La Patrona de Intramuros: Nuestra Señora de la Consolación y Correa

03/10/2026

𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖?

When the 𝐀𝐂𝐒𝐏 - 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 was established on October 24, 1991, 15 pilgrimage churches across the archipelago gathered and formed the 15 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒 of the ACSP.

11. Archdiocesan Shrine of La Patrona de Intramuros: Nuestra Señora de la Consolación y Correa - San Agustin Church - Immaculate Conception Parish Intramuros, Manila

Represented by Rev. Fr. Jose William D. Araña, O.S.A.

Steeped in centuries of faith and devotion, the Archdiocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora de Consolacion y Correa, commonly known as San Agustin Church, stands as a treasured witness to the enduring Catholic heritage of the Philippines. It is recognized as the oldest stone church in the country and is one of the Philippines’ four UNESCO World Heritage Sites as its current structure survived the bombing of Manila in 1945.

Nuestra Señora de la Consolación y Correa - Our Lady of Consolation and Cincture, is the Patroness of the Augustinian Order. She is also honored as the Patroness of Intramuros and Queen and Protectress of the Distinguished and Ever Loyal City of Manila.

The devotion to Our Lady of Consolation and Cincture is rooted in the tradition of her appearance to St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, to whom she gave a black leather cincture (correa) as a sign of maternal comfort, protection, and consolation.

For centuries, the faithful have turned to Our Lady under this cherished title, seeking her loving intercession and maternal care. Her venerated image has been enshrined at San Agustin Church since the 17th century and was solemnly granted a Pontifical Coronation on September 4, 2000, further affirming the deep devotion of the faithful.

Every year, the Church and the people of Intramuros celebrate her feast on the second Sunday of September, a cherished time when faith, history, and devotion come together in thanksgiving and prayer.

𝐍𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐒𝐞ñ𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐚, 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬.

30/09/2026

𝗣𝗢𝗣𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗢'𝗦 𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗛 𝗢𝗙 𝗢𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥

Every month, Pope Leo invites Catholics throughout the world to unite in prayer for a particular intention, directing the Church’s spiritual focus toward concrete needs of the times. These monthly intentions serve as a rhythm of shared reflection and intercession, reminding the faithful that prayer is not only personal but ecclesial—binding communities together in hope, mission, and service.

For October, the Church prays for those helping in the mental health ministry. May this ministry help overcome stigma and discrimination, and offer compassionate accompaniment to those who suffer. Entrusted to the Most Holy Mother of Consolation, may those burdened by mental illness find understanding, healing, and the assurance that they are never alone.

29/09/2026

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬
30 September | 𝗦𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗝𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲

One of the greatest Biblical scholars of Christendom, Saint Jerome was born of Christian parents at Stridon in Dalmatia around the year 345. Educated at the local school, he then studied rhetoric in Rome for eight years, before returning to Aquilea to set up a community of ascetics. When that community broke up after three years Jerome went to the east. He met an old hermit named Malchus, who inspired the saint to live in a bare cell, dressed in sackcloth, studying the Scriptures.

He learned Hebrew from a rabbi. Then he returned to Antioch and was reluctantly ordained priest. With his bishop he visited Constantinople and became friendly with Saints Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory of Nyssa. And then in 382 he went again to Rome, to become the personal secretary of Pope Damasus. Here he met his dearest friends, a wealthy woman called Paula, her daughter Eustochium and another wealthy woman named Marcella.

Here too he began his finest work. Commissioned by the pope, he began to revise the Latin version of the psalms and the New Testament, with immense care and scholarship. Jerome eventually translated the whole of the Bible into the Latin version which is known as the Vulgate. But when Damasus died, his enemies forced the saint to leave Rome.

Accompanied by Paula and Eustochium, Jerome went to Bethlehem. There he lived for thirty-four years till his death in 420, building a monastery over which he presided and a convent headed first by Paula and after her death by Eustochium. The saint set up a hospice for the countless pilgrims to that place. His scholarship, his polemics, his treatises and letters often provoked anger and always stimulated those who read them. 'Plato located the soul of man in the head,' he wrote, 'Christ located it in the heart.'

