View source for Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Jaro

{{Short description|Venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox Catholic apparition
|name         = Our Lady of Purification and Candle <br><small>Nuestra Señora de la Purificación y la Candelaria</small>
|image        = Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Jaro 2022-07-05.jpg
|size         = 230px
|caption         = The icon enshrined on the balcony of Jaro Cathedral.
|location     = [[Jaro, Iloilo City]], [[Philippines]]
|date         = April 1587<ref name="claretianpublications1">{{cite web|url=http://claretianpublications.com/index.php/diocese/526-archdiocese-of-jaro |title=Archdiocese of Jaro |publisher=Claretianpublications.com |date= |access-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref>
|witness      = ''Don'' Cristobal Mercado
|type         = Limestone
|approval    = [[Pope John Paul II]]
|shrine       = [[Jaro Cathedral|National Shrine of the Our Lady of Candles]]
|attribute  = Infant Jesus, candles
|patronage = [[Jaro, Iloilo City]], [[Western Visayas]]
|feast_day    = February 2
}}
'''Nuestra Señora de la Purificación y la Candelaria''' (English: ''Our Lady of Purification and Candle'')  is a venerated image of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]] enshrined in [[Jaro Cathedral]] and the [[patron saint|patroness]] of [[Western Visayas]].<ref name="ourladyofcandlesnationalshrine.com">{{cite web|url=http://ourladyofcandlesnationalshrine.com/about-2/ |title=About Our Lady of Candles National Shrine |publisher=Our Lady of Candles National Shrine }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/18224 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203081440/http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/18224 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 3, 2014 |title=Jaro Cathedral to be declared National Marian Shrine |publisher=CBCP News |date= |access-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref>
The devotion to Candelaria de Jaro derives from the original [[Virgin of Candelaria]] in [[Canarias, Spain]] and its feast day or [[Candlemas]] is celebrated every February 2.<ref>[https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/02/02/feasts-of-ol-of-candelaria-presentation-of-the-lord-today/ ''Feasts of OL of Candelaria, Presentation of the Lord today'' in ''Manila Bulletin'' (retrieved online on 17 February 2018).]</ref>
[[Pope John Paul II]] (now a papal saint) personally crowned the image on February 20, 1981. It is the first Marian image in Asia crowned by a pope and saint in person. Later, the image is declared as the patroness of Western Visayas via decree ''Quod Urbes'' on 1982.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/la/apost_letters/1982/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19820421_quod-urbes.html|title=Quod urbes - Littera apostolica {{!}} Ioannes Paulus II|website=www.vatican.va|date=April 21, 1982}}</ref>
==Description==
The title commemorates Mary's [[ritual purification]] during the [[Presentation of Jesus at the Temple|Presentation of Jesus]]. ''[[Halakha]]'' (Jewish law) ordered that [[Firstborn (Judaism)|firstborn]] sons [[pidyon haben|be redeemed]] at the [[Temple]] in Jerusalem when they were 40 days old. The mother, who expelled blood during the birth, was considered unclean for a week and 33 days thereafter, necessitating her purification at the same time the child is redeemed. Even though in Catholic doctrine, Mary herself was considered sinless ever since her Concepcion due to the merits of Christ. This, according to the theological treatises of Blessed [[Ramon Llull]], the original author who wrote of the doctrine of "The Immaculate Concepcion". He was an ardent admirer as well as a staunch critic of Islamic thinkers: Al-Farabi, Avicenna and Ibn Sab'in. The Virgin Mary was pure and virginal: before, during and after Christ's birth, and has no need for "ritual purification" but due to her humility participated in the ritual anyway and by her humility showed the way for the purification of the whole of mankind.<ref name="thenewstoday1">{{cite web|last=Rosal |first=Joy |url=http://www.thenewstoday.info/2008/02/01/viva.la.candelaria.de.jaro.html |title=Viva la Candelaria de Jaro |publisher=Thenewstoday.info |date= |access-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref> The Christ-child wears a necklace of gold bearing an elephant, giving it connections to the ancient kingdom of [[Pannai]] in Sumatra where the elephant was sacred to Hinduism and Buddhism, making the Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Jaro a functional [[Palladium (protective image)]].
==Marian cult and veneration==
The [[limestone]] statue discovered in the 16th-century was miraculously lifted up by fishermen who discovered its weight changed from something unable to be carried to one which was able to, when the Bishop declared that it should be placed on the Jaro church. It was also once found floating in the Iloilo River, something fascinating since stone statues don't usually float. It depicts Mary and the [[Child Jesus]] carrying [[Candle|tapers]] in their right hands a symbol of light and purification. It is customarily vested in gold cloth; crowns adorn mother and son, the latter holding a ''[[globus cruciger]]'' in his left hand symbolizing Christ's reign over the whole earth. The candle held by the cathedral's holy image is today tipped with a red electrical bulb.
