Rains fail to dampen warmth of devotees

Thousands of Marian devotees braved the heavy rains yesterday to honor Cebu’s patroness, Our Lady of Guadalupe, during her feast at the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

As heavy rains poured yesterday, so did the throngs of devotees who flocked the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Cebu City to celebrate the feast of Cebu’s patroness.

In a 10 a.m. Mass presided over by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, the prelate emphasized the importance of putting one’s trust in Jesus and in His mother, Mary.

“The devotion to Birhen sa (Virgin of) Guadalupe should also be propagated and made more relevant to the life of the people,” Palma said as he recited the words of the Blessed Mother when she appeared before 57-year-old Indian peasant Juan Diego in the mountains of Guadalupe, Mexico in 1531, 486 years ago.

“Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you,” quoted Palma of the Blessed Mother’s apparition.

Before the Mass ended, Palma placed incense on the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu as the congregation sang Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen), waved and shouted “Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe de Cebu (Long live the Virgen of Guadalupe of Cebu).”

A small wooden image of the Virgin Mary, that resembles the one in Mexico that was imprinted in St. Juan Diego’s “tilma” or cloak in 1531, is enshrined in Guadalupe Church in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City.

Carved from tugas (molave) wood, is dark in complexion and its sculptural style shows that it was a work of Filipino folk culture.

The Virgin is dressed in red with a blue mantle covering her head cascading down to her feet. She stands over a quarter moon and three cherubs.

Cebu devotion

While the devotion to the Our Lady of Guadalupe started in Mexico, Cebuanos began paying homage in the 1700s after the small wooden image of the Blessed Virgin was found in a cave in the hills of what was then Sitio Banawan, in the old town of San Nicolas.

The finding led many Cebuanos to the cave, now better known as the “Langob Shrine” in Barangay Kalunasan, to pray and collect water that drips beside the image.

Over the centuries, intense devotion built up along with stories of miracle cures. The greatest of which was the immediate cessation of a cholera epidemic that hit Cebu in 1902 when the people of Guadalupe started a daily dawn penitential procession invoking God’s mercy through the intercession of the Virgen of Guadalupe de Cebu.

The miraculous image is now enshrined inside the Guadalupe Church in Barangay Guadalupe, while a replica stands in the cave.

In 2002, then Archbishop of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal declared her the principal patroness of Cebu.

On July 16, 2006, the Vatican recognized the great Cebuano devotion to the Virgen de Guadalupe de Cebu and authorized its canonical coronation.

“It is a very relevant reminder to us that she is the mother of this child and all who believe in Jesus, and in that sense we should live as student, sister and brother to each one of us. It is also a sign of how we should respect life,” said Palma in an interview during her feast day on Tuesday.