📖 | https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2025-09-30

28/09/2026

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬
29 September | 𝗦𝘁𝘀. 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹, 𝗚𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹

At an Episcopal Ordination at St Peter’s Basilica on September 29, 2007, Pope Benedict delivered a beautiful homily/catechesis on the three Archangels who are mentioned by name in Scripture: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

But what is an Angel? Sacred Scripture and the Church’s tradition enable us to discern two aspects. On the one hand, the Angel is a creature who stands before God, oriented to God with his whole being. All three names of the Archangels end with the word “El”, which means “God”. God is inscribed in their names, in their nature. Their true nature is existing in his sight and for him. In this very way the second aspect that characterizes Angels is also explained: they are God’s messengers. They bring God to men, they open heaven and thus open earth. Precisely because they are with God, they can also be very close to man. Indeed, God is closer to each one of us than we ourselves are. The Angels speak to man of what constitutes his true being, of what in his life is so often concealed and buried. They bring him back to himself, touching him on God’s behalf. In this sense, we human beings must also always return to being angels to one another – angels who turn people away from erroneous ways and direct them always, ever anew, to God…”

The Pope then invited us to look at the figures of the three Archangels: “First of all there is Michael. We find him in Sacred Scripture above all in the Book of Daniel, in the Letter of the Apostle St Jude Thaddeus and in the Book of Revelation. Two of this Archangel’s roles become obvious in these texts. He defends the cause of God’s oneness against the presumption of the dragon, the “ancient serpent”, as John calls it. The serpent’s continuous effort is to make men believe that God must disappear so that they themselves may become important; that God impedes our freedom and, therefore, that we must rid ourselves of him. However, the dragon does not only accuse God. The Book of Revelation also calls it “the accuser of our brethren…, who accuses them day and night before our God” (12: 10)… Michael’s other role, according to Scripture, is that of protector of the People of God (cf. Dn 10: 21; 12: 1)…

We meet the Archangel Gabriel especially in the precious account of the annunciation to Mary of the Incarnation of God, as Luke tells it to us (1: 26-38). Gabriel is the messenger of God’s Incarnation. He knocks at Mary’s door and, through him, God himself asks Mary for her “yes” to the proposal to become the Mother of the Redeemer: of giving her human flesh to the eternal Word of God, to the Son of God. The Lord knocks again and again at the door of the human heart. In the Book of Revelation he says to the “angel” of the Church of Laodicea and, through him, to the people of all times: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (3: 20). The Lord is at the door – at the door of the world and at the door of every individual heart. He knocks to be let in: the Incarnation of God, his taking flesh, must continue until the end of time. All must be reunited in Christ in one body: the great hymns on Christ in the Letters to the Ephesians and to the Colossians tell us this. Christ knocks. Today too he needs people who, so to speak, make their own flesh available to him, give him the matter of the world and of their lives, thus serving the unification between God and the world, until the reconciliation of the universe…

St. Raphael is presented to us, above all in the Book of Tobit, as the Angel to whom is entrusted the task of healing. When Jesus sends his disciples out on a mission, the task of proclaiming the Gospel is always linked with that of healing. The Good Samaritan, in accepting and healing the injured person lying by the wayside, becomes without words a witness of God’s love. We are all this injured man, in need of being healed. Proclaiming the Gospel itself already means healing in itself, because man is in need of truth and love above all things. The Book of Tobit refers to two of the Archangel Raphael’s emblematic tasks of healing. He heals the disturbed communion between a man and a woman. He heals their love. He drives out the demons who over and over again exhaust and destroy their love. He purifies the atmosphere between the two and gives them the ability to accept each other for ever… Secondly, the Book of Tobit speaks of the healing of sightless eyes. We all know how threatened we are today by blindness to God. How great is the danger that with all we know of material things and can do with them, we become blind to God’s light. Healing this blindness through the message of faith and the witness of love is Raphael’s service… The real wound in the soul, in fact, the reason for all our other injuries, is sin. And only if forgiveness exists, by virtue of God’s power, by virtue of Christ’s love, can we be healed, can we be redeemed”.

— Fr. Marcelo Javier Navarro Muñoz, IVE

📖 | https://gratiavobisministries.org/2025/09/29/feast-of-saints-michael-gabriel-and-raphael-archangels/

27/09/2026

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬
28 September | 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻
Bl. Peter Zuñiga, Bl. Kintsuba Jihyoe, and the Augustinian Martyrs of Japan

Augustinians were first sent in 1602 to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Japan. Many of the Japanese people did become followers of Christ. And many of these Christians were attracted to the Augustinian way of life.

However, around 1617 persecutions of Christians broke out. There were many martyrs, whose deaths gave witness to their faith in Jesus.

Among them were several associated with the Order of Saint Augustine. They were from four countries: Japan, Spain, Portugal and Mexico. Thus, their deaths also gave witness to the universality of the Order and of the Church, where the power of Christ and fraternal bonds were stronger than ties to a particular nation or culture.

