Virgen de los Remedios de Pampanga

Virgen de los Remedios de la Pampanga also known as Indu Ning Capaldanan is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by the Roman Catholic faithful Capampangans in Pampanga, Philippines.^[1]

Under this particular title, Mary is officially designated as the Patroness of Pampanga and was granted its official title and given a Canonical Coronation by Pope Pius XII through a Papal Bull dated 15 July 1956, while its official feast is celebrated on the Feast of Nativity of Mary.

The paired devotion alongside with a crucifix called Santo Cristo Del Perdon is highlighted in a prayer apostolate known as Crusaders for Penance and Charity, a prayer group started by women which focused on Catholic social justice for the poor and the destitute and was once instituted to combat Communism.

History

In the 1950s after the Second World War, the province of Pampanga was plagued with Communism which threatened both the Catholic religion and social order in the Philippines. The lower and the middle class laity conflicted with wealthy landowners which caused much political conflict in the region.

The Archbishop of Pampanga at the time, Cesar Maria Guerrero decided to foster a the Marian devotion( this devotion was happened before, during the Spanish regime in 1574 in Manila and Pampanga) again to pacify the problems encountered by his people. Guerrero was originally from the town of Malate where a similar image of Our Lady of Remedies already venerated in Manila and in Pampanga dating from the Castillian period when the Philippines was still a colonial territory of the Kingdom of Spain.

Guerrero requested the image of the Immaculate Conception, already venerated as Our Lady of Remedies from Baliti, Pampanga to be borrowed in San Fernando to help with a new apostolate do towards peace and reconciliation, called Crusaders of Penance and Charity. Great piety and monetary donations garnered primarily due to the wealthy noblewomen and widows who contributed into the religious group, along with the consistent religious processions and recitations of Rosary which made the devotion popular among the masses. A systematic bylaws for the apostolate was created, making the group organized and much more official for growth and ecclesiastical recognition.^[2]

By 1954, the people of Baliti, Pampanga became adamant in requesting that their image be returned to their town. As a result, Bishop Guerrero commissioned the Santero artist Victoriano Siongco to carve out a larger image of the Immaculate Conception for the official use of the Crusader apostolate, while the Baliti image is to be returned to its original parish.

Pontifical approbation

The Papal decree issued for the Canonical coronation of Virgin of Remedies of Pampanga.

On 11 February 1956, Bishop Guerrero submitted a petition to Cardinal Federico Tedeschini, who at the time was the Apostolic Dataria to Pope Pius XII requesting to grant a canonical coronation. On 15 July 1956, Pope Pius XII issued the pontifical decree on the Canonical Coronation of the image which occurred on 8 September 1956, the same day of its current feast.^[3]

Feast and veneration

The Feast of Virgen de los Remedios of Pampanga is celebrated each 8 September, the Nativity of Mary. In the United States, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, California crowns a replica of the image each year at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.^[4]

In 2010, Capampangans in the Bay Area also started with an annual re-enactment of the Canonical Coronation. The initial coronation was held at the Our Lady of Peace Shrine in Santa Clara, California. Since then, the event rotates through the Diocese of San Jose, Diocese of Oakland and the Archdiocese of San Francisco and is held every 2nd Sunday of November.

See also

• Our Lady of Guidance
• Santo Niño de Cebu
• Santo

References