Where would Mary go?

CEBU, Philippines - Plunge with eyes wide open. Who cares? “God always takes the simplest ways,” says Albert Einstein.  By the seashore, by the riverbanks, by the mountain side, there resides your miracle. You don’t have to see the whole staircase. So go ahead, and take the first step. Parade with the rest—shoeless? —and show some love. Today, Sunday, the Catholic Church lifts prayers to honor Mary’s nativity. In these four destinations in northern Cebu, spots are believed, especially by those who were touched and healed, to be visited by the Mother of God. Call her by any name: Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Remedies, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Here, sometimes, they feed the ocean with pigs. But you can always feed your curiosity anytime: What’s the fuss?  Or in my case, after crossing an island for the Virgin of the Abandoned, I further inquired: Where do broken hearts go?

Our Lady of Lourdes

Like her apparition in Lourdes, the source of the spring is found underneath Mary’s grotto in Sogod, Cebu. “In 2001, a girl with illness from Samar dreamt about this—that if she drinks the water from the spring, she’d be healed,” the 57-year-old care taker, Alex Agang, recalls. “She was healed from cancer of the blood. From then on, many devotees have come here and then donors came in until we were able to build a grotto in her honor.”

Every last Saturday of the month, a holy mass is offered at 12 noon.

Virgen delos Desamparados

Devotees from neighboring islands (Samar and Leyte) would flock every May 12 to celebrate the feast of the Virgen delos Desamparados or the Virgin of the Abandoned in Malapascua island, thanking her for the bountiful business.

“Most of the devotees have businesses related to aquatic resources,” Timestocles Monteclar, a retired government official who now oversees the management of the chapel. “They believe that Mary has protected them in their endeavors.”

The wooden icon of Mary reminds them of her miraculous arrival in the island. According to a booklet entitled Kasaysayan Sa Mahal Nga Virgen delos Desamparados written by lawyers Teotimo Monteclar and Crisologo Monteclar, it was discovered on the seashore in 1891 when the then 10-year-old Aquirina de Duarte was collecting sticks for burning. When her grandfather Francisco used the pile of wood, he noticed that it was the odd branch in the bunch. It resembled a woman. For the fourth time, it didn’t burn until the entire community realized it was Mary’s iconography. They displayed it for veneration and started praying the rosary.

“We believed she chose our island to take care of her and spread devotion,” Timestocles says. When asking for blessing, townspeople would throw one whole roasted pig into the sea after lighting candles at her chapel.

I left my favorite notebook in the front pew at the shrine, so that means, I’ve made my pretty share.

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

The Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in La Paz, Bogo City is atop a hill. Prepare your knees for the climb: A hundred steps—150 steps I counted—to arrive at the main altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But honestly, I was on board a car all the way to the top. Meters away from the stairs is a road which vehicles can take all the way up.

The devotion was founded by St. Catherine Laboure after her reported vision of the Blessed Mother, who has promised to shower “great graces” to those who wear the medals with prayers and faith.

Our Lady of Remedies

In Udlot, Bogo, the Our Lady of Remedies shed tears, asking for conversion and prayers for the Church and for the community. It is also believed that the image is increasing in size. Every Wednesday, healing masses are offered. The foot procession (some would take off their foot wear) happens every Saturday, which would go around the community with prayers amplified from the parish church.

In the reference The Virgin Mary: Venerated in Her Philippine Images owned by Udlot’s parish priest, Fr. Romeo Desuyo, it reads: “At the baptistery  chapel of the Cebu Cathedral, there is an altar dedicated to the Virgen delos Remedios, also known as Nuestra Senora de la Cotta. According to a Cebuano tradition, this very revered image was found inside a well, which  was located inside the Cotta de San Pedro (Fort San Pedro) around the years 1570-1575.”

“This proves that the devotion to Our Lady of the Remedies has been here before—even before the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe was embraced,” explained Fr. Desuyo.  (FREEMAN)