Our Lady of

Lourdes
Our Lady of Lourdes is a venerated title of the Blessed Virgin Mary invoked by
Roman Catholics in honor of the Marian apparitions said to have occurred on numerous
occasions in 1858 in the vicinity of Lourdes, France. The first of these is the apparition
of 11 February 1858, when Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old peasant girl, admitted
to her mother that a "lady" spoke to her in the cave of Massabielle (a mile from the
town) while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar apparitions
of the alleged "Lady" were reported on seventeen occasions that year, until the climax
revelation of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception took place.
Bernadette Soubirous was later canonized as a Saint, and Roman Catholics and
some Protestants believe her apparitions have been validated by the overwhelming
popularity and testament of healings claimed to have taken place at the Lourdes water
spring.
In 1862, Pope Pius IX authorized Bishop Bertrand-Svre Laurence to permit the
veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes. On 3 July 1876, Pope Pius IX
formally granted a Canonical Coronation to the image that used to be in the courtyard
of what is now part of the Rosary Basilica. This Marian title, Our Lady of Lourdes, has
been widely copied and reproduced, often displayed in shrines and homes, most notably
in garden landscapes.

Our Lady of
Annunciation
The Annunciation (anglicised from the Latin Vulgate Luke 1:26-39
Annuntiatio nativitatis Christi), also referred to as the Annunciation to the
Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady or Annunciation of the
Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to
the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the
Son of God, marking his Incarnation. Gabriel told Mary to name her son
Yehoshua, meaning "YHWH is salvation". Many Christians observe this
event with the Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March, nine full months
before Christmas, the ceremonial birthday of Jesus. According to Luke 1:26,
the Annunciation occurred "in the sixth month" of Elizabeth's pregnancy with
John the Baptist. Irenaeus (c. 130202) of Lyon regarded the conception of
Jesus as 25 March coinciding with the Passion.
Approximating the northern vernal equinox, the date of the Annunciation
also marked the New Year in many places, including England, where it is
called Lady Day. Both the Roman and Orthodox Catholic Churches hold that
the Annunciation took place at Nazareth, but slightly differ as to the precise
location. The Basilica of the Annunciation marks the site preferred by the
former, while the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation marks that
preferred by the latter.

Our Lady of
Fatima
(Feast Day: May 13)
This feast commemorates the visions of Our Lady seen near Ftima in Portugal in 1917
by three shepherd children, Lcia dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto.
The visions occurred every 13th day of each month from May to October, and by October,
huge crowds were gathering at the site of the visions and reporting visions and miraculous
occurrences.
The visions of the Virgin Mary in Ftima, Portugal in 1917 were declared worthy of
belief by the Catholic Church in 1930. Six popes Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul
I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI have supported the Ftima messages as supernatural.
John Paul I met with Sr. Lucia on July 11, 1977 while he was still Cardinal Patriarch of
Venice. He reported being deeply moved by the experience, and vowed to perform the
Consecration of Russia as Lucia said Mary had asked. John Paul II was particularly attached
to Ftima and credited Our Lady of Ftima with saving his life after he was shot in Rome on
the Feast Day of Our Lady of Ftima in May 1981. He donated the bullet that wounded him
on that day to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ftima. Benedict XVI, on May 13, 2010, prayed
and gave the second Golden Rose to Our Lady of Ftima and also pronounced in front of
more than 500,000 pilgrims a reference to the Ftima prophecy about the triumph of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary.
In 1925, eight years after the Ftima events, Sister Lcia reported another set of
apparitions, which became known as the Pontevedra apparitions. Also Blessed Alexandrina of
Balasar reported several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary (following the Our Lady of
Ftima request of World Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary).