==History==
[[File:Candelaria de Jaro.jpg|thumb|[[Pope John Paul II]] personally crowning the image   on February 20, 1981.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1981/february/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19810220_iloilo-movimenti-cattolici.html | title=Meeting with representatives of Catholic Organizations and Movements in the Cathedral of Jaro in Iloilo (February 20, 1981) &#124; John Paul II }}</ref>]]
Tradition recounts the statue's first appearance in 1587, when a group of fishermen found it floating in the [[Iloilo River]]. The fishermen initially could not lift the image due to its weight, but when they decided to bring it to Jaro, the image suddenly became easier to carry. The statue was initially placed in a small niche near the apex of the local church's central [[spire]]. Folklore speaks of the statue's growth in size over the centuries, to the point that it was transferred to the balcony. The image's shrine is accessible today by a flight of steps attached to the cathedral's northeastern façade.<ref>[https://artesacraph.wordpress.com/2016/05/16/the-queen-of-jaro-nuestra-senora-de-la-candelaria/ Cf. Jojo Tamayo, ''The Queen of Jaro: Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria'' in ''artesacraph'' (retrieved online on 17 February 2018).]</ref>
The statue was declared patroness of the Western Visayas by [[Pope John Paul II]] who, in person, canonically crowned this image on February 20, 1981, during his first [[Apostolic visitation|Apostolic Visit]] to the Philippines.<ref name="ourladyofcandlesnationalshrine.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/245165/news/nation/jaro-cathedral-to-be-declared-marian-shrine-feb-2?ref=secitem |title=Jaro cathedral to be declared Marian shrine Feb. 2 &#124; GMA News Online |publisher=Gmanetwork.com |date=January 20, 2012 |access-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref> It is thus the only Marian statue in the Philippines personally crowned by the [[Pope|Pontiff]] (and saint) instead of a proxy legate.
==National Shrine==
{{Main|Jaro Cathedral}}
[[Pope Pius IX]] authorised the canonical erection of the [[Archdiocese of Jaro|Diocese of Jaro]] on May 25, 1865. Bishop Mariano Cuartero took possession of the diocese in 1868, and later partitioned it into nine [[diocese]]s. In 1874, Cuartero had the [[cathedral]] built on the site, dedicating it to [[Elizabeth of Hungary]].<ref name="thenewstoday1"/><ref>Barcelona, Mary Anne. Ynang Maria: A Celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines. Edited by Consuelo B. Estepa, Ph.D. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, Inc, 2004.</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=viena mae banebane says |url=http://www.markmaranga.com/jaro-cathedral-our-lady-of-candles-parish-church-iloilo/ |title=Jaro Cathedral: Our Lady of Candles Parish Church, Iloilo &#124; Philippines Travel Guide |publisher=Markmaranga.com |date=November 19, 2010 |access-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref>
The original edifice was among the many structures destroyed in the [[1948 Lady Caycay earthquake|Lady Caycay earthquake]], an 8.2 [[surface wave magnitude]] tremor which struck [[Panay Island]] on January 25, 1948. [[Pope Pius XII]] elevated Jaro to an [[archdiocese]] on June 29, 1951, via a [[papal bull]],<ref name="claretianpublications1"/> and the cathedral was fully restored by 1956 under José María Cuenco, the first Archbishop of Jaro.
In January 2012, the [[Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines]] approved "National Shrine of the Our Lady of Candles" as an additional title for the cathedral.
===Confraternity===
The ''Cofradia de la Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria'' is the shrine's [[laity|lay]] [[confraternity]] recognized by the [[Archdiocese of Jaro]].<ref>[http://ourladyofcandlesnationalshrine.com/cofradia-de-nstra-snra-de-la-candelaria/ Cofradia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Jaro.]</ref>
==See also==
*[[Roman Catholicism in the Philippines]]
*[[Jaro Cathedral]]
*[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jaro]]
*[[St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jaro}}
{{Marian Images in the Philippines}}
[[Category:Shrines to the Virgin Mary]]
[[Category:Catholic Church in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Religion in Iloilo]]
[[Category:Jaro, Iloilo City]]
[[Category:Iloilo City]]
[[Category:Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus]]
[[Category:Statues of the Madonna and Child]]