Magnificat: Mama Mary's Pilgrim Sites collects 24 Marian devotees' accounts of their experiences in Marian pilgrim sites. The sites are found in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, India, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United States, and there are eight pilgrim sites in the Philippines. The book includes short writeups of other international pilgrim sites and some Catholic prayers. Roman Catholic Archbishop Tagle of Manila has issued an Imprimatur for this book. These personal essays reflect heartfelt testimonies of Catholics' religious experiences.Contributors are: Lucy Adao McGinley, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Angelita Caluag Cruz, Maria Ciocon, Celeste, Ma. Ceres P. Doyo, Millicent Dypiangco, Ma. Milagros T. Dumdum, Penelope V. Flores, Almira Astudillo Gilles, Ma. Teresita Herrera-Tan, Fe Aida Lacsamana-Reyes, Jaime C. Laya, Guia Lim, Linda Nietes-Little, Ma. Teresa Z. Lopez, Aimee Gaboya Ortega Lucero, Lynley Salome R. Ocampo, Ma. Cristina Padilla-Sendin, Marsha C. Paras, Rev. Dr. Sebastian Periannan, Brian Ascalon Roley, Julia H. Wolski, and Linda Yamamoto.PRAISEProfoundly Marian and beautifully written by the contributors as these are their personal experiences! To our fellow devotees and would-be devotees of the Blessed Virgin Mary, you will surely fall in love with Magnificat: Mama Mary's Pilgrim Sites and love Our Blessed Mother even more. ~ Bishop Leopoldo C. Jaucian,SVD, DD, Bishop of Bangued, Philippines.The Magnificat has always been a testament to God's paradoxical dealings with his people. This book assembles a tableau of witnesses to how a visit with Mary can turn into a life-changing introduction to her Son. Through their stories the authors offer their readers the distinct possibility of setting the stage for a personal, if vicarious, epiphany. ~ Fr. Dionisio M. Miranda, SVD President , University of San Carlos, Cebu, Philippines.The devotion to Mama Mary is strong in the heart of every Filipino. ~ James B. Reuter,S.J. Author of the Mama Mary and His Children Series.Running as a leitmotif in all the essays in this book is the writers' palpable love for Mama Mary. Each writer has undergone a change in his or her life or outlook following a visit to a Marian site. Some may have experienced a "miracle," or felt consoled and renewed; others a deepening of spirituality, or an epiphany, an insight into the divine. Although we know that Jesus is the only Way to the Father, it is our belief in the power of Mary's intercession to her Son, borne out of the Bible's Cana story, that makes us all turn to Her, whom Her divine Son will never refuse. Kudos to Cecilia Manguerra Brainard for putting together an engaging collection of stories that magnify the humble handmaid of the Lord.~ Erlinda Enriquez Panlilio, Award-winning Filipina writer and editor.