Our Lady of Perpetual

Help
(June 27)
The icon shows the Blessed Virgin Mary wearing a dress of dark red, representing the
Passion of Jesus; with a blue mantel representing her perpetual virginity; and with a cloaked
veil representing her modesty. On the left side is the Archangel Michael; on the right side is
the Archangel Gabriel. The star on Marys forehead signifies her title as Star of the Sea.
The earliest written account of the image comes from a Latin and Italian plaque placed
in the church of San Matteo in Via Merulana where it was first venerated by the public in
1499. The writer of the icon is unknown, but according to a parchment attached to the
painting that accompanied the icon, it was stolen by a merchant sailing to Rome from the
island of Crete, also sometimes referred to as Candia or Heraklion.
After stealing the icon, the ageing merchant sailed and hid the icon while travelling at
sea, until a storm hit hard and the sailors prayed with the icon for help. When the merchant
arrived in Rome he fell ill, and as a dying wish he asked a second merchant to place the icon
in a church where it could serve for veneration. Initially, the merchant was reluctant to give
the icon away and took four instances until the second merchant confided to his wife about
the icon. Upon seeing the beautiful icon, the woman refused to give it to the church but
instead hung it in their home.
Later on, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to the merchant's daughter,
grandmother and neighbour, who implored that the icon be turned over to a parish. The Virgin
Mary allegedly appeared to the little girl that the icon ought to be placed between the
basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. The wife gave the icon to the Augustinian
Friars. On March 27, 1499, the icon was transferred to the church of San Matteo where it
remained for 300 years. The picture was then popularly called the Madonna di San Matteo.

Our Lady of Mount

Carmel
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the title given to the Blessed
Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order.
The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount
Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid
13th century. They built a chapel in the midst of their
hermitages which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom
they conceived of in chivalric terms as the "Lady of the place."
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is the patron saint of Chile.
Since the 15th century, popular devotion to Our Lady of
Mount Carmel has centred on the Scapular of Our Lady of
Mount Carmel also known as the Brown Scapular, a
sacramental associated with promises of Mary's special aid for
the salvation of the devoted wearer. Traditionally, Mary is said
to have given the Scapular to an early Carmelite named Saint
Simon Stock. The liturgical feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
is celebrated on July 16.

Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
The Church has celebrated Mary's birth since at least the sixth century. A
September birth was chosen because the Eastern Church begins its Church
year with September. The September 8 date helped determine the date for the
feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 (nine months earlier).
Scripture does not give an account of Mary's birth. However, the
apocryphal Protoevangelium of James fills in the gap. This work has no
historical value, but it does reflect the development of Christian piety.
According to this account, Anna and Joachim are infertile but pray for a child.
They receive the promise of a child that will advance God's plan of salvation
for the world. Such a story (like many biblical counterparts) stresses the
special presence of God in Mary's life from the beginning.
St. Augustine connects Mary's birth with Jesus' saving work. He tells the
earth to rejoice and shine forth in the light of her birth. "She is the flower of
the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her
birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed." The opening
prayer at Mass speaks of the birth of Mary's Son as the dawn of our salvation
and asks for an increase of peace.

Our Lady of
Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows , the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (Latin:
Mater Dolorosa), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our
Lady of the Seven Dolors are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred
to in relation to sorrows in her life. The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is
liturgically celebrated each 15 of September.
Earlier, in 1233, seven youths in Tuscany founded the Servite Order (also
known as the "Servite Friars", or the "Order of the Servants of Mary"). Five years
later, they took up the sorrows of Mary, standing under the Cross, as the principal
devotion of their order.
The Seven Sorrows of Mary:
1. The Prophecy of Simeon or the Circumcision of Christ
2. The Flight into Egypt
3. The loss of the child Jesus in the Temple
4. Mary meets Jesus on the way to Calvary
5. Jesus dies on the cross
6. The piercing of the side of Jesus, and Mary's receiving the body of Jesus in
her arms
7. The body of Jesus is placed in the tomb
are a popular Roman Catholic devotion. In common religious Catholic imagery,
the Blessed Virgin Mary is portrayed in a sorrowful and lacrimating affect, with
seven daggers piercing her heart, often bleeding.

