Among
the devotions to Mary, veneration to her as the Virgin of Candelaria is popular
in many countries including the Philippines, Cuba, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia,
Mexico, and the Canary Islands.Nuestra Seņora de la Candelaria
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Among
the devotions to Mary, veneration to her as the Virgin of Candelaria is popular
in many countries including the Philippines, Cuba, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia,
Mexico, and the Canary Islands.
In each, churches are dedicated in her honor, and statues of her have a unique history of many accounts of spiritual favors granted and miracles worked through Mary for those who petition her in faith.
Spanish traditions hold that the image is of that of Mary offering Jesus in the Temple after his birth. This association of her holding the infant and a candle has led her to be called the Virgin of the Candle. When her image visits various towns, the people welcome her with lighted candles. Her presence is then celebrated by processions and festivals in her honor.
One tradition holds that a small statue of Mary about one foot high was found in the Philippines by a fisherman on the banks of the Iloilo River. Some said that it seemed to grow in size. It is now enshrined in the Jaro Cathedral. In the past, the statue would disappear from the church early in the morning. When this happened, it was reported that a beautiful lady with long flowing hair was seen at the artesian well in the plaza bathing her child.
The
tradition of Silang, Cavite, recounts how the image of the Virgin of Candelaria
was found in the mountains by a man. He kept the image in his hut and
prayed to Mary
through it. But the image was lost and was not found and was not discovered
until the parish priest suggested he would find a place in his church where it
could be venerated by all.
There
is a legend in the Canary Islands which tells that in 1392, before the arrival
of the Spanish, a statue of the Virgin Mary was found on the beach of Chimisay
by two shepherds. When one tried to throw a stone at it, his arm became
paralyzed, and the other who tried to stab at it with a knife, stabbed himself
instead. The statue was recognized by others as the Virgin Mary and venerated
in a cave. A church was built to house the statue, and still later the Basilica
of Our Lady of Candelaira, which was destroyed by fire and again rebuilt. The
statue was lost in 1826, when a tidal wave carried it out to sea. But an exact
copy had been made which is venerated today in the newly built Basilica.
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