Healing at the "Pagkanaug sa Birhen"

Today, February 11, is feast of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes. To honor her churches have been holding novena prayer for nine days in which members of the Confradia de la Virgen de Lourdes take the lead. Their aim: To propagate the devotion to the Mother of God.

Among the churches in Cebu the Basilica del Santo Niño has been attracting more devotees during these solemnities, especially on the occasion of the “Pagkanaug sa Birhen”, a religious ritual which dates back to early 1900. Held a day before the fiesta, it was started by Don Juan Rivera and wife Andrea, the grandparents of Eddie, Dodong and Inday Sering Gullas. The spectacle portrays the coming down of the Virgin Mary from heaven to minister to the health needs of infirmed faithfuls.

The Pagkanaug is of course only a dramatization of the apparition of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France in 1850 to a peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous. But the event has touched the hearts of countless churchgoers, particularly those who are suffering from ailments, and many have been seen to shed tears.

These could be tears of joy stirred by the life-like presence of the Virgin’s statue garbed in a sky-blue gown and draped with a phosphorescent veil. As she solemnly glides down from a flower-decked ramp with the spot-light accentuating her presence, whose heart would not be lifted up? The body may be weak and worn out but the soul, unsullied and untouched by afflictions, enthuses over such holy splendor.

These could be tears of repentance evoked by the presence of the purest woman ever created by God, for who among us have not yielded to the ways of the world and strained the fabric of faith?

These could be tears of love, for behold, who’s coming down but our own Mother, Mama Mary we call her, whose love for her children is without measure, whose outstretched arms are our ready refuge from the snares of the evil one. “Behold your Mother!” Jesus said to those who believe in Him as he was dying on the cross.

Whatever the reason or lack of it the experience is soul fulfilling, and in the throes of it all one tends to forget his cares and anxieties. And he remembers Juan Diego in Guadalupe whom Our Lady comforted with these words: “What is worrying you, don’t you know I am your mother?”

There have been healings in Lourdes, France, countless of them, in fact. And there have been healings associated with the Pagkanaug, although undocumented. These may have been physical in nature, immediate or mediate, or these must have been healings of the soul in the form of conversions or turning away from sinfulness. These are not unexpected for as one Marian prayer says, there never has been anyone who sought refuge in the Mother of God who was left unaided.

The healing event yesterday was made more significant by the presence of Father Fernando Suarez, an internationally known healing priest. Testimonies there have been of people suffering from terminal ailment such as cancer who were completely cured after having been prayed over by Father Suarez. In yesterday’s session miraculous cures must have surely occurred although these must have happened only to some, not all of those who submitted themselves to the Father’s curative prayers. For the healer is not Father Suarez but God himself. That’s why the good Father says that he never assures those who come for his prayers that they will get cured. What he tells them is to open themselves to God, and God will do the rest.

God however works in a strange way. Sometimes He seems to be receptive to prayers, sometimes He seems to be far away. Even so Catholics believe that God always answers prayers, and that the wise thing to do is to put one’s trust in Him -- and love His will, as St. Josemaria Escriva advises. “The wholehearted acceptance of the will of God is the surest way of finding joy and peace: happiness in the cross...”, says the good saint.

It’s all about God, really, this search for wellness of body. He is the source of all good things like health and strength, and he who seeks to get rid of infirmities should seek first the Lord. Healing should therefore target first the soul, for once this has been cleansed, cleansing of the body follows. The vessel must first be purified before the water of heaven’s mercy can be poured into it.

This is actually the reason for the Pagkanaug ritual. Its proponent (Dr. Jose Rivera Gullas and wife Nena) know that by touching the hearts of the devotees of the Virgin Mary these will be lifted up in adoration of the Lord. Hardness in the heart will melt and give way to hope, love and faith. That’s why as their lay apostolate, the Gullas couple has been the driving force behind this ritual and the Healing Mass that precedes it.

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