'Traslacion' marks first Novena Mass for Naga's Peñafrancia Festival

Peñafrancia Festival is Naga City's biggest Marian celebration that officially starts with Friday's 'Traslacion' when the image of the "Ina" – Our Lady of Peñafrancia – will be brought from the shrine to the Cathedral.

The Traslacion also marks the first day of the Novena Mass in the lead-up to the week-long festivities beginning Sept. 15.

'Voyadores' (all male devotees) will carry the image in a procession ending in the Cathedral.

Devotees kneel on the ground and bow their heads, as the Virgin passes through downtown Naga on a colorful pagoda.

Barefoot voyadores form a human barricade to protect the image from the crowd.

An evening procession follows, with devotees carrying candles, while kneeling and bowing their heads in prayer. When the image reaches her destination, the followers joyfully shout “Viva la Virgin” (Long Live the Virgin!).

Traslacion live coverage



The PinoyCatholics.org website said the devotion to "Ina" is part of the Marian devotion, one of the many Catholic traditions of Filipinos who believe Jesus' Mother Mary will intercede for them and lift their prayers to God.

It said the devotion to "Ina" stemmed partly from a miracle in the 1700s involving the Covarruibias family of San Martin de Castañar, which migrated to the Philippines and settled in Cavite.

At the time, one of the clan's members, Miguel, became sickly while studying in the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Miguel was a great devotee of Our Lady of Peñafrancia.

He supposedly found a painting of the image by Simon Vela, and would be relieved when he placed the painting on a part of his body that pained him.

Miguel went to Naga and became a diocesan priest and later on, the Vicar General of the Diocese.

Another prominent story in Naga involved a dog that was killed, with its blood used to coat or paint a newly carved replica of the statue of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Spain.

The story goes that the dead dog was dumped into the river, but returned to life and swam to the banks.

For this year's festivities, Naga City has lined up activities for the whole month, highlighting, among others, the Translacion. — LBG, GMA News