The Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Orani, commonly known as Orani Church, is a Roman Catholic minor basilica built in the Neoclassical style located in the center of Orani, Bataan in the Philippines.
Description
The "Nuestra Señora del Santo Rosario de Orani" Church was also declared as a "Dambana ng Paglalakbay" (Pilgrim Shrine) on August 22, 2004 by then Bishop of Balanga ang now Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan Socrates Villegas. On September 25, 2012, the church of Orani also became an affiliate church of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, with all the rights and privileges conveyed by the pope on the latter. This means that the faithful, after fulfilling certain conditions, can avail of plenary indulgences when they pray at the Church of Kawayan, as if they had visited the Basilica in Rome.
The Church of Orani is under the jurisdiction of the Vicariate of St. Dominic de Guzman & Vicariate of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. The Virgin's feast day is on the second Sunday of October. It is under the jurisdiction of Roman Catholic Diocese of Balanga that comprises the entire civil province of Bataan. Its titular patron saint is Joseph, husband of Mary, with feast day on April 28. The diocese is headed by Bishop Ruperto Cruz Santos.
Since June 5, 2023, the parish priest of Orani is Antonio "Tony" M. Quintos, Jr. Orani's Catholic population is about 33,957.
The church is named after its patroness, "Our Lady of Orani". She is also known as the Virgen Milagrosa, a name given to her by her numerous devotees who have witnessed the countless miracles she has worked through the centuries.
The title "Our Lady of the Rosary," or "Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary," is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has traditionally been promoted by the Order of Preachers (more popularly known as the Dominican Order) ever since it was founded by Dominic de Guzman in the 13th century. In 1571 Pope Pius V, a Dominican friar himself, instituted the feast of "Our Lady of Victory" as an annual feast to commemorate the victory of the Catholic naval forces in the famed Battle of Lepanto. The victory was attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a rosary procession had been offered on that day in St. Peter's Square in Rome for the success of the mission of the Holy League to hold back Muslim forces from overrunning Western Europe. In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of this feast to the "Feast of the Holy Rosary". This feast was extended by Pope Clement XI to the whole of the Latin Rite, inserting it into the General Roman Calendar in 1716, and assigning it to the first Sunday in October. Pope Pius X changed the date to 7 October in 1913, as part of his effort to restore celebration of the liturgy of the Sundays.
Etymology
Wilfredo C. Paguio, however, believes that the town got its name from the word "maruani": a group of settlers introduced by the Samal people who wandered into the town and settled there in early days, about 300 years ago – the period which might be considered as the beginning of the history of the town although there were already human settlements in Orani as far back as the late 1500s.
The name of Orani may also be traced to the town of Orani in the island of Sardignia in present-day Italy, then part of the Kingdom of Spain at the time when the Spanish missionaries, including the Dominicans, were first sent to the Philippines. Many towns and places in the Philippines carry the name of towns belonging to the Spanish Crown. This is due to the name's significance to the founders of the new town, or in recognition of the patronage and financial contribution of some members of the nobility to the missionary work of the frailes in the new area, or simply as an expression of nostalgia by the colonial masters. Such is the case of Nueva Ecija, Nueva Segovia, Nueva Vizcaya, Toledo, Albuquerque, Alcala, and Tolosa, to cite a few examples. Several Dominicans also trace their roots to Orani in Sardignia, while the Marquisate of Orani, the noble lineage that encompasses the territory to this day, was known to have contributed extensively to the missions in the New World.