SUNDAY VIDEO FEATURE: Nurturing the Marian faith

Deeply rooted on culture and faith, the devotion with the Blessed Virgin Mary has always been a celebrated tradition that symbolizes the aspiration and belief of every Filipino.

Recently, thousands of devotees gathered in Tuguegarao, Cagayan (known as the Pilgrimage center of the Northeast) to pay tribute and homage to ten Marian images led by Tuguegarao’s very own Our Lady of Piat, the four centuries old image famously known here and abroad as the Black Mary.

“We were asked to come up with an event that would really depict Cagayan and the strong hold of Cagayan and it came out religious. A lot of Cagayanons are very religious because of Our Lady of Piat and there are a lot of devotees and pilgrims,” recalled Joselito Luna, president and chairman of Cagayan North Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Marian Voyage of Peace served as a kick-off event in preparation for the centennial celebration of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao on April 2010. “Our Lady of Piat has always bee part of every Cagayanons and so we thought of these (event),” said Blessida Diwa, regional director of the Department of Tourism (DOT).

The initial plan was to invite all the Marian images nationwide. However, due to some complications and constraints with regards to the logistics, finance, etc., the orgazing team of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao, the Cagayan North Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Department of Tourism decided to put up a smaller scale event involving Marian images from Northern Luzon.

“When you (have a) devotion, there are people who would go out of their way to see the images in other places and so we thought of the economics side by bringing in the ten images,” explained Luna. 

Working under the theme “Growing in Wisdom, Grace and Strength,” the different Marian images were hosted by ten churches, which formed the Visita Iglesia route that were open to public during the three-day event.

The ten churches include St. Peter’s Cathedral (Our Lady of Piat); St. Joseph Parish in Peñablanca (Our Lady of Fatima from Valenzuela, Manila); St. Vincent Parish in RECOM-2 (Our Lady of Badoc from Ilocos Norte); St. James Parish in Iguig (Nuestra Señora de Caridad from Bantay, Ilocos Sur); Divine Mercy Shrine in Penge Ruyu (Our Lady of Guibang from Gamu, Isabela); St. Rose of Lima Parish in Annafunan (Our Lady of Manaog from Manaoag, Pangasinan); Sto. Niño Shrine in San Gabriel Subdivision (Our Lady of Charity from Agoo, La Union); St. Dominic de Guzman parish in Cattagaman (Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion Malolos, Bulacan); St. Louis Chapel in University of St. Louis (Our Lady of Namacpacan from La, Union) and the San Jacinto Church (Nuestra Señora del Mar Cautiva from Sto. Tomas, La Union).

“Since Our Lady of Piat has been the source of inspiration of our people to deepen their faith there is that special mission of the Blessed Mother to come over to make the people experience peace for themselves,” said Msg. Benjamin Lasam, parish priest of St. Peter’s Cathedral, which hosted the concelebrated mass, procession and vigil of the Marian Voyage of Peace.

The event also pushed the organizers to assess how prepared they are in accepting the influx of visitors and work together to make the pilgrimage happen. Diwa noted, “We always expect 10% increase in visitors but since this is a triple event: The Marian Voyage of Peace, The 436 Foundation of the Province of Cagayan and the Feast Day of Our Lady of Piat (which also coincides with the Sambali Festival in Piat) so we expected a double or a 20% increase in the volume of tourist.”

This Marian pilgrimage also served as an opportunity to remind the youth that they need to be reoriented towards their faith and devotion with the Blessed Virgin Mary. This included the cooperation of the family in helping educate the youth.

“She (Mary) is a mother who would like us to be free from troubles and ease our pain and suffering, who would always like for us to proclaim our faith as we draw ourselves closer with the lord who is his son,” shared Lasam.