Augustinian Fr. Ferdinand of Saint Joseph, along with Andrew Yoshida, a catechist who worked with him, were beheaded in 1617. Fr. Peter Zúniga was burned to death in 1622. Br. John Shozaburo, Oblates Michael Kiuchi Tayemon, Peter Kuhieye, Thomas Terai Kahioye, and Tertiaries Mancio Scisayemon and Lawrence Hachizo were beheaded in 1630. Fr. Bartholomew Gutierrez, Fr. Vincent of Saint Anthony Simoens, Fr. Francis of Jesus Terrero, Fr. Martin of St. Nicholas Lumbreras and Fr. Melchior of St. Augustine Sánchez were burned to death in 1632. Thomas Jihyoe of Saint Augustine in 1637 was hung by his feet with his head inserted into a pit of rotting garbage until he died.

Other Augustinians had also been executed for their Christian faith during this long persecution.

📖 | https://www.midwestaugustinians.org/augustinian-martyrs-of-japan

27/09/2026

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬
28 September | 𝗦𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘇𝗼 𝗥𝘂𝗶𝘇

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Manila of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, both Christians. Thus he learned Chinese and Tagalog from them, and Spanish from the Dominicans whom he served as altar boy and sacristan. He became a professional calligrapher, transcribing documents in beautiful penmanship. He was a full member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary under Dominican auspices. He married and had two sons and a daughter.

Lorenzo’s life took an abrupt turn when he was accused of murder. Nothing further is known except the statement of two Dominicans that “he was sought by the authorities on account of a homicide to which he was present or which was attributed to him.”

At that time, three Dominican priests, Antonio Gonzalez, Guillermo Courtet, and Miguel de Aozaraza, were about to sail to Japan in spite of a violent persecution there. With them was a Japanese priest, Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz, and a layman named Lazaro, a l***r. Lorenzo, having taken asylum with them, was allowed to accompany them. But only when they were at sea did he learn that they were going to Japan.

They landed at Okinawa. Lorenzo could have gone on to Formosa, but, he reported, “I decided to stay with the Fathers, because the Spaniards would hang me there.” In Japan they were soon found out, arrested, and taken to Nagasaki. The site of wholesale bloodshed when the atomic bomb was dropped had known tragedy before. The 50,000 Catholics who once lived there were dispersed or killed by persecution.

They were subjected to an unspeakable kind of torture: After huge quantities of water were forced down their throats, they were made to lie down. Long boards were placed on their stomachs and guards then stepped on the ends of the boards, forcing the water to spurt violently from mouth, nose and ears.

The superior, Fr. Gonzalez, died after some days. Both Fr. Shiwozuka and Lazaro broke under torture, which included the insertion of bamboo needles under their fingernails. But both were brought back to courage by their companions.

In Saint Lorenzo Ruiz’s moment of crisis, he asked the interpreter, “I would like to know if, by apostatizing, they will spare my life.” The interpreter was noncommittal, but in the ensuing hours Lorenzo felt his faith grow strong. He became bold, even audacious, with his interrogators.

The five were put to death by being hanged upside down in pits. Boards fitted with semi-circular holes were fitted around their waists and stones put on top to increase the pressure. They were tightly bound, to slow circulation and prevent a speedy death. They were allowed to hang for three days. By that time Lorenzo and Lazaro were dead. Still alive, the three priests were then beheaded.

In 1987, Pope John Paul II canonized these six and 10 others: Asians and Europeans, men and women, who spread the faith in the Philippines, Formosa, and Japan. Lorenzo Ruiz is the first canonized Filipino martyr. The liturgical feast of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions is celebrated on September 28.

📖 | https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-lorenzo-ruiz-and-companions/

25/09/2026

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬
26 September | 𝗦𝘁𝘀. 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗮𝗻

Today the Church commemorates Saints Cosmas and Damian, twin brothers, physicians, and martyrs of the early Christian era. Born in Arabia and practicing medicine in the city of Aegea in Cilicia, they became renowned not only for their healing skills but also for their refusal to accept payment, earning the title anargyroi—“the silverless.” Their selfless service became a powerful testimony of faith, drawing many to Christ through both word and deed.

During the Diocletian persecution, they courageously endured arrest and torture under Prefect Lysias, ultimately sealing their witness with martyrdom around the year 287, alongside their brothers Anthimus, Leontius, and Euprepius. Their legacy was quickly venerated across Christendom: Emperor Justinian I restored a shrine in their honor after being healed through their intercession, while Pope Felix IV dedicated a basilica in Rome adorned with precious mosaics that endure to this day.

Celebrated in both East and West, the twin martyrs are honored as patrons of physicians, surgeons, and all who devote their lives to the healing arts, often depicted with medical emblems as signs of their sanctified profession. Their names resound in the Canon of the Mass and the Litany of the Saints, reminding the faithful that Christian healing is always a participation in the saving work of Christ, the Divine Physician.

