On September 24, revered statue of Our Lady of Mercy, the “Mother of Novaliches”, was formally given its canonical coronation. Papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown was the one who gave the image its crown during a Mass at the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Mercy in Quezon City.
The archbishop also gave his homily and talked about the image’s pontifical coronation. “Today we celebrate her exultation–her coronation–in heaven. God chooses the small and the lowly and He exalts them and brings them into glory,” Archbishop Brown said. He also reminded people that God dignifies those lowly just like how He did with Blessed Virgin Mary. (Read: Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica Grants Affiliation To Tarlac Shrine)
“That’s what God does with Our Lady and we celebrate that mystery, that marvelous reality in this feast today, in your parish fiesta of Our Lady of Mercy,” he added.
Mother of Novaliches
In January this year, the Our Lady of Mercy became the Diocese of Novaliches’ second patroness. The 18-year-old diocese received the good news on January 1, during the celebration of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The news was announced by Bishop Roberto Gaa.
It was parish rector Fr. Peregrino Tomas who started the petition for Mary to become the Mother of Novaliches. According to the petition, 165 years ago, the shrine was the only parish in Novaliches. “And from her sprung so many offsprings and rightly so, she is Ina. She is a mother. The mother of many parishes and the Mother of Novaliches,” Bishop Gaa said. (Read: Bishop Names the Our Lady of Mercy as ‘Mother of Novaliches’)
Fr. Tomas also listed three reasons why it is fitting to declare Mary as Ina ng Novaliches: historical, geographical, and devotional. “It may be noisy here, but here is where people pray. Here is where they talk and pour out their hearts to ‘Ina ng Awa’. Our mother is here, ‘Ina ng Novaliches’,” he said.
Novaliches became a diocese back in 2002, with Christ, the Good Shepherd as its patron.
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