Our Lady of the Rosary

The feast of the Holy Rosary was instituted by Pope Pius V to celebrate the
anniversary of the defeat of the Turkish fleet at the battle of Lepanto on the first
Sunday in October 1571, which ended the threat of Muslim domination of the
Mediterranean and was ascribed in part to the prayer and procession of the rosary
confraternity in Rome. Later the feast was moved to a fixed date October 7.
According to Dominican tradition, in 1214, St. Dominic was in Prouille,
France attempting to convert the Albigensians back to the Catholic faith. The
young priest had little success until one day he received a vision of the Blessed
Virgin, who gave him the Rosary as a tool against heretics. While Mary's giving
the rosary to St. Dominic is generally acknowledged as a legend, the development
of this prayer form owes much to the followers of St. Dominic, including the 15th
century priest and teacher, Alanus de Rupe.
On December 3, 1836, Fr. Charles Elonor des Genettes had an interior
locution directing him to dedicate the parish of Our Lady of Victory to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary.
On October 13, 1917, Our Lady of Fatima told the shepherd children, "I am
the Lady of the Rosary".
In 1987, during the civil war with the anti-clerical Sandinista government in
Nicaragua, sacristan Bernardo Martinez reported seeing an apparition of Our Lady
who urged him to pray the rosary and work for peace. One of the appearances was
in the parish church of Our Lady of Victories near Cuapa.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

(Feast day: December 12, USA)

When we reflect on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe we learn two important
lessons: one of faith and one of understanding.
Missionaries who first came to Mexico with the conquistadors had little success in
the beginning. After nearly a generation, only a few hundred Native Mexicans had
converted to the Christian faith. Whether they simply did not understand what the
missionaries had to offer or whether they resented these people who made them slaves,
Christianity was not popular among the native people.

Then in 1531 miracles began to happen. Jesus' own mother appeared to humble
Juan Diego. The signs -- of the roses, of the uncle miraculously cured of a deadly
illness and especially of her beautiful image on Juan's mantle convinced the people
there were something to be considered in Christianity. Within a short time, six million
Native Mexicans had themselves baptized as Christians.
The first lesson is that God has chosen Mary to lead us to Jesus. No matter what
critics may say of the devotion of Mexicans (and Mexican descendants) to Our Lady of
Guadalupe, they owe their Christianity to her influence. If it were not for her, they
would not know her son, and so they are eternally grateful. The second lesson we take
from Mary herself. Mary appeared to Juan Diego not as a European Madonna but as a
beautiful Aztec princess speaking to him in his own Aztec language. If we want to help
someone appreciate the gospel we bring, we must appreciate the culture and the
mentality in which they live their lives. By understanding them, we can help them to
understand and know Christ. Our Lady of Guadalupe is patron of the Americas.

Our Lady of
Assumption
On August 15 we celebrate the great Feast of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, calling it the "Dormition of the Mother of God (Falling
Asleep).
The commemoration of the death of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the
Dormition) is known as the Assumption because of the tradition that her body
did not decay but that she was raised up, body and soul, into heaven. This
tradition was already present in the six century. By the beginning of the 20th
century, it was widespread.
The Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary "having
completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into
heavenly glory". This doctrine was dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII on
November 1, 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus by
exercising papal infallibility. While the Catholic Church and Eastern
Orthodox Church believe in the Dormition of the Theotokos, which is the
same as the Assumption, the alleged physical death of Mary has not been
dogmatically defined.
In Munificentissimus Deus (item 39) Pope Pius XII pointed to the Book
of Genesis (3:15) as scriptural support for the dogma in terms of Mary's
victory over sin and death as also reflected in 1 Corinthians 15:54: "then shall
come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Our Lady of
the Miraculous Medal
(Feast Day: November 27)
On November 27, 1830, our Lady appeared to Sr Catherine Laboure. Mary told her:
"Have a medal strucked after this model. All those who wear it will receive great graces -wearing it around their neck. Graces will be abundant for those who wear it with confidence."
THE MEANING OF THE MEDAL
The joyful side shows Mary in the glory of her Immaculate Conception, standing on the
globe as the Queen and Mother of all mankind. Her feet crushed the serpent's head to
proclaim that Satan and all his brood are helpless before her.
From her outstretched hands pour the graces which she sheds on all those who ask for
them.
Etched about the rim is the invocation composed by Mary herself, " O Mary conceived
without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."
The sorrowful side pictures Mary's sufferings. Mary said to Sister Catherine, the M and
the two hearts express enough. Mary is not only Queen and Intercessor but also the Mother of
Sorrows and Mother our Redeemer. She is ever by the side of her Son. For the love of man
His Heart wears a crown of thorns, for the love of men, Her Heart is pierced with a sword.
Beneath the cross we find the letter M because to the end Mary stood beneath the cross of
Christ.
The twelve stars refer to the twelve apostles, the first messengers of Christ's good news
of salvation. Or to the STARS in the vision of St. John in which a great sign appeared in
heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and on her head a crown
of twelve stars.
It is Mary's part to bring her children through the sorrows of earth to the bliss of
heaven, where in the crown of the Queen they will shine like stars for all eternity.

