MANILA, Philippines - Today, Nov.14, Our Lady of Penafrancia de Manila Parish will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the canonical coronation of its patroness.
The celebration will start with a Mass to be officiated by Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales at 9 a.m. with a reenactment of the coronation.
This will be followed by street-dancing called Tatarin at 3 p.m. Our Lady of Peñafrancia, named after a mountain range in Salamanca in Spain where the Lady was first found, was introduced to the Philippines by the Covarrubias family of Spain.
The “Our Lady of Penafrancia de Manila” is an easel painting done on thick canvas, which dates back to the 1660s.
At the center in the upper portion of the painting, an oval aureole surrounds the Madonna and Child who sit on a golden throne — the child, holding an azure globe in his left hand while his right is raised in benediction.
To the Virgin’s right kneels Simon Vela, the French scion who was asked by the Lady to look for her in the mountain called Pena de Francia.
From the bottom to the top snakes a road marked with golden crosses. The road is filled with figures showing scenes from Simon Vela’s epic search for the Peña de Francia.
It is believed that the painting reached the Philippines when a ship from Spain carrying the Covarrubiases sank. Accidentally, the rolled painting of the image was washed away by waves until it got into a riverlet or spa.
The image of the Virgin was discovered by the people of Paco on May 14, 1621. However, some documents would establish the year to be 1697.
The painting was brought to the church of La Candelaria in San Fernando de Dilao in Paco.
After the installation there, the painting disappeared and was later found neatly tucked in the branches of the bakawan tree at the original site where it had been found.
It was returned to the church of La Candelaria only to disappear again. Several accounts tell that this happened several times.
The residents of Paco decided to keep the painting in the same place where they had found her, building a chapel made of sawali and nipa.