial and liturgical teachings of the Church.

B. Conclusion

The researcher, towards the end of a theological analysis of the Novena Prayer in

devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora, the Mother of the Good Shepherd – its history and

devotion, its title, image, hymns, prayers, and reflections –by means of the magisterial and

liturgical documents of the Church on the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, had arrived

to the following conclusions:

First, the Christianity in the Philippines is a product of the joint two elements –the

efforts of the Spanish missionaries in evangelizing and Christianizing the natives of the

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Philippine island and the traits and culture of the Filipino natives –which is manifested in

the Filipino’s special and strong admiration to Mary. The Filipino Catholics as pueblo

amante de Maria are being immersed, not only in the paschal mystery of the Lord Jesus

Christ, but more so in the mystery of the Triune God and of the Church. This manifests in

the Marian devotions in the Church. The faithful express their faith in various forms of

devotion to Mary. In the local Church of Cabanatuan, particularly in Gapan City, Nueva

Ecija, the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora is the image of faithful being a people in

love with Mary. Divina Pastora is their Mother, Lady, Inang, Queen, Reyna, and

Shepherdess who helps them to be in touch with Christ and in His Church. The powerful

faith of Gapanense (in particular), Novo Ecijanos (as a whole of the province) and all the

faithful from other neighboring provinces is accompanied by their love and reverence to

La Virgen Divina Pastora.

Second, the devotion in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija to Divina Pastora is so rich in

history. The Lord, with His desire to ignite the faith of the people in Gapan and its

neighboring towns, made an extra-ordinary thing to a young lady in the person of Doña

Juan who dreamt of the Lady wanting her to be fetched from Spain. The Lord re-

established His intimate relationship with the people by making possible that the lively and

massive devotion to the Divine Shepherdess of the soul in Spain, initiated by the Capuchin

Fray Isidoro in 1703, be embraced in Gapan, City Nueva Ecija where people would have a

means of deep faith in Him. The presence of Divina Pastora becomes a channel of God’s

love and mercy in the local Church of Cabanatuan. God’s generosity, through Divina

Pastora, is being manifested in the lives of the people; the bountiful harvest of the farmers,

the apparition of a Lady inviting them to become involved in the festival activities, the

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miracle of the flowing water nearby the Church’s premise, the healings of many devotees,

and the answered prayers being granted to anyone who asked for her intercession. In

response in all these blessings, the faithful made an effort to really express their

acknowledgement of La Virgen Divina Pastora as the Mother of God through the

significant events occurred in the history of this devotion.

Third, title of Mary as “Divine Shepherdess” though apparently misleading since

technically it is theologically inappropriate, is a unique attribute which explicitly

manifesting her Son Jesus as the Good Shepherd while implicitly reveal the mystery of

the Triune God and of the Church. Departing from the negative implications of this title,

it reminds the faithful of Mary being the handmaid of the Lord. Mary, having the title

Divina Pastora, expresses her role as the tabernacle of the Divine Presence. Mary as

Divina Pastora tells us of the Divinity of her Son as she pointed us always to her Son.

Thus, Mary is also a Shepherdess who guards and guides the people towards her Son, as

she protected and nurtured her Son towards God’s plan –the salvation of humanity. The

title Divina Pastora is neither Mary’s divinity nor divinizing humanity, instead it is about

the mission of her Divine Son and the salvation of the flock of her Son, Jesus, the Good

Shepherd. Thus, Mary as Divina Pastora is the Mother of the Good Shepherd.

And lastly, the novena in honor of La Virgen Divina Pastora that serves as a

significant manifestation of people’s faith in God through the intercession of Mary, the

Divina Pastora. This becomes part in the lives of faithful living in Gapan and those of

from other neighboring towns having devotion to Divina Pastora. While it expresses the

Christian life through the image, hymns, prayers and reflections, it more so expresses God.