Our Lady of May

Flower

May Devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary refers to special Marian devotions held in
the Catholic Church during the month of May honoring the Virgin Mary as "the Queen of
May".
Origins
A number of traditions link the month of May to Mary. Alfonso X of Castile in the 13th
century wrote in his Cantigas de Santa Maria about the special honoring of Mary during
specific dates in May. Eventually, the entire month was filled with special observances and
devotions to Mary.
The origin of the conventional May devotion is still relatively unknown. Herbert
Thurston identifies the seventeenth century as the earliest instance of the adoption of the
custom of consecrating the month of May to the Blessed Virgin by special observances. It is
certain that this form of Marian devotion began in Italy. Around 1739, witnesses speak of a
particular form of Marian devotion in May in Grezzano near Verona. In 1747 the Archbishop
of Genoa recommended the May devotion as devotion for the home. Specific prayers for
them were promulgated in Rome in 1838.
According to Frederick Holweck, the May devotion in its present form originated at
Rome where Father Latomia of the Roman College of the Society of Jesus, to counteract
infidelity and immorality among the students, made a vow at the end of the eighteenth
century to devote the month of May to Mary. From Rome the practice spread to the other
Jesuit colleges and thence to nearly every Catholic church of the Latin rite. In Rome by 1813,
May devotions were held in as many as twenty churches. From Italy, May devotions soon
spread to France. In Belgium, the May devotions, at least as a private devotion, were already
known by 1803. The tradition of honoring Mary in a month-long May devotion spread
eventually around the Roman Catholic world in the 19th century together with a month-long
devotion to Jesus in June and the Rosary in October.

Our Lady,
Mediatrix of All Grace
Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace (Spanish: Nuestra Senora Medianera
de toda gracia; Italian: La Madonna Mediatrice di tutte le grazie; Tagalog:
Aming Inang Tagapamagitan ng lahat ng Biyaya) is an alleged Marian
apparition that took place in the Carmelite Monastery of Lipa, Batangas,
Philippines, to a religious postulant, Teresita Castillo. The apparition is

known in the Philippines for the rose petals which showered within the
vicinity of the monastery, some bearing religious Catholic imagery which
believers hold to be miraculous.
Initially declared by a local bishop as non-supernatural in 1951, the case
was reopened in 1991 and is pending investigation by the Holy See while the
Metropolitan Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Archdiocese of Lipa found "no
objection in the veneration of Mary and its doctrine" under this title.
Presently, the Marian veneration is tolerated by the Archdiocese of Lipa and
the Archdiocese of Manila.
On March 3, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI was presented a Mediatrix statue
by Bishop Guillermo Afable during the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the
Philippines Ad Limina visit. On March 9, 2011, a life-sized Mediatrix statue
brought by Filipino bishops was publicly displayed in the general Wednesday
papal audience at Pope Paul VI Audience Hall.

