Peñafrancia devotees in Metro Manila mark patron's feast

They may be miles away from Bicol, but devotees of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Manila marked 300 years of devotion to their “Ina (mother)" with a fluvial parade Sunday. A report on "24 Oras" said as many as 800 devotees attended the procession that started at Makati City and ended at the Ferry Landing Station at Escolta, Manila. “It is time to thank our Blessed Mother and to spend time with her in these novenas and Masses and festivities. As children of Our Blessed Mother, let us gather together to celebrate with her this 300th year of devotion to ‘Ina,’" organizers said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site. Once the image of the Blessed Mother arrived in Manila, female devotees took turns carrying it to the Manila Cathedral, where a Mass was held. Activities in Metro Manila for Our Lady of Peñafrancia started as early as last Thursday, when novenas and Masses at the St. Andrew of the Apostle Parish Church in Makati City were held.

Commemorative stamps The CBCP said the Catholic Archdiocese of Caceres in Bicol launched this weekend a commemorative stamp series as part of Bicol Catholics’ 300 years of devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia. “Stamps are miniature works of art. These commemorative stamps will serve as ‘evangelizers’ to promote the devotion all throughout the world," Fr. Wilmer Tria, chairman of the Committee on commemorative stamps, said in a separate article posted on the CBCP website. The stamp is a joint project between Caceres archdiocese and the Philippine Postal Corp., which allowed the printing of stamps in four different designs. Each commemorative stamp will feature two different images of the Our Lady of Peñafrancia, Naga City’s Metropolitan Cathedral as well as the Penafrancia Basilica Minore. - KBK, GMANews.TV