Who is Santa Marian Kamalen and why is she so special to the people of Guam and the Northern Marianas? She is our heavenly Queen Mother and the earthly Mother of the King of Kings. Who wouldn’t be struck by the awesome majesty of the Queen of Heaven? For Chamorros, the indigenous people of the Marianas, Santa Marian Kamalen embodies the ultimate Maga’Haga, the highest ranking female in our matrilineal lineage. It is easy to understand why, in our mother-centered culture, Santa Maria holds such an honorable place. She is at once our Patroness and our Protectress.

Today, you may find Santa Marian Kamalen high above the Archbishop’s throne, in the apse of the Agana Cathedral- Basilica. As the Patroness of Guam and the Mariana Islands, she is the oldest religious icon of the Church on Guam and has survived wars, fires, epidemics, typhoons, earthquakes, and even theft.

According to archival documents, the statue has been repaired, repainted, and redecorated several times in the past hundred years. Between 1894 and 1930, the statue underwent three minor restorations in the Philippines. The Vicariate in 1963, and then the Diocese in 1971, commissioned Father Marcian Pellett, OFM Cap., to refurbish the statue.  In recent times, the Archdiocese commissioned Mark Dell’Isola, a resident artist, to do some minor touch-up on the statue in 1983 and in 1992.  On December 28, 1992, the statue was stolen from its niche at the Cathedral-Basilica for over a month, and at its recovery, a major repair was needed to fix the damages that were incurred because of the theft.  It was during this last repair that artist Mark Dell’Isola, after unwrapping several layers of paint and gesso and arriving at the wood base, discovered that royal blue over peach and gilded gold with a bit of silver were the original colors of the statue. After her repair our Lady once again emerged, now with a new look. She was re-enthroned in the apse of the Cathedral Basilica on May 30, 1993 on the Feast of Pentecost.

In 1971 the Eleventh Guam Legislature unanimously voted to Amend Section 200 of the Government Code of Guam to declare December the 8th a Territorial Legal Holiday. It was on December 8, 1941, that Guam was invaded by the Imperial Army of Japan. This day marked the beginning of the three long years of Japanese occupation. At the time, Guam was the only American community to suffer an occupation during the Second World War. As cited in the Guam Law, this day was to serve as an eternal commemoration of celebration and remembrance of the struggles of our people.  On this day, we celebrate faith and we remember those whose lives were sacrificed for their country, their people, and their home.

It has been a long-standing tradition that once a year, on December the 8th, the Statue of Santa Marian Kamalen comes down from her niche high above the sanctuary in the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica for the people to come in touching distance of her.  On this day, thousands of people from all over Guam, the neighboring islands in the Marianas, and even from abroad, come to gather in prayer and faith, united by her presence, to give glory to her Son Jesus Christ.  For this one special day out of the whole year, Our Lady is placed on a karosa or float, and is ushered in an island-wide procession around parts of Hagatna.  However, on December 8, 2002, Guam’s history would be rewritten.