Theotokos
In 431 A.D. the Third Ecumenical Council, which was held at
Ephesus, declared that the Blessed Virgin Mary was indeed the
Theotokos, the Mother of God. While the Church had always believed
this, it was officially declared by the Council primarily because of a
heresy initiated by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople.
He and his followers, called Nestorians for obvious reasons,
taught that Mary was the mother of the humanity of Jesus and not his
divinity. They wanted to divide His natures. As with everything about
the blessed Mother, her very life as well as her titles, had everything
to do with her son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

In declaring her "Theotokos," the Fathers were declaring once

and for all that Christ was truly the union of God and man, fully
human and fully divine, which theologians call the "hypostatic
union."
As St. Cyril of Jerusalem declared, "A mother does not give birth
to a nature; she gives birth to a person".

Our Lady of
Lavang
Our Lady of La Vang (Vietnamese: c M La Vang) refers to a reported Marian apparition
at a time when Catholics were persecuted and killed in Vietnam. The Shrine of our Lady of La Vang
(Basilica of Our Lady of La Vang) is situated in what is today Hai Phu commune in Hi Lng
District of Qung Tr Province in Central Vietnam.
Fearing the spread of the Catholicism, the Cnh Thnh Emperor restricted the practice of
Catholicism in the country in 1798. Soon thereafter, the emperor issued an anti-Catholic edict in
which persecution ensued.
Many people sought refuge in the rain forest of La Vang in Qung Tr Province, Vietnam, and
many became very ill. One night, an apparition surprised them. In the branches of the tree a lady
appeared, wearing the traditional Vietnamese o di dress and holding a child in her arms, with two
angels beside her. The people present interpreted the vision as the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus
Christ. They said that Our Lady comforted them and told them to boil leaves from the trees for
medicine to cure the ill. Legend states that the term "La Vang" was a derivative of the Vietnamese
word meaning "crying out". Modern scholars believe it comes from the ancient practice of naming a
location for a genus of a tree or plant native to the area, La meaning "leaf" and '"Vang "herbal
seeds".
In 1802 the Christians returned to their villages, passing on the story of the apparition in La
Vang and its message. As the story of the apparitions spread, many came to pray at this site and to
offer incense. In 1820, a chapel was built.
From 1830-1885 another wave of persecutions decimated the Christian population, during the
height of which the chapel in honour of Our Lady of La Vang was destroyed.
On December 8, 1954, the statue of Our Lady of La Vang was brought from Tri Bun back to
the holy shrine. The Vietnamese Bishops Conference chose the church of Our Lady of La Vang as
the National Shrine in honour of the Immaculate Conception. La Vang became the National Marian
Centre of Vietnam on April 13, 1961. Pope John XXIII elevated the Church of Our Lady of La Vang
to the rank of a minor basilica on August 22, 1961.

Our Lady of Barangay

This image of Our Blessed Mother carrying her Son was painted by Mr.
Crisogono A. Domingo, an inmate of Santa Barbara Leprosarium. The idea on
the image was inspired in Cadiz City in 1954 and the artist , a mere house
painter, undertook the work as an offering to Our Blessed Mother for the
BIRHEN SANG BARANGAY ORGANIZATION, a Catholic mandated
organization in the Philippines.
Birhen Sa Barangay was the title given to the image by Datu Antonio C.
Gaston, the founder and leader of the Barangay Sang Birhen Organization.
On Oct. 16, 1954 Msgr. Emmanuel Yap, D.D. gave the image his Canonical
Blessing and acclaimed it to be an inspired work of art. Hence Oct. 16 has
been marked as a Loyalty Day to Our Lady, the Birhen Sa Barangay, and has
been chosen as the date for Her Fiesta celebration in Cogon.
On June 12, 1975, the original painting arrived in the Diocese of
Tagbilaran for Our Ladys visitation to the whole province of Bohol from
parish to parish, from central barangays to the remotest ones. This visit lasted
for 6 years and 15 days. On Jan.14, 1981 the image was brought back to
Bacolod City for the historical visit of the Holy Father, His Holiness Pope
John Paul II. On Feb. 20, 1981, at the Bishops Palace in Bacolod City, the
image was personally blessed by the Holy Father.

