Nuestra Señora del Santo Rosario was found on September 29, 1614. According to Habagat Central, the statue was said to have been found on the night when the Dutch invaded Iloilo. Diego Quiñones found the statue inside a box on a moonlit night among the dead. Its origin is still unknown.
It is now housed at San José Church in front of Plaza Libertad, Iloilo City.
This post is originally published by San Jose Parish Placer Iloilo City:
The discovery of the statue of Our Lady became a good sign of success to the defenders. The two Augustinian Friars, Rev. Fr. Jeronimo de Arevalo, OSA and Rev. Fr. Juan de Morales boosted the morale of the army, in the presence of the statue of Our Lady; and right after the raging battle, they organized a religious procession carrying the statue of Our Lady to the chapel inside the fortress, with the permission of General Alfonso Fajardo. From that moment on, the veneration to the statue started to grow and the devotion to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary spread throughout the city, Panay and Negros Islands with the establishment of the Cofradia del Santo Rosario. She was declared as the Patroness and Mediatrix of Iloilo
The statue of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary was then transferred in a solemn procession to the newly constructed Church of San Jose Placer, and was enthroned at the side altar dedicated to Our Lady. The centuries-old image of Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario de Iloilo was given a canonical coronation under the decree of the Archbishop of Jaro on October 11, 1970 by His Eminence Julio Cardinal Rosales, Archbishop of Cebu.
A replica statue of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary was commissioned and erected at Fort San Pedro on the very place where it was found under the shepherding of Rev. Fr. Ambrosio Galindez, OSA, and was unveiled and blessed by Most Rev. Jose Maria Cuenco, Archbishop of Jaro on September 13, 1970.
Viva, Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario de Iloilo!
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