Cosmas and Damian are often pictured together holding large spoon handles or feathers shaped as a cross and/or medical boxes. Their original feast day was celebrated on September 27th, but moved to September 26th in 1969 as an optional memorial to allow for the more widely-known St. Vincent de Paul to be venerated as well.

The images of Saints Cosmas and Damian shown in the graphics material are venerated in the Basilica Santuario dei Santi Medici Cosma e Damiano, Ruvo di Puglia, Italy.

25/09/2026

N E W S || Manila Cardinal highlights Mary’s consolation

By Arkun Yeshua Aznar
SOCOM / St. Pius X Parish

Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula has shed light on Mary’s consolation during the Feast of Nuestra Senora de Consolacion y Correa at San Agustin Parish, Intramuroa, Manila on Sunday, September 12, 2026.

Honoring Intramuros’ lone Coronada, Cardinal Advincula highlighted how Mary received consolation from God and became a consolation for others.

“As we celebrate the Feast of Nuestra Señora de Consolacion y Correa, we are reminded that Mary, the Mother of Consolation, stands beside us in our wounds, divisions, disappointments, and struggles. She teaches us that consolation does not mean escaping the pain of life, but allowing God’s mercy to enter into our pain and transform it,”he said.

Cardinal Advincula also emphasized that Mary teaches us to break resentment and retaliation, and urges us to learn and choose tenderness, humility, and reconciliation.

“Under her mantle, we learn to choose tenderness over bitterness, humility over pride, and reconciliation over revenge,” he emphasized.

“As we honor Nuestra Señora de Consolacion y Correa, may we entrust to her our families, our communities, and our country, asking her to intercede for us so that, through the mercy of her Son, we may become people who do not keep score, but keep giving; people who do not multiply wounds, but bring healing; people who do not perpetuate hatred, but become bearers of consolation and peace,” he continued.

Furthering the three values, he encouraged the faithful to not count the time we have forgiven others, citing the endless mercy and forgiveness of God.

“God does not ration His grace, so we must not ration our mercy,” he said.

He then said to choose deep humility and avoid holding grudges.
“When we accept that we are all beggars before God's mercy, we lose the right to look down on others. When we realize that our second chances are pure gifts, the calculator in our hearts finally breaks,” he highlighted.

The Archbishop of Manila, however, clarified that Christian forgiveness should not be passive, and does not tolerate the abandonment of truth and justice.

“Let us be very clear, however: Christian forgiveness is not passivity. Forgiveness does not mean blind docility. Forgiveness does not tolerate corruption or abandon the pursuit of structural justice and truth,” he preached.

Photo by Maricar Santos / RCAM Media
Photogallery: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...

23/09/2026

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬
24 September | 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗺

The story of Our Lady of Ransom begins with St. Peter Nolasco, born in Languedoc about 1189. At the age of 25 he took a vow of chastity and made over his vast estates to the Church. After making a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Montserrat, he went to Barcelona where he began to practice various works of charity.

He conceived the idea of establishing an Order for the redemption of captives seized by the Moors on the seas and in Spain itself; they were being cruelly tormented in their African prisons to make them deny their faith.

He spoke of it to the king of Aragon, James I, who knew him well and already respected him as a saint; for the king had already asked for his prayers when he sent out his armies to combat the Moors, and he attributed his victories to those prayers.

In effect all the Christians of Europe, and above all of Spain, were praying intensely to obtain from God the remedy for the great evil that had befallen them. The divine Will was soon manifested. On one night — August 1, 1218 — the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Peter, to his confessor, Raymund of Penafort, and to the king, and through these three servants of God established a work of the most perfect charity, the redemption of captives.

On that night, while the Church was celebrating the feast of St. Peter in Chains, the Virgin Mary appeared first to St. Peter, saying that she indeed desired the establishment of a religious Order, later known as the Mercedarians, bearing the name of her mercy. Its members would undertake to deliver Christian captives and offer themselves, if necessary, as a ransom pledge.

The Order, thus solemnly established in Spain, was approved by Pope Gregory IX under the name of Our Lady of Mercy. By the grace of God and under the protection of His Virgin Mother, the Order spread rapidly. Its growth was increased as the charity and piety of its members was observed; they very often followed Our Lady's directive to give themselves up to voluntary slavery when necessary, to aid the good work. It was to return thanks to God and the Blessed Virgin that a feast day was instituted and observed on September 24, first in the Order, then everywhere in Spain and France. It was finally extended to the entire Church by Pope Innocent XII. Pope Leo XIII encouraged the devotion by making this feast proper to all the dioceses of England, with a focus on how Our Lady ransoms us from the slavery of our sins, and brings us the grace of conversion.

📖 | https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=6712

22/09/2026