Mother of
Eucharist and
Grace
It was on August 15, 1991, when Our Blessed Mother Mary appeared to a
visionary, Carmelo Cortez. She was very beautiful, dressed in immaculate white,
between 15 to 18 years of age. Her Immaculate Heart was visible and on top of
her heart is a rose bud and in the middle is the Holy Eucharist, surrounded by
golden stars. She then identified herself as Our Mother of the Eucharist and Grace.
The Blessed Mother Mary revealed that the Heart and the Holy Eucharist on top of
her chest is a sign that it was from her body that the Body and Blood of her Son,
Jesus Christ came from. She was holding a rosary on her right hand and the brown
scapular of Mount Carmel was on her left hand.
In almost all of the messages, the Blessed Mother emphasized the following:
pray the rosary, wear the brown scapular of Carmel, hear mass every day,
especially on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, do
reparations for sins, confess, receive holy communion and love everyone always.
The Mother of the Eucharist and Grace had three wishes, the people would
go back to the Roman Catholic Church; that the people should receive the body
and blood of Christ; and the need for prayer for the priests.

Our Lady of Salvation

Our Lady of Salvation (Spanish: Nuestra Seora de Salvacin), also known as Our Lady of
Light, is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Co-Redemptrix of mankind. The devotion
to Our Lady of Salvation is based on a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary that was first venerated in
Joroan (now part of Tiwi, Albay) in the Philippines. The image was canonically crowned by the
Catholic Church on 25 August 1976, as the heavenly patroness of the province of Albay.
The original, 18th-century image of Our Lady of Salvation reflects her role, according to
Catholic doctrine, as Co-Redemptrix. The Virgin is portrayed as carrying the Christ Child in her left
arm, while her right arm grasps a man by the wrist as he is about to fall into a gaping Hell mouth.
An angel kneels at the foot of the Virgin, offering a basket of burning hearts to Christ, who holds a
burning heart in his right hand, while his left hand is stretched in a gesture of accepting the hearts.
According to the written accounts based on existing traditions, of the first parish priest of
Joroan, Rev. Fr. Lamberto S. Fulay (19191935), in his booklet "An Kasaysayan Kan Ladawan Ni
Birhen de Salvacion", it all began in the year 1770, when a certain haciendero named Don Silverio
Arcilla assigned a tenant named Mariano Dacuba in one of his vast estates in Joroan (formerly
known as Cagnipa). On a certain day, while Dacuba was clearing the hacienda, he chopped off a big
Calpe tree. After several hours to his surprise He found out that the leaves did not wilt and
maintained its life and freshness although already severed in the base for a period of time. He
informed his landlord Don Arcilla about it and the latter consulted the Fria pastor of Buhi of what
could be done with it. The friar pastor of Buhi urgently called a sculptor named Bagacumba to have
an image carved from the Calpe trunk found by Don Arcilla's tenant. Three (3) Statues were
produced out of the tree - Nuestra Seora de Salvacion (Our Lady of Salvation) now in Brgy. Joroan
of Tiwi; San Antonio de Padua (St. Anthony of Padua), and Nuestra Seora de Soledad (Our Lady
of Sorrows) Both are now in Buhi, Camarines Sur specificaly in Brgy Poblacion and Brgy.
Tambo. Before, Joroan was under the jurisdiction of Buhi during the Spanish colonial period. On
August 25, 1776, the image of the Lady of Salvation was lent to Joroan with the condition that the
residents construct a chapel at the center of the barrio. Consequently, a certain Sotera Cababag was
assigned as the chapel's Hermana Mayor who will take care of the image.

