Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia asin an Buhay Bikolnon

      

Sa mga Pilipino, “[t]ogether with the sense of God and His providence over the people’s lives is the sense of special help and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”[1] “Bistado na an Bikolano bilang mga aki ni Ina. An pag-apod nin Ina ki Santa Maria debosyon na kan mga Bikolano. Ini parti na kan espiritu nin Bikolandia. Sinabi  kan Obispo kan Caceres, Leonardo Legaspi, OP, DD, “Ina is part of our identity.”[2] Dagdag pa kaini, “It can even be said that the devotion to the Virgin of Peñafrancia exists wherever there is a Bicolano.”[3]

“The miraculous image of the Virgin of Peñafrancia, patroness of the Bicol region in southern Luzon, is one of the most revered Marian images in the Philippines.”[4] Sa katunayan, “The Peñafrancia festival is considered the biggest Marian pageant in the Philippines.”[5] Saro ini sa katangi-tanging okasyon na nasa kultura asin puso na kan mga Bikolano. “The Bicolano devotion to the Virgin of Peñafrancia is but one of many faces of Christian faith interacting with Philippine culture, creating a Christian expression uniquely of its own.”[6]

            Ang debosyon ki Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia haloy nang nagpoon sa rehiyon. “In retrospect and in fact, the devotion began as a pledge of thanksgiving by Fr. Miguel Robles de Covarrubias three hundred years ago for the many favors he receives from the Lady of Peñafrancia.”[7] Kaya ngani, “Three years from now, in 2010, our devotion to Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia, a patroness of Bikol, shall mark its 300^th year.”[8]

In the course of close to 300 years, this bond between faith and culture has strengthened to a point where the overwhelming majority of Bicolanos regard the Virgin to be much more than a mere patroness. The relationship is intimate. She is a mother.[9]

            Sarong magayon na imahe sa debosyon na ini iyo an relasyon kan aki sa saiyang Ina. Nagpapahiling ini na an mga Bikolano mga maki-Ina. Asin an Ina nya mismo an saiyang modelo asin giya sa saiyang pagkabuhay bilang akin in Dyos asin bilang tawo. Kaya sa saiyang pagkabuhay ginigiromdom nya kun ano an togon saiya kan saiyang Ina. “Gibohon mo kun ano man an sabihon nya saimo!” Sa paagi ni Ina an mga Bikolano mas nagiging dayopot sa saiyang aking si Hesus. Kaya katakod kan togon nin Ina iyo an paggiromdom man sa togon kan saiyang aking si Hesus. An siring na pagtubod nakatala na sa diwa asin espiritu kan mga Bikolano.

It is simplistic to say that Peñafrancia is either Christian or pagan, either religious faith and commitment or fanaticism and superstition; either genuine Christian faith or Filipino popular religiosity; there is no one explanation. But in this mélange of Christian faith and Bicol culture comes a privileged moment of grace.[10]

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[1] Custodio, Select Readings: Philosophy of Education, Cultures and Values, 184.

[2] Leonardo Legaspi, OP, DD, “A Call to Participate in the Tricentennial Celebrations”, Ini iyo an ikaduwa sa mga series na Pastoral Letters in Preparation for the Tricentennial Celebration of the Devetion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia na ipinaluwas asin binasa sa mga misa pan-Domingo kan ikaduwang aldaw kan Septyembre, 2007, Bilang dagdag na kaaraman, tolong Pastoral Letter an ipinaluwas kan Arsobispo nin Caceres. An duwa pang surat iyo an minasunod: an enot na pinaluwas iyo an “Remembering the Gift of the Devotion to Ina” kan ika-26 kan Agosto, 2007, Sunday, asin an ikatolong pinaluwas iyo an “The Lord Has Done Great Things For Us” kan ika-26 kan Septyembre sa okasyon ng pormal na pagbubukas kan tolong taong paghahanda sa tricentenario kan debosyon ki Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia.   Vinculum. 25, no. 1 (October 2007):108.

[3] Ibid.

[4] “Viva La Virgen!”, “This article appeared in the TM HERALD, a Filipino-American newspaper published in Los Angeles, in August 1985.” Bikol: A Compilation about the History, Culture and Language of the Most Beautiful Region in the Philippines, 127.

[5] Ibid., 129.

[6] Vitaliano R. Gorospe, S.J. asin R. Javellana, Virgin of Peñafrancia: Mother of Bicol (Makati, Metro Manila: Bookmark, Inc. 1995), 87.

[7] Leonardo Legaspi, OP, DD, “Remembering the Gift of the Devotion to Ina”, Vinculum. 25, no. 1, 99-100.

[8] Ibid., 99.

[9] Vitaliano R. Gorospe, S.J. asin R. Javellana, Virgin of Peñafrancia: Mother of Bicol, 87.

               [10] Ibid., 86.