The novena is biblically, magisterial, and liturgically sound. It has a good foundation of the

111
Word of God as it offers a scriptural reading each day, aside from the image, hymns,

prayers and reflections which also are biblically founded. It presents Mary, as accord with

the magisterium, a humble servant of the Father in Heaven, a Mother and perfect disciple

of Christ, having an indispensable bond with the Holy Spirit, a Mother of the Church, and

of all nations. Finally, the good structure of the entire novena which really manifests its

sensibility with the liturgical norms as it includes the essential elements of which the

faithful would really be prepared and properly disposed in participating in the celebration

of Holy Eucharist. The researcher admires how the novena is being placed in the lives of

the faithful. Implicitly, the reverence and high regards to the liturgy especially the Holy

Eucharist is shown by the practice of praying this novena either before the Mass or after

the Mass which faithfully leading them to Christ in the form of Holy Hour. Thus, the

novena in honor of La Virgen Divina Pastora is doctrinal and liturgically founded and so

enough to consider as a good means of encounter with God through the powerful

intercession of La Virgen Divina Pastora, the Mother of the Good Shepherd.

C. Recommendations

The researcher, after a theological analysis, would like to propose the following

recommendations towards an active and renewed devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastorai:

1. The local Church of Cabanatuan should come up with a comprehensive presentation of

history of the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora.

2. There should be a definitive understanding and teaching on the explanation of the title

“Divina Pastora” since the people subscribe to it than Mary as the Mother of the Good

Shepherd which, in fact, is more appropriate.

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3. The Commission on Liturgy in the local Church of Cabanatuan together with

commission on worship in the National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora, the Mother of

the Good Shepeherd should come up with the revision of the novena wherein the following

points must be consider:

a. Biblical:

i. The novena should contain the complete biblical passages to be read for a

particular day by anyone who would pray it, so that there would be no need to

bring and look for a bible.

ii. The researcher suggests that the translation of the bible to be used is the

updated version, so as to avoid confusion regarding the terminologies and

names being mentioned in the readings.

b. Liturgical

i. The researcher suggests considering the antiquity of the language whether it

has to be kept or the modern language is to be adapted since some terms in the

quite old that the generation of today would find it somehow strange in their

hearing.

ii. The committee who will be take charge of the revision of the novena should be

careful with the proper capitalization and proper use of words.

iii. The responses in the proclamation of the word of God must be corrected and be

updated in accordance with the norms of the liturgy.

c. Magisterial:

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 i. The formulation of the prayers and reflections must be subjected for revision to

make more precise and clear with its thoughts especially in the Trinitarian

formulation of the prayers.

ii. The researcher, while he already recommended having an explanation of the

title “Divina Pastora”, also suggests that in the formulation of prayers the

relationship of Mary to her Son must be clearly projected so as to avoid any

confusion with her role as the Mother of God.

iii. Also, it is good to consider appropriating some terms such as “Señora” which

can be adapted in the anthropological aspect by way of inculturating the term

into the language or culture of the people praying it.

iv. The hymns, prayers, and reflections should also be enriched with an

ecumenical touch since Mary is not only the Mother of Christians but of all

nations. This could be a good way of promoting the unity God’s family.

4. Since this study is a qualitative in nature, the researcher would like to recommend that a

quantitative follow-up research must be done to furtherly explore and discover the richness

of this the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora. In such a way, the promotion of this

devotion including the other acts of piety related to her would be integrated more fully in

the lives of the faithful devotees. More so, in order to ensure that the proper understanding

of this devotion particularly the novena is in the ambit of the Church’s teaching on the

devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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 APPENDIX A

National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora

Three Kings Parish

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 APPENDIX B

Images of Divina Pastora

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 The first image commissioned by
Alonzo Miguel de Tovar according to
the vision of Fray Isidoro

The oldest known photograph of

the Orignal image of
La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan

La Divina Pastora de Intramuros

APPENDIX C

“Novissima in Sulis”

On December 19, 1963, Pope Paul VI issued a Papal Bull “Novissima in Sulis” for the
Canonical Coronation of the Divina Pastora.

