Nuestra Senora De La Asuncion (Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur Church)

I am proud to say that my roots came from Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur (both Dagdag and Tavita), a very simple municipality just 2 hours drive from Vigan. Here you will find a paradise, if your direction is from Manila, you just have to look on your left and you will find the scenery of the South China Sea. Meanwhile on your right, you will see the enchanting mountains seducing you to stare even more.

But there's so much more that you'll have to discover when you're there, my personal favorite is the Sta. Maria Church. This was declared as one of four of the UNESCO enscribed  Baroque Churches of the Philippines. This was approximately built  on the year 1769 by the Augustinians to serve as a fortress during the Philippine Revolution in 1896.

Let's read some stories:

Legend of the Sta. Maria Church Statue:“Once upon a time, during the early decades of the Spanish rule in the Islands a violent storm suddenly arose some leagues off the shores of Sta. Maria. By a freak of fate, a Spanish galleon happened just then to be lumbering by. Caught unprepared by the sudden squall, the doomed ship was instantly wrecked, and finally sank. When the storm subsided, only a mass of wreckage was left floating on the waters. The waves soon washed the debris to the shore. Among the jetsam the townspeople found a large, battered wooden chest. When its lid was finally pried open, the chest disclosed, to the amazement of all, an image of our Lady of Assumption. What’s more amazing was its condition. Despite its watery adventure, the statue appeared dry and unharmed - a miraculous sign indeed! Overjoyed by the favor, the people instantly bore the image to their town and enshrined it in their chapel. The image remained since then as the town’s patroness and protectress…thus goes the legend ofthe famous statue now enthroned in the Sta. Maria Church.” (Ilokos Religious Imagery p. 122)

Legend of Sta. Maria Church Construction:“The story goes that in the beginning the statue of the Virgin was enthroned in the old church. This was then located at the foot of the present church, on the place where the East Elementary School is now situated. But this statue often disappeared and made its peregrination to a guava tree on the knoll where the church now stands. For this reason a new chapel was built on this site in 1810 together with the tower; its bells arrived the next year.” (Churches in Ilokandia Ilocos Sur-La Union p. 285)

 Ano pa hinihintay niyo? "Intayon idiay Ilocos!!!" (tara na sa ilocos!)

Photo Taken during our visit last April 2010