Our Lady of Peñafrancia
- CME Secretariat
- Sep 18, 2019
- 3 min read
By Armeena Red
History
The history of our Lady of Peñafrancia, or originally known as the Our Lady of Peña de Francia, started with one man’s devotion to the Holy Virgin. He was known as Simon Vela, born to a pious and religious family from France. When his family died, and he was left with the entire inheritance, to avoid trouble that he knew is connected to that much wealth, he sold it all and donated the proceeds to the Church, the poor, and charitable institutions. Later on, he applied to be a chamber boy in the convent of a Franciscan church in Paris.
What was constant in his life was his devotion to the Blessed Mother. He would meditate in the church where he worked, and would often ask the Blessed Mother what he might do for her. In one of his meditation came the dream of the request for him to go to Peña de Francia, and find the shrine of the Holy Mother. It should be noted that at that time, there was no place named Peña de Francia, he only knew what he was told, and that it was on the west of the country. So he traveled five years in search of the place. When he felt tired and almost about to give up, he was again visited by the voice in his dream to persevere and keep going.
It was in the Church of Santiago de Galicia, in Salamanca, Spain, that he first heard of the name Peña de Francia outside his dreams. Another man mentioned it while he was in the Church of San Martin, and at the San Martin de Castañar villa, he found a man who pointed him to where Peña de Francia is. It turned out, it was a rocky mountain. It was May 1434, and as Simon began searching every cave in the mountain for the shrine, on the 14th day of May, he found the shrine of the Blessed Mother with the Child Jesus in Her Arms, seated on a golden throne. On that spot, the Blessed Mother appeared to him, asking him to dig until he find something that he was supposed to put on top of the rocky hill, and that he would have to build a dwelling, as it was the wish of Her child, Jesus. It was five days of digging with five other men that he found the image of the Blessed Mother with the child Jesus in her arms, embedded on the rocks.
Arrival in Philippines – Bicol
According to the locals of Naga City – a place in Bicol that is highly devoted to the Our Lady of Peñafrancia – it was a Spanish colonial official, native of San M0061rtin de Castañar that was instrumental in bringing of the Blessed Mother to Bicol. His family settled in Cavite, and his son, Miguel Robles de Covarrubias became a seminarian. Miguel fell ill and his family prayed hard for his recovery to the Our Lady of Peñafrancia, and swore that if he is granted of this wish, he will build a chapel as his gratitude, for the Lady along the Pasig River. He was cured of his illness, and was able to graduate from the seminary, however, he was ordained at the Ciudad de Nueva Caceres, now Naga City, so instead of building the chapel along the riverbanks of Pasig River, he had it constructed along the riverbanks of Bikol River on 1712.
Fr. Miguel has reported several miracles through the intercession of Our Lady, and has even sent a letter about these to the Dominicans in Spain.
Three hundred and seventeen (317) years later, the devotion to “Ina”, as the Bicolanos call Her, has grown and strengthened. Our Lady received the canonical coronation as the Patroness of Bicolandia on September 20, 1924. For a place that is constantly battling both natural and man-made storms, Ina’s protection has been widely recognized. On the Sunday after the Octave of September 8, the Blessed Mother’s birthday, devotees from different places gather to express their unyielding faith to Her intercession to celebrate Her feast day.
The image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia is enshrined in the Church on Calle Balatas, and is approximately two hundred and seventy five (275) years old.
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