Manila’s City Council on Thursday declared Our Lady of Loreto as the official “Patroness of Sampaloc”.

The declaration was made in a resolution recognizing the strong devotion to the renowned Marian image enshrined at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in Sampaloc district.

The officials said that the wide devotion to Our Lady is felt in Sampaloc because of its being “the Holy Protectress of all those who travel by air”, “Protectress of Christian homes against fire and calamities”.

The city council also recognized Our Lady as “Intercessor to students and educators”, especially that Sampaloc is found in the middle of Manila’s so-called “University Belt”.

For these reasons, “the faithful in the District of Sampaloc and pilgrims from different parts of the City of Manila deeply feel that the quadricentennial image of Our Lady of Loreto deserves to be given the sacred honor of Patroness of Sampaloc”, the resolution read.

Founded in 1613, the parish of Sampaloc located on J. Figueras St. (formerly called Bustillos) is home to the centuries-old image of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Loreto. It is currently the only parish in the country dedicated to the Marian title.

Miracles have been noted through the years on the special intercession of the Virgin at Sampaloc, especially in safety against fires which were frequent in the area.

Beside the current shrine is an oratory dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua under the Venerable Third Order of St. Francis that is also visited by pilgrims, hence both churches have been called “the twin churches of Bustillos”.

Due to the influx of the pilgrims over the years, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, then archbishop of Manila, elevated the parish as an archdiocesan shrine on December 5, 2005.

The shrine has previously announced that in honor of the recently held Laurentian Jubilee last 2019-2020 and the 410th anniversary of the parish, the community intends to petition the Vatican that the Loreto image be granted a pontifical coronation.