The chapel that could not be burned
Think about this story of a miracle. Somewhere in the San Miguel district of Manila stands a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary that dates back to 1851. It was originally made of bamboo and nipa—our prehistoric building materials for shelter—most likely by the people living in the area across the Pasig River from Intramuros, then the heart of Manila. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.
The little chapel may have been built before streets were created, or the residential district was defined as such because it eventually ended up becoming part of private property.
Our Lady of the Rosary is considered a Philippine icon, the miracle worker who was implored to save the Philippines from the invading Dutch in sea battles off the Bataan coast in the 17th century. Every October, on the week of her feast, a procession called La Naval emanates from the Santo Domingo Church (originally located in Intramuros but now in Quezon City) to commemorate the great naval victory, which was considered a miracle.
It may not mean much to some, but it remains in the racial consciousness of Filipinos over the centuries that Our Lady of the Rosary was beseeched for help, to which she responded with a miracle.
The miracle of a chapel
The little chapel in San Miguel, off what is now Carlos Palanca Street (formerly Echague), remains devoted to Our Lady of the Rosary because it is also considered to have had its own miracle. There is even an image of her from that past that remains there. What is known and recorded was that on April 16, 1854, a fire swept over the San Miguel district, devouring everything in its path—most probably structures of light materials as well as open fields and trees—razing both man-made and natural elements to the ground.
But no spark or flame touched the nipa chapel, nor did any touch the grass in the outdoor area that surrounded it. The fire consumed everything around the little chapel but stopped short of it and left it and its external greenery unscathed.
In the age of Faith, in the eyes of the chapel’s devotees, this indeed was a wonder: a clear and accepted miracle. Witnesses gave written testimonies, priest-investigators from the Archdiocese of Manila interviewed witnesses, and people plucked at the grass untouched by the fire, believing it to be miraculous. Everyone considered it a miracle.
From nipa to stone
The news of what occurred reached the governor general, Manuel Pavia y Lacy, who ordered a stone chapel erected to replace the nipa chapel, to be built where the same image of Our Lady of the Rosary was installed.
That stone chapel with its image of Our Lady of the Rosary stood for a hundred years and, as the district urbanized, was incorporated into what became a lumberyard owned by the Barretto family, whose matriarch, Doña Florencia Barretto, in the late 1940s, caused a new structure to be built in concrete facing the street as the stone chapel became fragile over time.
It now stands at 505 Palanca Street (turn left from Ayala Bridge going northwards). It is a chapel, not a church, now within the jurisdiction of the Parish of San Miguel. It is open only on special occasions now, being small, located in the middle of a bustling district, and with not enough clergy to manage it daily.
But it is still under the care of Doña Florencia’s granddaughter, Carmencita Legarda Cu Unjieng, who takes charge of commemorating the April 16, 1854 miracle of the fire that stopped the chapel from burning.
This year, the mass novena will start on April 18 and end on April 26
