MANILA, Philippines - September 8 is a special day for Marian devotees who celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. The image of Baby Mary or Maria Bambina in Italian is widely honored in Mexico, Poland and Italy.
In the Philippines, many are aware of Mary’s birthday but relatively few celebrate it. Three churches venerate the image of Our Lady as a child—in Marikina, Pangil in Laguna, and Samar. And only a handful of devotees have images of the Bambina Maria in their home altars.
The local forerunner in the collection of images of Mary as a baby or as a child is ecclesiastical-exhibits designer Rei Nicolas. To date, Nicolas has acquired 12 Niña Marias in his collection of religious images and memorabilia. He mounted one of the first exhibits of the Child Mary at the camarin of the Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados inside Sta. Ana Church in Manila.
Many Filipinos may not even be aware that the traditions celebrating the Feast of Mary’s Nativity date back hundreds of years.
The earliest document commemorating the feast comes from the sixth century. St. Romanus, the great ecclesiastical lyricist of the Greek Church, composed a hymn for the feast.
In 1007, the church of Santa Ana Fulcorina in Milan was dedicated to the “Mystery of the Nativity of Mary.” In 16th-century Europe, life-size waxen images of both the Infant Jesus and Mary were widely venerated during the Counter-Reformation.
Marian cult
Many saints venerated the Blessed Virgin as an infant or as a child, such as St. John Eudes, St. Joseph Cupertino and San Padre Pio.
One of Mary’s most ardent fans was St. Hannibal, who venerated the Baby Mary. He let people photograph himself bearing her in his hands. He wanted that each community of Rogationists and Daughters of the Divine Zeal to have an image of the Bambina and to have a solemn celebration on her feast day.
It is said that before his death, the Blessed Virgin comforted him in his final moments by appearing to him as the little child Mary.
The most popular image of Mary as a baby is the Maria Bambina, which was modeled in wax in 1735 by Sr. Isabella Chiara Fornari, superior of the Poor Clare Sisters in Todi, Italy. This miraculous image was entrusted to many devout religious until it reached Mother Superior Teresa Bosio of the Sisters of Charity in 1842.
Beginning Sept. 9, 1884, many favors were granted and miraculous cures attributed through the intercession of the Maria Bambina. On May 31, 1904, the image was canonically crowned, and on Sept. 9, 1909, a plenary indulgence was obtained from Pope Pius X for the faithful who would honor the Blessed Virgin every Sept. 8 in all the chapels of the Sisters of Charity.
In subsequent years, it became a custom to give newly married couples a small wax image of the Maria Bambina as a wedding gift.
‘Serenata’
On Mary’s Nativity on Sept. 8, a Marian exhibit, “La Vida de la Virgen,” will be mounted at Santisimo Rosario Parish Church hallway inside the University of Santo Tomas campus in España, Manila.
Prior to the opening, a procession with the image of the Virgencita will be held around the church premises. Shower of petals, bursts of confetti and a short serenata by tenor Rheez Chua and soprano Ferry Medina await the image after the procession.
The exhibit will be blessed by the project chair, Fr. James Alamillo, OP, parish priest, assisted by Fr. Lucio Gutierrez, OP, assistant parish priest, and representatives of the Vicariate of Loreto (the parishes of the Sacred Heart in Sta. Mesa, Holy Trinity in Balicbalic and Our Lady of Loreto in Sampaloc, among others). Invited to crown the Virgencita is Rep. Trisha Bonoan-David.
Nicolas presents an array of images, paintings, prints, and reliefs not only on the theme of Mary’s infancy but also her life story as well. Notable in this exhibit are reliefs by the famous Paete rustic-genre sculptor Luis Ac-Ac. These reliefs were commissioned by the designer and the author to provide a continuous visual presentation on the life of the Blessed Virgin.
Many collectors, artists and Marian devotees have loaned their images to the exhibit. Among them are the ivory images of the Sagrada Familia and the Flight to Egypt of Dr. Vicenta Escobar, Santa Ana con Niña Maria by fabric sculptor Steve de Leon, San Joaquin con Niña Maria of Noel Abquilan, the antique painting on wood of the Death of St. Joseph owned by interior designer Manny Castro, and other beautiful pieces from the collections of Dennis Maturan, John Enriquez, Tom Joven, Jerome de Jesus and Nena Bernales. The project coordinator for the exhibit is James Patrick Jaring.
The public is invited to view the rarely seen images Sept. 6-Oct. 5.
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