Our Lady of Candelaria

The Virgin of Candelaria or Our Lady of Candelaria (Virgen de Candelaria, Nuestra Seora de la
Candelaria), popularly called La Morenita, celebrates the Virgin Mary on the island of Tenerife, one of the
Canary Islands (Spain). The center of worship is located in the city of Candelaria in Tenerife. She is
depicted as a Black Madonna. The "Royal Basilica Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Candelaria" (Basilica of
Candelaria), is considered the main church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Canary Islands. She is the
patron saint of the Canary Islands. Her feast is celebrated on February 2 (Candlemas) and August 15, the
patronal feast of the Canary Islands.
According to a recorded legend by Alonso de Espinosa in 1594, a statue of the Virgin Mary, bearing
a child in one hand and a green candle in the other (hence "Candelaria"), was discovered on the beach of
Chimisay (Gmar) by two Guanche goatherds in 1392. This was before the Castilian conquest of the island
(the island was not fully conquered until 1496).

One of the shepherds tried to throw a stone at the statue, but his arm became paralyzed; the other
tried to stab the statue with a knife but ended up stabbing himself. The statue was taken by the local
Guanche mencey, Acaymo, to the cueva de Chinguaro.
Later, Antn, a Guanche who had been enslaved and converted to Christianity by the Castilians,
returned to Tenerife and recognized the statue as that of the Virgin Mary. He told the mencey of his
conversion and the statue was thus venerated by the Guanches, who moved it to the cave of Achbinico
However, the statue was stolen and taken away to Lanzarote. It was later returned to Tenerife after various
events, such as an outbreak of the plague, occurred on Lanzarote. At first, the aboriginals identified the
statue with their goddess Chaxiraxi (the mother of the gods), but later the Christian conquerors explained
that the image was the Virgin Mary.
The first mass was celebrated at Achbinico on February 2, 1497, and the Adelantado Alonso
Fernndez de Lugo ordered the construction of a hermitage there, but it was not built until 1526, during the
rule of Pedro Fernndez de Lugo. This was the site of the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria. The basilica
was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 19th century. The statue itself was lost when a tsunami carried it out
to sea in 1826; the present statue is a copy by Fernando Estvez.
She was declared patroness of the Canary Islands in 1559, by Clement VIII (and principal patroness
in 1867 by Pope Pius IX). The Virgin of Candelaria is widely prayed to for protection against epidemics,
plagues, droughts and volcanic eruptions of Mount Teide and other volcanoes.

Our Lady of
Namacpacan
History
The wooden image of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated as the Our Lady of
Namacpacan (locally known as Apo Baket) in Luna was ordered from Spain by an
Augustinian priest assigned in the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Vigan in 1871. While
on its way to Vigan, the galleon ship from Mexico carrying the image of our Lady took
shelter in Darigayos due to a storm. When the sea was calm, they resumed their journey but
strong winds forced them to return to the port of Darigayos. The captain of the ship decided
to send the image by land and it was temporarily placed in the church's convent. However,
the image was too heavy to be transferred onwards overland. Father Camilo Naves, an
Augustinian priest, interpreted the incident as meaning that the image of the Virgin Mary
wished to be enshrined in the town of Namacpacan. Father Marcelino Ceballos, then parish
priest requested to the Augustinian priest to give the image to the town. Upon the agreement
that the people of Namacpacan would reimburse all expenses incurred during the image's
journey from Spain, the rightful owner gave the image to the town. The people welcomed the
Virgin to town with feasting, and enshrined it on an altar in the northern part of the church.
The image was canonically crowned on November 24, 1959 through a special decree issued
by Pope John XXIII through Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Salvatore Siino.
The image of the Our Lady of Namacpacan, standing 6 feet 4 inches (1.92 m) tall, is
the tallest-known Marian image in the Philippines and is known as the patroness of Ilocano
travellers.
Attributed miracles
Several miracles attributed to the Virgin of Namacpacan are widely known, including
the healing of a young girl named Rosal Roldan who was unable to walk since birth. Before
Pope Pius XII died, he reportedly saw the Blessed Virgin Mary enshrined in Namacpacan in a
dream. The pope asked where Namacpacan was. Unfortunately, no one from the Vatican staff
knew of the existence of the place; the answer was only revealed after the death of the pope.