Devotion delivered Cebuanos from cholera in 1902

THE petite wooden image  of the Blessed Virgin Mary that is the object of veneration and deep Cebuano devotion was found in a cave in the hills of what was then barangay Banawan, in what was the old town of San Nicolas, circa 1700s.

The finding led a lot of Cebuanos to the cave to pray and collect water that drips beside the image.

The image resembles the one that was imprinted in St. Juan Diego’s “tilma” or   cloak in 1531, minus the rays hence, it was called Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu.

It was dark in complexion and carved from tugas (molave) wood.

The sculptural style is of the naive (primitive) Filipino folk sculpture. The Virgin is dressed in red, with a blue mantle covering her head, cascading down to her feet.

At the back, there is a suksok or waist fold, indicating its local provenance. She stands over a quarter moon and three cherubs.

Over the centuries, devotion to the Virgen of Guadalupe de Cebu spread through the island and miraculous cures and spiritual consolations were experienced by many devotees, the greatest of which was the immediate cessation of the 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.

This the Cebuanos did for 90 consecutive dawns, and the death toll ceased.

As an act of thanksgiving, the Virgin is given another feast day on July 16, to commemorate the deliverance from cholera, starting in 1902.

In 1933, Guadalupe became a parish separate from San Nicolas. The image was transferred from the cave to the church that was built on a two hectare property donated by the Labra Family.

In the cave, a copy of the image was installed. On July 16, 2006, the Holy See recognized the great Cebuano devotion to the Virgen de Guadalupe de Cebu, and authorized its canonical coronation.

Yesterday,  Cebuanos celebrated Her feast, thanking Her for the continuous help and prayers She offers to God for Her loving and devoted children.

May the Virgen de Guadalupe de Cebu continue to assist us in all our needs, and continue to protect us from all diseases of the mind, the body and the soul.

Louie Nacorda writes about Cebu heritage and Catholic iconography in Cebu Daily News. In 2006, he  was appointed by Msgr. Carlito Pono as publicist for the canonical coronation of  Our Lady of Guadalupe for which he did intense research.  He drew from the earliest written history about the icon published in 1904 “Ïmagenes Marianas Venerada en Filipinas”. – Editor