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Some Pictures during the Canonical Coronation of Divina Pastora

APPENDIX D

Petition and for the Three Kings Parish

to be a National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora

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 APPENDIX E

Approval for the Shrine of the Church of Mary,

Divina Pastora of Gapan, Nueva Ecija as National Shrine

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 Some Pictures During the Declaration of the National Shrine

APPENDIX F

The Three Images of La Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan, Nueva Ecija

The Original Image

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 The

Coronada The Viajera

APPENDIX G

Acts of Piety and Practices related to Divina Pastora

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Traslacion

Canonical Coronation Anniversary

Grand Marian Procession in Intramuros, Manila

APPENDIX H

Authentication for External Criticism of Sources

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 APPENDIX I

Letter of Request in CBCP for related Documents to La Virgen Divina Pastora

Response from CBCP

123
 APPENDIX J

Letter of Request in RCAM for related Documents to La Virgen Divina Pastora

Response from RCAM

124
 APPENDIX K

Letter of Request in RCASF for related Documents to La Virgen Divina Pastora

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 APPENDIX L

Authentication Certificate/Letter of the Novena Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora

126
 APPENDIX M

The Novena to La Virgen Divina Pastora

The Tagalog Version

The English Version

APPENDIX N

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The Tagalog Novena Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora

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129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
 APPENDIX O

FOCUS GROUP
THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS ON THE NOVENA PRAYER
TO LA VIRGEN DIVINA PASTORA,
THE MOTHER OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD

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Ladies and Brothers United in Prayer,

Good Day po!

For our Focus Group Discussion on Friday (August 27, 2021 @ 9am), Feast Day of St.
Monica, these will be our outline: There are two topics to be discussed, namely the title
“Divina Pastora” and the nature of “Novena Prayer” in honor to La Virgen Divina Pastora.

A. The title “Divina Pastora”

1. Primary question: What are your thoughts about it?

2. Probe questions:  What do you know about it? How familiar are you with the meaning
and explanation of this title? How do you understand it?

3. Questions to follow-up:  What do you think are the pros and cons (implications) of this
title? According to you, is there a need to correct this title? Which factors prompted you to
correct, if yes? And if no, why?

4. Questions for the conclusion:  Is there anything other than the already discussed
questions you would like to talk about? Do you want to add to what is already spoken
about?

B. Nature of “Novena Prayer” in honor to La Virgen Divina Pastora

Input/Background: In order that a Marian devotion to be authentic Vatican II pointed out

the following areas for the renewal of devotion:

1. Trinitarian. All of the prayers addressed to Mary must be in such a way that she is
related to the Trinity. In the prayer, Mary should be seen as obedient handmaid to
the will of the Father, as Mother of the Son of God, and as the sanctuary of the
Holy Spirit. Following this principle, a devotion is truly Christian in nature when its
origin is found in Christ, its efficaciousness in the following of Christ, finds its
expression in Christ, and directs the faithful to Christ in the Spirit to the Father.
2. Biblical. The devotion given to Mary must be based on the Sacred Scriptures. The
Bible is the light and source of Wisdom. Mary as the seat of Wisdom is honored
through the Church’s meditation and preaching of the message and the messenger
Jesus Christ. There is no better way of discovering and reflecting the life and
virtues of the Blessed Mother than in the Scriptures. The Sacred Scriptures reveal
the mysteries of Jesus’ life. and in all these mysteries, the Blessed Mother is seen.
3. Christological. In relation to the devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the document
stresses that in order that the said veneration be valid, it must always have a

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 reference to Christ or that Incarnate Word must not be taken out from the context
for all revolves and takes it from Him.
4. Liturgical. Veneration and other forms of Marian para-liturgical devotion must be
conducted in harmony with the renewed liturgical celebrations of the Vat. II.
However, this imperative must not be done to the extent of celebrating them within
the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist. Rather, they should be done
before or after the Eucharist or any suitable time with the purpose of disposing the
devotees for the graces to be received in the Eucharist, which is the center of all
piety, and in order that the faithful be ready as he meditates on the Paschal mystery
present in the Holy Sacrifice.
5. Ecumenical. Mary is not just the Mother of the Catholics but also the Mother of all
who received baptism and has faith in Christ. Devotion should be oriented towards
“unity in the Church with Christ in a spirit of gratitude.”

