Homily of H.E. Most Rev. Charles John Brown D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines
April 26, 2024 | Solemn Declaration of La Virgen Divina Pastora as a Minor Basilica
and 60th Year Anniversary of the Canonical Coronation of La Virgen Divina Pastora
Your Eminence Jose Cardinal Advincula, Archbishop of Manila; Your Eminence, Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, Archbishop-Emeritus of Cotabato; Your Excellency, the Most Rev. Sofronio A. Bancud, S.S.S., Bishop of Cabanatuan; brother bishops and archbishops who have come from near and far; concelebrating priests here in very large numbers; religious women, consecrated men in religious life, lay faithful; all of us gathered here in this beautiful and splendid church, this shrine, to celebrate this morning, the solemn declaration as a Minor Basilica, and indeed a Reenactment of the Canonical Coronation of La Virgen Divina Pastora on this, the 60th Anniversary of that momentous event in the history of the Church, here the Diocese of Cabanatuan.
For me as your apostolic nuncio, it gives me a lot of joy and happiness to be with you on this relatively warm, and even hot morning here in Gapan, here in the Province of Nueva Ecija, to be part of your joy, to celebrate this magnificent moment. When I came into the church this morning, soon to be elevated, now elevated indeed, as a minor basilica, I was impressed by the beauty of the church; and the splendid decorations that have been provided for this momentous occasion. I want to thank all of those who have done all the preparatory work for making this such a beautiful morning.
History of the Gapan Church
You have an illustrious history here in Gapan. As all of you know, your church was made a parish back in 1595. That's more than 400 years of Catholic life here in Gapan. Then in 1964, it was the year in which your beautiful image of Our Lady, La Virgen Divina Pastora received canonical coronation. Then in 1986, this parish was declared a national shrine here in the Philippines. I imagine after 1986, more people began to arrive here to pray to Our Lady, in front of her beautiful image, the Divina Pastora. Now, all of those celebrations in the past, kind of reach, a kind of culmination this morning in 2024. In this moment in which your shrine is elevated to the status of a minor basilica.
The Role of the Minor Basilica
So, what exactly is a minor basilica? What is that all about? A minor basilica is a very special and exceptional honor that's bestowed on certain churches around the world by the Holy Father, by the Supreme Pontiff, to indicate a special link, a special connection with the Pope. A particular link with the Church of Rome, and with the Supreme Pontiff. As all of you know, one of the benefits of becoming a minor basilica is that after the declaration, the faithful people who come here, who devoutly visit this basilica and pray here, they pray The Lord's Prayer, and make a profession of faith, they pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, they make a Sacrament of Confession and receive Holy Communion, they can be granted a plenary indulgence, which is a beautiful and wonderful remission of the temporal punishment for our sins.
So, certainly all of these honors that have been bestowed on this church are intended to increase the pastoral, we can say, the pastoral functioning of the Church. So that this church, this basilica, becomes an image of La Divina Pastora. The Church itself becomes a shepherd, a pastor of souls; so that people come here, and pray, and receive these gifts of God's blessed grace.
The Role of La Virgen Divina Pastora
“Whoever does the will of my Heavenly Father is my brother and sister and mother.” Those are the words of our Lord in the gospel (Mt. 12:46-50) this morning. They are so completely true of La Virgen Divina Pastora, Our Lady. Because she is the one, who, more perfectly than any of us has done the will of the Father. She says to the Angel Gabriel, “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum”, “Let it be done to me according to thy Word” (Lk. 1:38). At that moment, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14) in the womb of La Divina Pastora, Our Lady. She becomes the person through whom God becomes man. Through whom God approaches us, God becomes close to us in the form of the baby in her womb.
The Symbols of the Bell and Umbrella
The celebration of the elevation of your church, your shrine as a minor basilica begins with that very awesome and incredibly beautiful entrance of these symbols, which you see to my left from your perspective. The symbol of the bell, and the symbol of the umbrella. Let's pause for a moment to reflect on what do these symbols have to tell us this morning.
The Tintinnabulum
Let's look first at the bell. What is this bell? The campana or campanilla, we would call it. The bell indicates the presence of the Holy Father. Because in past centuries, when the Holy Father made pastoral visits to his churches in Rome, in a long procession of clerics, like today with archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons, religious, he’ll be processing through Rome to visit a church. Near the Pope, in the procession there be a bell, ringing. So that people who are waiting on the sides of the road would know that the Pope was approaching when they heard the bell ringing. So, the bell, the campana, or in Latin, the tintinnabulum indicates presence, the presence of the Pope. That is what is perfectly illustrated when the Church is elevated to the status of a minor basilica. The Pope's presence here, his canonical presence is here in a very special way. Hence the spiritual benefits that flow from that. Like the granting of an indulgence for those who pray here.
So, this idea of presence is really important. A bell indicates presence. You know? It's not only an ancient idea. It's not only an idea from the distant past. Think about it. When you go to visit your friend's house, you come to the front door or the front gate, what do you do? You ring the bell. You ring a bell, a doorbell, to let them know that you are present, that you are here, that you are waiting for them. Bells indicate presence. In our Holy Mass this morning, after the consecration of the bread and wine, they become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. We will hear at the time of the elevation of the elements, a bell rung at church. A bell indicates presence, the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist after the consecration. Your presence when you ring the doorbell of one of your friends, the Pope's presence here in this church, now having become a minor basilica. The bell indicates presence.
