Date 1788 | Year 1788 | |
Type wood statue and oil painting Shrine Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows of Turumba, St. Peter Alcantara Parish, Pakil, Laguna, Philippines Similar Saint Peter of Alcantara, Saint James the Apostle P, Our Lady of Peace and Good Voy, Our Lady of Manaoag, Our Lady of Piat | ||
Our Lady of Sorrows of Turumba (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba; Tagalog: Mahál na Iná ng Pitóng Hapis ng Turumba) is the image of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows, enshrined in Pakil, Laguna, in the Philippines.
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Etymology
The word turumba is from the Tagalog phrase "natumba sa lakí ng tuwa" ("had trembled in great joy"). The first turumba in the icon's honour was held on September 14, 1788.
Description
The icon of Our Lady is a 9 by 11 inches (23 by 28 cm) oil painting on canvas. The face of Mary is contorted by pain from the dagger plunged into her heart. The icon is presently kept at the St. Peter of Alcantara Parish Church in Pakil, Laguna The second image of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows is a replica of the image of Nuestra Señora de las Antiguas from Spain.
History
The image, according to tradition, belonged to some missionaries who crossed Laguna de Bay in a launch. When the launch was shipwrecked, some of its relics were washed ashore including the icon of the Virgin. One Friday morning, some fishermen found the icon in their nets. Believing it to be a religious image, they decided to bring it to a parish church. When the men carried the small painting, they found it too heavy. They tried sailing with it in many directions, until they brought it near the church of Pakil. When they headed that way, the wind and current aided their course, and upon landing, they left the heavy image on a rock so they could continue their fishing duties.
A group of women found the icon the following Sunday morning. Although it had rained during the night, the canvas was dry. When they tried to take the icon away, they could not move it; even the strongest among them, Mariangga, could not lift it. They quickly told the parish priest, who in turn called the sacristans, choristers, and churchgoers at Mass to fetch the image. As they lifted the image, it gave way. This the people around begun to sing and dance; the turumba was born.
By order of Pope Pius XII, and in recognition of the miracles credited to it, the Nuestra Señora de las Antiguas was episcoapally crowned by Alejandro Olalia, the Bishop of Lipa, on 23-24 May 1953.
Lupi Festival
The Seven days of Sorrows are known to the Philippines as Lupi fiestas:
The image is also taken on a procession on October 19, The Town Fiesta of Pakil. On the Sunday nearest September 15, The Catholic Church celebrates the national feast of the discovery of the image.
Homage to the Virgin of Sorrows is done by the way of song and dance, drumbeat and shill cries of its devotees that the people regard as co-sharing with Mary's grief during the Passion of Christ. The turumba episodes are called lupi (meaning to fold) it is so because at the closing of every festivities, the novena booklet is folded to mark the pause in preparation for the next Lupi.
Dresses of the Virgin are shredded and given to pilgrims as tokens. It was said that when the piece of cloth from the Virgin is kept close to one person, miraculous powers and against personal injury, accidents, fire and calamities happen.
The statue is enshrined at the retablo in the main altar, The image is dressed in violet as a sign of sorrow for her son's passion (the color of Lent) And the original image is enshrined in a separate retablo around bas reliefs of her Seven Sorrows at a chapel in the church. St Peter of Alcantara Parish is located in Pakil, Laguna; over facing Laguna de Bay