Santa Marta de Pateros

Santa Marta de Pateros is a title given to the Biblical saint, Martha of Bethany, attributed to a 19th-century apparition of the saint in the town of Pateros, (formerly known as Aguho and once considered a visita of Pasig) in Metro Manila, Philippines.

Legend The devotion to Santa Marta de Pateros traces its roots to primeval beliefs in a water goddess. Tradition recounts that in the 1800s, Saint Martha (who legendarily subdued the Tarasque), was invoked by the people of Pateros to vanquish a crocodile in the Pateros River that ate their ducks. The town holds a grander celebration on Saint Martha’s feast, while the feast of Saint Roch on 16 August is often scaled down as occurs during the monsoon season. In the 1960s the town priests tried to correct this by moving the celebration from 16 August to the nearest Sunday of the same month. Until today, the feast of Saint Roch is simpler, devoid of merrymaking and feasting.