October is Holy Rosary Month, and the Solemnity of Our Lady of the Rosary will be celebrated in key churches nationwide.

Santisimo Rosario Parish Church of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Sampaloc, Manila, and the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag in Manaoag, Pangasinan, will celebrate the feast today, Oct. 7.

At the UST parish church, Missas Mayores will be celebrated by Archbishop Rolando Tria Tirona of Nueva Caceres (Naga) at 10 a.m., and by Bishop Emeritus Florentino Cinense of Tarlac at 6:30 p.m.

Fiesta Masses are at 6, 7, 8, and 9 a.m., and at 5 and 7:30 p.m.

Sacrament of Confession will be administered at 8-10 a.m., and at 5-7 p.m.

The Sampaloc, Manila fiesta will close the diamond jubilee or 75th anniversary of the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church of UST (1942-2017).

In Manaoag, the fiesta Mass at 4 p.m. will be followed by the traditional grand procession.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas is expected to be the main celebrant of the fiesta Mass and to lead the procession.

La Naval de Manila

The biggest Marian celebration in Metro Manila will be celebrated on Oct. 14 when the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City will mark the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary of La Naval de Manila.

Santo Domingo houses the National Shrine of La Naval de Manila.

Theme of the Quezon City celebration is “Maria: Huwaran ng Kabanalan” (Mary, Paragon of Holiness).

Novena Masses started last Oct. 4 and are ongoing till the 13th.

On Oct. 14, Missas Mayores are at 8 a.m. with Fr. Napoleon Sipalay, Jr., OP, prior provincial of the Philippine Dominicans, as main celebrant; and at 3 p.m. with Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco as chief presider.

Bishop Padilla; 68

The death due to heart attack of Monsignor Wenceslao Padilla, the Philippine bishop of Mongolia, is being mourned by Asian prelates and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Padilla died on Sept. 25, four days shy of his birthday on Sept. 29. He was 68.

CBCP vice-president Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Caloocan said Msgr. Padilla worked tirelessly for Mongolia and the wider Asian Church.

“I noted his (Padilla) genuine respect for Mongolian culture,” said David, who had once given a spiritual retreat in Mongolia for Padilla and other clergy and religious. “His simplicity and humility were very edifying.”

Ordained priest in 1976, Padilla opened the Mongolian mission in 1992, shortly after the Vatican established diplomatic relations with the East Asian nation.

In August 2003, he was appointed the first and only bishop of Mongolia by Pope John Paul II.

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