Returning to my car which was parked at an empty lot across the street, we proceeded up along M.M. Agoncillo St. and turned left to a street leading to Taal Coliseum.   Further down the road and fronted by an ugly and inappropriate basketball court is the small and beautiful coral-hewn Chapel of the Virgin of Caysasay. Located in Brgy. Caysasay (better known as Labac), it is home of the 272-mm. high pinewood image of the Blessed Virgin of Casaysay.

According to the awe-inspiring folklore of this deeply religious community, the carved wooden image was found in 1603 by Juan Maningkad, an honest fisherman and town chief, caught in a fishnet near the mouth of the Pansipit River.  Some claim its appearance as miraculous and a token of divine favor.  Others say that it was brought by some Spanish soldiers and given to some natives or that it was just lost from a passing or shipwrecked Spanish or Portuguese ship.

It was brought to Fr. Juan Bautista de Montoya, Taal’s prior, and was given a grand religious celebration.  The priest then entrusted the image to Maria Espiritu, widow of a judge, who enthroned it in a precious urn and guarded it zealously.  In spite of her zeal, the image mysteriously and continually disappeared from her niche and reappeared later on.

Informed of these strange excursions, Fr. de Montoya later placed it in a special niche above the main altar of the town’s church.   All the while, the image kept disappearing from the church and reappearing a few days later.  Later, it completely disappeared from the church.  A meticulous search proved fruitless and it was given up for lost.

Several days later, two women, Maria Baguhin and Maria Talain, gathering firewood in the forest, drew water at a water well 7 kms. from Lumang Taal, and discovered the image on a branch of a sampaga tree, surrounded by lighted candles on each side and guarded by a kingfisher (locally called a casaycasay).

It was brought back to the church but again regularly disappeared, reappearing at its chosen haven near the well.  Henceforth, the image was called the Virgin of Caysasay and a provisional chapel was erected in 1611 near the spot.

The present 50 m. long and 10 m. wide reef-stone chapel, located on a deep ravine by the right bank of the Pansipit River, was started in 1639 under the direction of its then parish priest, Fr. Alonso Rodriguez. Its roof was partially destroyed by ash and boulders during Taal Volcano’s 1754 eruption and the walls and the towers fell during the December 24, 1852 earthquake.

The church was later reconstructed in 1856 but was again damaged during the 1867 earthquake.  Fr. Marcos Anton repaired it, clothed the image of the Virgin with pure gold, installed a new altar and built an iron balustrade around the main altar.  The Italian artist Cesar Alberoni decorated its beautiful interior.   An organ was bought in 1880 from the famous organist, Don Doroteo Otorel (they previously installed the organs at Manila Cathedral and at Oslob’s church), in Palencia (Spain).

The chapel has a central cross vault and a beautifully painted dome embellished with small windows.  Behind the main altar is the sacristy housing the niche of Blessed Virgin of Casaysay.  It is reached by a small staircase. Adjacent to the chapel is the hewn stone orphanage managed by the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit. Formerly the convent, it was allegedly built in the mid-19th century by a Chinese maestro de obra.

The image is transferred from its special niche in the Basilica of St. Martin of Tours to the chapel every Thursday and returned on Saturday afternoon, a continuous tradition since 1857 interrupted only in 1952 when then Bishop (and later Cardinal) Rufino Santos ordered the image’s permanent enshrinement at the sanctuary.  This controversial decree caused great apprehension and was resolved only when, upon the request of many of Taal’s fervent devotees, the tradition was revived.

On December 8, 1954, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the image was canonically crowned by Spanish Cardinal Fernando Quiroga y Palacios, Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela and official representative of Pope Pius XII.  Since then her feast is celebrated on that day and is highlighted by the Taal river festival.

Chapel of the Virgin of Caysasay: Brgy. Tatlong Maria, Taal, Batangas.