Now, based on these criteria:

3. How the novena prayer in devotion to Divina Pastora is formulated?

4. Is the novena prayer valid and in accordance with the magisterial teaching on the

devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary?

5. Is the novena prayer valid and in accordance with the liturgical principles and

guidelines of popular piety?

Dito po sa Novena Prayer… iisa-isahin po naten per day, then each part of pray

Example:

Day 1 Hymn, opening prayer, hymn, bible passage, reflection, prayer

Sa bawat part po iaaply naten ang magisterium/ susuriin naten if present po ba ang bawat
areas.

Then sa liturgical guidelines po titignan naten ung flow/posture ng prayer…

Ito po an gating guidelines. Maraming salamat po.

See you po sa Friday…let me know po if meron kaung concern/questions

Discussion/Analysis:
Topic: The Novena Prayer to La Virgen Divina Pastora
Participants: (9) Devotees of La Virgen Divina Pastora (those praying and familiar with the Novena Prayer)

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Location: Via Zoom

1. All is standing singing the opening hymn

HYMN: SA DIVINA PASTORA

L1: Generally, it is a song for Mary
L2: Yes, it is a song for Divina Pastora
L3: I agree
L4: me too
L5: Yes, it is a song asking prayer to Mary the Divina Pastora
L6: It is Mariological Song
G1: Actually, it is derived from the song Araw-araw kay Maria and to addres it to Divina Pastora
some words/nouns were inserted: Divina Pastora, Patrona, Señora. It is mariological song.
G2: My contention is that some criteria, aside mariological aspect, are present also in the hymn.
Seeing it per line there are like its Christological aspect which is implicitly presented here.

2. Kneeling in praying the Holy Rosary with the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
3. Kneeling in praying the prayer

L1: The sign of the cross is done in beginning of the Holy Rosary
L2: then it follows by the Litany of Loreto
G3: considering the Liturgical aspect of the Novena Prayer it has gestures which expresses the
devotees’ deep faith and proper disposition in praying the Novena.
G2: It is belonging to the Church Iconography. One example is the images that of the annunciation
where the angel is keeling to the Blessed Virgin Mary in greeting to her “Hail Mary.”

PRAYER TO DIVINA PASTORA

L1: It is Trinitarian since it mentioned the Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Although the Father
was not mentioned
L2: Possibly there was confusion on the formulation of this prayer.
L3: Yes, Jesus Christ was mentioned twice.
L4: I agree.
L5: It is also Biblical grounded.
L6: Yes, there are terms/phrase which are biblical such as Good Shepherd, laying of one’s life,
Mary at the foot of the cross.
L1: Also, it is ecumenical as it pertains to all mankind here on earth.
G1: Ecclesiological as well since it imply the pilgrim Church.
G2: It can be considered reformulate/rephrase the beginning of the prayer to insert the Father.
G3: Yes, since it emphasis the Christological aspect as it mentioned Mary as companion in
following the true Shepherd, her Son.

HYMN: SA HARI NG LANGIT

G1: It is also derived from another Marian song Immaculate Mother. They just changed the verses.
G2: it is cultural, especially the verse two. It is very Filipino at the same time dogmatic.
Although, it can also consider to be changed since the use of language is old. It can be modernized
however the faithfulness of the text into being cultural will be compromised. Modernity vs.
cultural. Also, some words are old tagalog such as the aba and hari. Coherency.

UNANG ARAW: ANG PANGAKO

Bible Passage: Gen. 3:14-16
L1: The Passage is incomplete.

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L2: Yes, it is ntil v. 15 only.
L3: Yes, as I was checking on my bible here.
L4: I agree.
L5: I think, the last word is incorrect since it is not a gospel. It should be the Word of the Lord
L6: even the response. It should, thanks be to God.

