MANILA – The Tagbilaran Association in Metro Manila, one of the oldest Catholic religious groups in the metropolis, has begun its annual nine-day novena in honor of St. Joseph, its patron saint who is hailed as protector of the universal church.
The novena began last Sunday at the Freinademetz Hall in Christ the King Seminary on Rodriguez Ave. in Quezon City, and will end on March 19, the feast of St. Joseph.
The devotion starts with a novena, followed by a Mass.
Members of the association are from Tagbilaran City, Bohol, who are currently residing in Metro Manila.
According to Baby Maslog-Escalona, one of the pioneers, the association was formed in 1951 by a group of Tagbilaranons led by then Bohol 3rd District congressman Carlos P. Garcia, who later became the fourth president of the Republic of the Philippines, together with 1st District Bohol congressman Genaro Visarra.
Another pioneer, Tita Visarra-Lapes, continued to assist the association in its yearly gathering, alongside lawyer Roland Inting, Nemi Neri and Ging O. Madrid, among others.
On March 19, the association will celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph with a procession and Mass at the Northeast Greenhills Clubhouse in San Juan City.
In the past 69 years, the Tagbilaran Association in Metro Manila has not missed praying the novena every March 10-18 to ask St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus Christ, for his powerful intercession to protect the country and the world against evil forces.
Historical records show that on Oct. 13, 1884, Pope Saint Leo XIII initiated the prayer novena to St. Joseph after he had a “disturbing vision” of the future difficulties of the Catholic Church, prompting him to request that the prayer to St. Michael be said after Mass.
The prayer to St. Joseph is as follows:
“To you, O Blessed Joseph, we come in our trials, and having asked the help of your most holy Spouse, we confidently ask your patronage also. Through the Sacred bond of charity, which united you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and through the fatherly love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you to look graciously upon the beloved inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by His blood, and to aid us in our necessities with your power and strength.
“O most provident guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ. Most beloved Father, dispel the evil of falsehood and sin. Our most mighty protector, graciously assist us from Heaven in our struggle with the powers of darkness. And just as once you saved the Child Jesus from mortal danger, so now defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity.
“Shield each one of us by your constant protection, so that, supported by your example and your help, we may be able to live a virtuous life, to die a holy death, and to obtain eternal happiness in Heaven. Amen.”
In the 16th century, a pious Dominican, Isidore of Isolanis, prophesied that “the sound of victory” will be heard “when the faithful recognize the sanctity of St. Joseph.”
Every year, St. Teresa of Avila made a novena to St. Joseph leading up to his Feast Day on the 19th of March.
“I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant,” St Teresa of Avila said, asking the faithful to pray the novena to St. Joseph to “defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity.” (PNA)
