Overview

The Our Lady of Caysasay Church is located in Taal, Batangas, dedicated to Nuestra Señora de la Misericordia. This church is one of the province’s distinct cultural artifacts from the Spanish colonial period. Among the relics is the 27-centimeter image of the Virgin which was fished out of the waters in 1603. The Augustinian emblems engraved on the communion rails, the ornately carved holy water receptacle, and the few baroque motifs remain on the external frieze. The church has been renovated, but many interesting details of period art can still be appreciated.

Our Lady of Caysasay, Nuestra Señora de Caysasay, is a 17th-century image of the Immaculate Conception. The image was found by a man named Juan Maningcad while casting his net nearby Pansipit River. The image was canonically crowned in 1954 and was later given the title the "Queen of the Archdiocese of Lipa". The feast day of Our Lady of Caysasay is held every year on December 8 and 9.

Discovery of the Virgin Mary Image

One day, in a small barrio in Taal, a fisherman named Juan Maningcad went out fishing on the Pansipit River. When he pulled out his fishing net, he caught a little image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The image is still in good condition so he picked it up and brought it to his home. He became religious and righteous man.

According to the old folks, the image is owned by the Spaniards. They threw the image onto the water to pacify the ravages of the ocean during their voyage and the waves brought the image in the river.

When the news reached the priest of the town, the judge who represented the King of Spain at that time went to Juan Maningcad’s house immediately. When the judge and his companions saw the beautiful image, they knelt down and gave worship to the image. They took the image to the town and held a fiesta to welcome the Virgin.

Miraculous Story

Doña Maria Espiritu, widow of the town’s justice, was given a task of caring for the image. She ordered an expensive urn for the image. Every night, she would notice that the image is missing. The image would return every morning in its exact place and position. Doña Maria worried about the incidents so she decided to tell the story to the priest. The priest got confused so he decided to bring the image to the church, but again the incident continued to happen until the image disappeared completely.

One day, two women saw the image reflected on the river where it was originally found by a fisherman. They looked up and saw the image on a branch of a sampaguita tree. The women told the story to the priest. The townsfolk and the priest concluded that the image of the Virgin Mary wanted to stay in Caysasay. So, they established a church on the place where the image was found.

The image has shown many kinds of mysterious cases, especially the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at different places and to different people. Some folks believe that Our Lady of Caysasay saved the Tall Town from the Taal Volcano eruptions.

How to get there

You can reach Taal, Batangas by means of STAR Tollway or Southern Tagalog Arterial Road. Drive along STAR Tollway and exit to Tambo (Lipa City). Turn right from the exit and follow the signs to Cuenca. Continue on driving to the national highway until you pass through the towns of Alitagtag and Sta. Teresita.

When you reach the Sta. Teresita junction, turn right and drive straight until you reach the Taal-Lemery Bypass Junction. Turn left at the junction, follow the road, and you’ll find the Taal Town easily.