PAGNINILAY:
G2: In the reflection, we can consider different approaches such as catechetical, reflective or
exhortory.
L1: The reflection goes back to the biblical passage.
G1: I noticed the term papagaalitin. Maybe it is typo.
L2: Yes, he’s right. Also it mentioned Mary also.
G2: typology and doctrinal aspect…
G3: yes, it is biblical, reflective

PRAYER:
L1: It is Trinitarian as it mention poong Mahal, JesuKristo and Holy Spirit.
L2: It is Chrsitological too and biblical.
L3: Yes, it is Biblical
L4: I agree
L5: me too
L6: I wonder po sa last part as mentioned poot.
G2: it should be rephrased, I think.
G3: Yes, since to hate evil is to do good.
L4: Yes po.

IKALAWANG ARAW: SI MARIA, INA NG DIYOS

Bible Passage: Lk 1: 26-33
L1: Here, the text is not encoded.
L2: Yes, it’s not
L3: the response po.
L4: Yes, it should be corrected
L5: I agree
L6: me too
G1: the same with them
G2: it should be apply to the entire novena in publishing new copies or version of it.
G3: yes, the response, the text, typo, use of language, proper capitalization and spelling. Etc.

PAGNINILAY
L1: it is biblical one.
G2: Doctrinal too
G1: I don’t know if you notice the term Dibdib at sinapupunan.
G3: yes, it should be corrected
L2: Yes, I too wonder about it
L3: it Biblical po
L4: agree
L5: me too
L6: that also my question the term dibdib. It should be sinapupunan.
PRAYER
L1: it is trinitarian and doctrinal.
L2. Biblical too

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L3: Christological also.
G1: for its ok. But can be developed
G3: Yes, it’s ok naman na
L4: for me also
L5: I agree
L6: for me also

IKATATLONG ARAW: ANG KAPANGYARIHAN NG ESPIRITU SANTO AT SI MARIA

Biblical Passage: 1: 34-38
L1: it is also incomplete
L2: Yes, I checked my bible. Incomplete
L3: maybe just complete it
L4: yes
L5: I agree
L6: the response again.
G1: Yes, it should be complete, so there’s no need to get bible.
G2: although it is good we are reading the bible.
G3: though since we are having the booklet it also good to have it all here.

PAGNINILAY
L1: It is reflective, biblical
L2: Yes it is
L3: it is ok
L4: for me also
L5: I Agree
L6: yes
G1: for me also its okay but if you want to change its okay
G2: but in reflection it is not default naman, it can be change depending on those praying it. it can
be alter by the priest or the sharer.
G3: yes, it is just a supplication. A prepared at the same time catechesis. It is doctrinal, especially
pnuematological one.

PANALANGIN
L1: the prayer is trinitarian.
L2: and at the same time biblical one
L3: yes, I think it is biblical
L4: I agree
L5: mariological ad Christological too
L6: yes since it mentioned of the role of Mary
G1: I agree

IKAAPAT NA ARAW: ANG PANANAMPALATAYA NI MARIA

Biblical passage: Lk 1: 39-45
L1: okay naman it is complete
L2: yes it is
L3: I agree
L4: it’s ok
L5: yes
L6: ok…as well same with the responses
G1: Mayne the term Ilisabet or Isabel?
G2: again it is the use of language modernity vs old

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G3: just be consistent with the use of version and form of words.

PAGNINILAY
L1: it is okay biblical and reflective.
L2: Yes, it is biblical
L3: I agree
L4: I noticed the English portion
L5: yes, it should be removed
L6: yes
G1: I think also, it just a redundant of the last part.

