THE DEVOTION to the Our Lady of Peñafrancia (Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia) or Ina was brought to Naga City by Spanish priest Miguel Robles de Covarrubias. His father, an official of the Spanish government from Peñafrancia, Spain, settled with his family in Cavite in the early 1700.

While a student seminarian of the Universidad de Santo Tomas, Covarrubias became very ill but he was said to have been cured after he and his family prayed for the Our Lady of Peñafrancia whose picture he was clutching to his breast. Because of this, he vowed to construct a chapel by the bank of Pasig River in a gesture of gratitude to the Marian image.

Covarrubias, however, was transferred to Ciudad de Caceres (the old Naga City) and was ordained there by Bishop Andres Gonzales.

To fulfill his vow, he mobilized the natives called cimarrones along the slopes of Mount Isarog to build a chapel. He ordered an artisan to carve an image based on the picture of the Our Lady of Peñafrancia. The image was painted with dog?s blood whose lifeless body was thrown into the river but miraculously came to life. The event was witnessed by devotees.

The first celebration of the Peñafrancia feast was in 1710. From then on, miracles credited to the devotion to Ina were recorded.

In a letter to the Dominican Fathers of Salamanca, Spain, in 1712, Covarrubias reported many miracles through the intercession of the Ina. The devotees grew in number until they spread outside of Naga and to other countries.

The original image of the Our Lady of Peñafrancia was found by Simon Vela in a hill of Peña de Francia, after five years of searching.

Vela was born to a rich couple in Paris, France, on Sept. 4, 1401. He gave up wealth and material possession and became a chamber boy in the convent of a Franciscan church in Paris. He was guided by a voice to search for the image until he saw an apparition of the Virgin Mother with the Child, who directed him to dig on the hill to find the image of the Our Lady of Peñafrancia. Juan Escandor Jr.

Source: Our Lady of Peñafrancia Basilica, Balatas Road, Naga City