Our Lady of Caysasay

Our Lady of Caysasay

This is a picture of the original statue of Our Lady of Caysasay, which can be found in the town of Caysasay (which means kingfisher) in Taal, Batangas.

I originally went there as part of the Carnation Family Food Trip ’09 (in cooperation with Appetite magazine), but I got hooked on the historical aspects of the town as well (The food part is a different post altogether).

Legend has it that the image was found by Juan Maningcad, a Chinese fisherman, while fishing in the nearby Pansipit river. He brought the statue to the town priest, who later gave it to a townswoman for safekeeping. They say that the statue liked to disappear from wherever it was kept, only to reappear at a certain well, now called the Sta. Lucia Well, whose water is said to have healing powers.

Sta. Lucia; well, well, well

When we entered the church, lots of people were gathered at the main entrance, where a puddle of water had formed. Because of this, people entering the church had to cross wooden planks set above the water for that purpose. A townsperson told us that the puddle had appeared a few days after typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) hit the province. Since it was a hot day and the townspeople claimed that there is no source of water underneath the foundation (or faulty pipes), many considered it a miracle. Our guide said that people have been coming from all over Batangas and the nearby provinces just to see it and collect some of the “miraculous” water. I don’t know if they ever found out where the water came from.

Holy water, Batman: Devotees gather around mysterious puddle

More posts about my trip to Taal soon.