The Ballad of the Five Battles

Because the Mother of God smiled with favor on two gallant galleons that sailed forth to repel a marauding Dutch armada in 1646; because the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary was moved by the prayers of the seamen on the outnumbered ships to work a miracle for the Faith and the City of Manila 335 years ago, the Philippines was saved from Calvinist conquest and has since remained the steadfast bastion of the Church in Asia.

The Battles of La Naval de Manila were a series of five naval actions that were fought in the waters of the Philippines in 1646, between the forces of Spain and the Dutch Republic, during the Eighty Years War.

Published on the occasion of St. John Paul ll’s pastoral visit to the Philippines 17-22 February 1981.

Published by Arts Unlimited, Inc. in 1981

38 pages / Paperback