NAGA CITY, Philippines - Crowds of devotees, numbering close to a million and composed of homecoming Bicolanos, pilgrims, and tourists, are gathered along the Bicol River banks at 4 p.m. today for the much-awaited grand fluvial procession of the venerated images of Our Lady of Peñafrancia and the Divino Rostro (Holy Face of Jesus) that will be brought back to the Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Peñafrancia.
Waving white handkerchiefs while praying the holy rosary, singing hymns, or kneeling down in adoration as the carriage passes by, the festive fluvial procession along the Bicol River – the highlight of the annual Feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia – will bring back the images of “Ina,” the patroness of the Bicol Region, and the Divino Rostro to the Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, from the centuries-old Naga Metropolitan Cathedral where the images were brought for the novena masses last September 9 via the Traslacion procession.
Several activities was and will be held today including a penitential procession at 3 a.m. A pontifical mass will be celebrated by Caceres Archbishop Rolando Tria Tirona at the Naga Cathedral at 6 a.m., to be followed by a second pontifical mass to be officiated by Bishop Joel Baylon at 10 a.m. Church bells pealed at 12 noon. A community mass was held at 2 p.m. Confession rites will be held at the basilica grounds from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., to be followed by a pontifical mass at 6:30 p.m. to be officiated by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines or CBCP.
The solemn feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia will be observed tomorrow, September 18 with a series of pontifical masses, marking the 306th year of widespread devotion to “Ina.” The theme for this year’s celebration is “Christ, the Face of God’s Mercy, Nourishes the Family in the Eucharist.”
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