PANALANGIN
L1: Trinitarian siya
L2: Yes it is
G1: just a clarification sa ginamit na espiritu ng pangunawa
L3: oo nga
L4: it can be confused with the HS
L5:I agree

IKALIMANG ARAW: KABABAANG-LOOB NI MARIA

Biblical Passage: Lk 1: 38, 46-50
L1: it is okay, the response again and capitalization
L2: It is okay
L3: it is about pagtalima na may kabaang loob, trinitarian
L4: Same with them
L5: Same

PAGNINILAY
L1: in line with the essence of reading
L2: reflective- trinitarian, biblical
L3: it is about the kababaang loob ni Maria, Kumpleto
L4: the text is incomplete
L5: it is okay

PANALANGIN
L1: It is trinitarian
L2: Trinitarian, Christological
L3: it is okay, based on the criteria
G1: It is okay

IKA-ANIM NA ARAW: SI MARIA AY MASUNURIN

Biblical Passage: Lk 1:30-38
L1: Verses 32-37 are missing, only 30-331, 38. The response again is incorrect
L2: it is OK
L3: same with L1
L4: yes, the response is wrong
L5: Agree, biblically correct
G1: it is up to you na po if ilalagay lahat or kung ano mas okay, then yung response
PAGNINILAY
L1: It is in line with the reading
L2: it is connected with the gospel

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L3: it is okay
G1: rephrase the last part of second paragraph

PANALANGIN
L1: It is trinitarian and rooted in scripture.
L2: it is ok
L3: it is okay, connected with the reading and theme, trinitarian and the term pagtalima or
pagsunod ssa Diyos
L4: it is okay
L5: ok
G1: OK

IKA-PITONG ARAW: PAGTALIMA NATIN SA DIYOS

Biblical Passage: Jn 19: 25-27
L1: it is okay, just the capitalization
L2: yes, it is ok
L3: it is ok

PAGNINILAY
L1: connected with the gospel reading
L2: trinitarian, Christological, biblical
L3: Mary as the Mother. We really have to listen and live the word in prayer
G1: it is okay but can be developed

PANALANGIN
L1: It is Trinitarian, Christological and biblical
L2: same
L3: it is ok
G1: ok

IKAWALONG ARAW: SI MARIA, INA NG SANTA IGLESYA

Biblical Passage:
L1: It is okay, complete

PAGNINILAY
L1: it is too broad
L2: it shows that she is the mother of all nations
L3: it speaks of the deep love of Mary to Jesus that she wants to take the pains of his Son
L4: I agree, it shows here that Mary is mother of all, ecumenical
L5: she is the star of all nations
G1: she represents the Church…this must be emphasized here

PANALANGIN
L1: it is Trinitarian…though the 1st line of third par is confusing and must be rephrased
L2: same
L3: yes, here Jesus seems is Mary…Jesus here is somehow misplaced
G1: it seems that the phrase ang kay Maria is old tagalog

IKASIYAM NA ARAW: MARIA, INIAKYAT SA LANGIT

Biblical Passage: Eph 2: 4-7
L1:it is complete, just the response, incorrect again

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PAGNINILAY
L1: it is broadly explained
L2: theological
L3: it really summarized
G1: the second paragraph is confusing

PRAYER
L1: it is trinitarian, just the word pagkalooban wrong
L2: same

In general the novena prayer is trinitarian, biblical, Christological, ecumenical and liturgical. It also
the touch of Mariology of course, soteriological, pnuematological and ecclesiological. Though
there are some to be corrected, techinically most often and some doctrinal explanation and biblical
interpretation of course its pastoral and ecclesial aspect together with its ecumenical and
missionary spirit. It is good na maipakita sa kabuuang novenaryo ang kanyang pagiging ina na
nagpapastol ng mga kawan ng kanyang anak. Primarily the formulation of every prayer and of the
reflections

On the title “Divina Pastora” clearly for them she is the Mother of God. Siya ang nagpapastol ng
mga tupa ng kanyang anak ang Mabuting Pastol. Tayo ang pinapastulan niya. She the mediatrix,
Pastorally we have the dalaw kristiyano Divina pastora ang malapit sa puso ng mga tao since ito
ang unang pangalan na pagkakakilanlan sa kanya tulad ng mother and son relationship. Ito ang
dearest name for her

149
 APPENDIX P

The Faithful in Gapan Praying Novena to La Virgen Divina Pastora

150
 APPENDIX Q

The Researcher Visiting La Virgen Divina Pastora and Serving at the national Shrine

151
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