Minor Basilica & National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora

History of Nuestra Señora La Virgen Divina Pastora
Queen of Nueva Ecija,
Patroness of the Diocese of Cabanatuan

Divina Pastora is synonymous with the City of Gapan. We can also say that City of Gapan in Nueva Ecija is particularly famous because of the Virgen Divina Pastora. In the later part of 1595, four Augustinian priests, Fathers Contreas, Tendilla, Caballo and Salazar managed to carve ou

t a settlement in the thick forest of the Sierra Madre mountains in the Northeast portion of Luzon which came to be known as "pueblo" of Gapan. Forthwith, they built a small chapel and a convento alongside the "presidencia". The chapel and convento were used by the Augustinians as their station in their missions to Cagayan, Isabela and Aurora or Baler. Not long after, Gapan was created into a parish with the Magi or Three Kings as its principal patron saints. The Augustinian chronicle in the 16th century mentioned that sometime in the early part of 1700, an Augustinian priest brought to Gapan a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary from Spain. He called the image "Virgen Divina Pastora" because the surroundings of Gapan was largely a grazing ground of different animals like carabao, sheep, cows, horses and many others. He started the devotion to the Virgin Divina Pastora which rapidly spread throughout Gapan that reached as far as the fringes of Candaba (Pampanga) in the southwest and Aliaga (Nueva Ecija) in the northwest. Thus the devotion to the Virgen Divina Pastora was already wide spread in the early 1700. For some unknown reasons, this statue of the Virgen Divina Pastora was lost before the end of 18th century (1795-1800). All attempts to look for the missing statue proved to be futile. In 1850, so claim the elders of Gapan and handed down as a century-old tradition, while some shepherds and farmers were on their way to a shade of a tree, they a saw a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary under a "Callos" tree. The statue depicted the Blessed Virgin Mary robed in white, her head covered with a wide-brimmed hat, one hand holding a cane, and the other tapping a sheep resting on her lap. The statue was only one and a half (1 1/2) feet tall. The shepherds and the farmers went immediately to the caretaker of the land, who incidentally was the "kapitana" during that time, went to the spot, they saw the statue exactly as described by the shepherds and farmers. With the permission of the parish priest, the statue was taken to the parish church where it was venerated in the main altar. The people believed that the missing statue of the Virgen Divina Pastora was at last found. Not long after the enthronement of the statue of the Virgen Divina Pastora in the church, a spring gushed forth at the back of the altar. Miraculous cures were told and retold by thousands of devotees attributing these to the intercession of the Virgen Divina Pastora. The mere use of the water from the spring was an instrument in many miraculous cures of different ailments. Because of this, the devotion to the Virgen Divina Pastora spread far and wide to the provinces of Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Abra, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, and Zambales. Unfortunately, the spring dried up in the early 1940's when some unscrupulous people started to commercialize it. However, the Lord continues to perform miracles through the intercession of the Virgen Divina Pastora. Conversions are plenty too. It is unfortunate, through that none of these alleged miraculous cures and happenings were subjected to strict ecclesiastical procedures or norms. Suffice it to say that the "sensus fedelium" is such that parents of sick and weak children in Nueva Ecija and neighboring provinces made private vows to seek the intercession of the Virgen Divina Pastora in Gapan, especially during her feast day on May 1 every year. On April 26, 1964, through the joint efforts of the late Archbishop Emilio A. Cinense, former Archbishop of San Fernando (Pampanga); Archbishop Mariano A. Gaviola, first bishop of Cabanatuan; and late Msgr. Bernabe Parish Priest of Gapan together with the faithful of the Diocese of Cabanatuan and the people of Gapan, the Virgen Divina Pastora was solemnly crowned and declared Patroness of the Diocese of Cabanatuan through a Papal Decree of His Holiness, Pope Paul VI. This affair was witnessed by several Bishops, Priests, Government officials and thousands of people. The miraculous statue of the Virgen Divina Pastora has always been considered as the property of Valmonte Family of Gapan.. Fortunately, through the untiring efforts of Msgr. Felix Hernandez, former Parish Priest of Gapan, the family was motivated to give it to the Three Kings Parish Church. Donata Valmonte Cala in representation of Valmonte Family donated the original miraculous statue of the Virgen Divina Pastora to the parish, on February 19, 1986. April 26, 1986 shall be remembered in history as the date when the beautiful and imposing church of Gapan was declared as National Shrine of the Virgen Divina Pastora by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. The solemn proclamation was presided over by no less than His Eminence Ricardo Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu and then President of the CBCP and witnessed by several bishops, priests and a throng of devotees.