A Phenomenological inquiry on the devotees of the miraculous image of San Agustin De Tanza, Philippines

Publication Date

2-11-2019

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Advanced Research in Social Sciences and Humanities

Abstract

Filipinos are considered significant missioners in the world. This is because they bring with them their lively faith expressions. The phenomenal demonstration of the devotees devotion to San Agustin de Tanza has taken root in the local culture. This has become an instrument in drawing the faithful closer to God. The purpose of this paper is to have profound insights on the lived-experiences of one of the popular devotions in Cavite, Philippines, which can help clarify some misunderstanding between the Church officials and the churchgoers. Phenomenological approach is used in this study to describe, interpret and reflect on the devotees lived experiences in relation to the miraculous image of San Agustin which could give significance to our Catholic spirituality. To arrive at an intersubjective and in-depth examination of the said phenomenon, I have used the recommendation of Creswell (1998) of long interviews with six interviewees. I have used raw experiences as material for data analysis and used audio-recording with permission from interviewees. This study found out that the devotees devotion to the miraculous image of San Agustin de Tanza is entirely their own God experience. This phenomenon, according to Pieris (2007), is cosmic religiosity which is not a form of idolatry and animism. This study brings some light in the challenges that the church is facing nowadays like growing number of churchgoers who are inactive in the church activities which facilitates a healthy and creative relationship between the churchgoers and the Church officials.

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