WHY OUR LADY OF THE GATE? One may ask: And why is the Daraga Church named after Our Lady of the Gate? The story stems from the life of the Fray Luis de San Jose, a simple Franciscan lay brother who lived in the 18th century and spend most of his life in the Franciscan convent in the city of Avila, Spain where he worked as a gardener and porter.

Allegedly, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him during the flood and saved his life. There upon he had a picture of the Virgin drawn by an artist and put it in the lobby of the convent where he often paid respect to his Lady. Not only did he venerate the picture of the Virgin Mary, but he also spread the devotion to the Immaculate Conception among the simple people who used to flock around the lobby of the convent to venerate her picture.

Now, the lobby of receiving room of the convent is called the Spanish porteria. That is why that picture came to be called Nuestra Señora de la Porteria. And since Fray Luis had led a saintly life, the Franciscan Friars who built the Daraga church put it in his memory under the protection of the Blessed Virgin mary, under the title of Nuestra Señora de la Porteria or Our Lady of the Gate and had the feast celebrated on the Nativity of Our Lady on September 8th.