Feast of Our Lady of Candles – Nuestra Senora dela Candelaria

The Festival

In Jaro Iloilo in the Philippines, the Feast of Our Lady of Candles (Nuestra SeÒora dela Candelaria) is held every second day of February. Most granduous religious event in Western Visayas, the celebration of the festival of Our Lady is a blessing through procession of candles followed by a pageantry with the fiesta queen, who belong to one of the prominent families, and her escort roaming around the town. The fiesta also features a cockfighting event where afficionados gather from all over the country held at the Iloilo Coliseum.
The annual religious festival highlights agro-industrial exhibits, garden show, fiesta carnivals, concerts, contests, among many others. Iloilo people believe that the celebration of the feast symbolizes the prosperity of the city and the enjoyment of Filipino over grand fiesta and celebrations.
The church of where the Our Lady enshrined, the famous Parish of Our Lady of Candles, is also known as Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral, is also the site of the miraculous image of Virgin Mary, which was canonically crowned by Pope John Paul II in 1982. It is the only religious image to have personally crowned by a Pope.
The church is built in 1864 with fossil stones of creamy color compared to most of the Hispanic structures in Iloilo that were built over bricks and sandstones. . Its baroque architecture features designs of entwining of many neoclassic features. Stained glass windows of Romanesque designs contribute to unique balance between baroque and classic style. The dominance of baroque style is seen through the small rose window at the upper half of the churchís facade, which is typical to gothic churches.
The Jaro church plays a big part in the history of Iloilo. It is considered as the heart of Catholicism in the island and perhaps the most important shrine in the region. Many historic events took place in the very grounds of the cathedral. The anniversary of the miraculous patron saint is flocked by hundreds of pilgrims every year. The Feast of Our Lady of Candles is a tradition passed from one generation to another.
February 2nd is also the celebration of the Feast of the Candlemas. Held on the 40th day after the Feast of Magi, it is also popularly known as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin or the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in Temple. In this event, candles are blessed during a mass. It is once heard the occurance of darkness in three days, and people say the only light to be used were the blessed candles in the Candlemas.

History

Beatification of the Nuestra SeÒora dela Candelaria took place when Pope John Paul II visited the Philippines in 1981.

The Scoop

The Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Candles

The enshrined image of Our Lady in Jaroís Cathedral is said to be miraculous. People believe that     the image grew from almost a feet tall to now more than six feet and growing. To where it was     originally framed, one could compare how much the image had grown.
Legend has it that a long time ago, a fisherman discovered the image in the banks of Iloilo     river in 1587. It was very heavy amidst of its size which was almost a foot high. Many people     attemted to lift it but was unable to. Only until the people agreed to bring the statue to Jaro church,     which eventually became the home of the Lady did a single person managed to carry it.
The statue was placed in front of the Cathedral letting her see the entire town.
This convinced the townsfolks that the Lady has miraculous powers as strange incidents in the     sorrounding of the image. In the old days, people say, the image suddenly dissapear early in the     morning and mist would miraculously fill the pediment of the Cathedral. During this time, a     beautiful lady with long hair would be seen with a child in her arms buying for oil for lamp and  in     the plaza where she would bathe her child at the artesian well.
Soon, townsfolks started to bathe in the same well and believed to have cured from their ailments.
The Lady of the Candles is the only female image to have displayed along the walls of the     cathedral.

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