Our Lady of Peñafrancia image arrives in Naga from Manila

The image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, the patroness of the Bicol region, arrived in Naga City in Camarines Sur Wednesday night, the Philippine National Railways said Thursday. In a post on its Twitter account, the PNR said the image was brought to the Peñafrancia Shrine directly from the Naga PNR station. "The INA (Mother Mary) will be there until the Traslacion this Friday when it will be transferred by the 'voyadores' (all male devotees) to the Naga City Cathedral. The Traslacion marks the start of this year's Penafrancia festivities," it said. On Wednesday, a special PNR pilgrimage train bearing the patroness' image left the PNR Tutuban station in Manila. A pre-departure Mass and vigil in honor of the patroness was held at the Tutuban station Tuesday night. The return of the patroness' pilgrim image to Naga is in time for the week-long celebration of the Peñafrancia fiesta on the third week of the month, according to an article on Church-based site YouthPinoy.com. The PinoyCatholics.org website said the devotion to "Ina" is part of the Marian devotion, one of the many Catholic traditions of Filipinos who believe Jesus' Mother Mary will intercede for them and lift their prayers to God. It said the devotion to "Ina" stemmed partly from a miracle in the 1700s involving the Covarruibias family of San Martin de Castañar, which migrated to the Philippines and settled in Cavite. At the time, one of the clan's members, Miguel, became sickly while studying in the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Miguel was a great devotee of Our Lady of Peñafrancia. He supposedly found a painting of the image by Simon Vela, and would be relieved when he placed the painting on a part of his body that pained him. Miguel went to Naga and became a diocesan priest and later on, the Vicar General of the Diocese. Another prominent story in Naga involved a dog that was killed, with its blood used to coat or paint a newly carved replica of the statue of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Spain. The story goes that the dead dog was dumped into the river, but returned to life and swam. In Naga, the Feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia lasts one week starting on the second Friday of September, when the miraculous Ina is transferred from her shrine to the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral in a "traslacion" (procession). People braving the heat kneel on the ground and bow their heads, as the Virgin passes through downtown Naga on a colorful pagoda. Barefoot voyadores form a human barricade to protect the Virgin from the crowd. An evening procession follows, with devotees carrying candles, while kneeling and bowing their heads in prayer. When the image reaches her destination, the followers joyfully shout “Viva la Virgin” (Long Live the Virgin!). — LBG, GMA News