We can think about presence also in terms of Our Lady. Here in this shrine, Our Lady has a special presence. That's what a shrine of Our Lady is all about. A special spiritual presence of Mary; a special and blessed, and indeed sometimes miraculous presence of Our Lady.
That idea of presence should also be in our hearts. Because when we leave the church, we need to carry that presence of God with us, into the world. So that we become the presence of God in the world. So that we become like a small bell, ringing with the joy of the gospel; allowing people to see in the way that we live, the kind of ringing out of God's love for His people. Bells indicate presence.
The Umbraculum
Then we have this beautiful image of the umbrella, payong, I think in Tagalog, payong, the umbrella, the umbraculum in Latin, the Papal Umbrella. That was also part of the Papal Processions in Rome. The bell would proceed the Pope so that people knew he was coming; but because Rome in the summer is like the Philippines, the sun is beating down. People carried umbrellas, especially for important people. The umbraculum that you see here to my left, this umbraculum was the image of the umbrella, carried over the Pope to protect him from the elements, especially the sun, there in those hot days of Rome.
So, the umbraculum indicates also in a certain sense, the presence of the Pope; but we can also say in a certain sense, it indicates the shadow of the Pope―the overpowering shadow of the Pope. In a certain sense, a basilica is a place where we are so close to the Pope, that we are under his umbrella, we can say. We're under his shadow.
You know? In the Acts of the Apostles, when it talks about the early Christian community after the resurrection of our Lord, praying in Jerusalem. The 5th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles talks about how people in Jerusalem would bring the sick and the paralyzed into the streets, and put them on cots, on beds. It says this in the 5th chapter. Why would they do that? Because Saint Peter was passing by. This is in the Acts of the Apostles. The Acts of the Apostles tells us they put the sick near the streets, so that as Peter passed by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them (cf. Acts 5:15-16).
So, this idea of the Church at the beginning in Jerusalem, sick people brought on the streets of Jerusalem, so that when Peter was going to the Temple, at least his shadow would fall upon some of them. His shadow, which is a sign of his presence, which was a healing presence. That shadow is what the umbraculum signifies―the shadow of the Pope, the protective, overpowering, and overshadowing presence of the Pope. This idea of this shadow as a protective power is so important for us. Especially those of us who live like you do in the Philippines, in places where the sun is strong.
Think about Our Lady when she met the Angel Gabriel. How does the Angel convince her that she will be the Mother of God? [The Archangel Gabriel said,] “The Holy Spirit will come upon you”. Then what does the Angel say? “The power of the Most High will overshadow you”, (Lk. 1:35). “Over shadow you.” So, the shadow of God on Mary, protecting her, guarding her, preserving her so that she can be the one through whom Jesus comes into the world. This idea of the umbrella as the shadow, as a protecting power, the protecting power of the Pope, but in a broader sense, the protecting power of God.
The Protective Umbrella of Mary
You know, brothers and sisters? All of you as devotees of La Virgen Divina Pastora, all of you are kind of, we can say, under also the protective umbrella of Mary. We have the image of being underneath Mary's mantle or Mary's veil. We are like her children. A mother protects her children with her veil, with her mantle. A nursing mother, when she feeds her child oftentimes covers the child with her mantle. We as the children of Mary, as devotees of La Virgen Divina Pastora, we're like small children crowded around Mary, underneath her mantle, underneath, we can say, her umbrella of protection.
How beautiful that is! How wonderful that is! Traditionally, the Veil of Mary was seen as an umbrella of protection. In the City of Constantinople, which is now called Istanbul, when the city was besieged, they had a relic there, which was the veil of Mary. They would bring the relic to protect the city that was dedicated to Mary, from any foreign invaders. That protective veil of Mary.
To Be the Presence of God in the World
So, all of these images, of presence, of protection, of overshadowing, they're all part of the liturgy, of the elevation of a shrine to the status of minor basilica. Let these images resound in our hearts today, so that, as I mentioned earlier, we can be the presence of God in the world. We could also, in our own way, exercise the protection of God on those who are weak. We can be the shadow of God's love, fully, on the poor, the marginalized, those who have experienced discrimination. We can extend the shadow of God, to embrace all those people who are longing for the refreshment and the protection that comes from being close to God. That is what the liturgy tells us this morning.
Conclusion
You can see for me, as a representative of Pope Francis, who has bestowed this honor on your shrine, it makes me so happy to be here with you this morning, to share your joy.
So, brothers and sisters, let's resolve to do that: to be the presence of God in the world. Like a silent bell ringing with His presence, let's extend His protection, His overpowering, and overshadowing protection on all those we meet, especially the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable.
May God bless you on this 60th Anniversary of her coronation, which will soon be reenacted. I share your joy. Thank God for the gift of Our Lady.
Viva La Virgen Divina Pastora!
Transcribed by Joel V. Ocampo
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