Marian Coronation in Tarlac pushes through despite Typhoon ‘Ompong’

Despite the onslaught of Typhoon ‘Ompong,’ the Tarlac Diocese proceeded on Saturday with the Episcopal Canonical Coronation of the Marian image of Our Lady of Sorrow at the Mater Dolorosa Parish in Capas town. PHOTOS by Maria Adelaida Calayag/Inquirer Northern Luzon

CAPAS, Tarlac — Despite the onslaught of Typhoon “Ompong,” the Canonical Coronation of the Marian image of Our Lady of Sorrows here pushed through on Saturday at the Mater Dolorosa Parish in Barangay Dolores.

Typhoon signal number 2 was hoisted over the province at the time but devotees in their raincoats gathered to witness the ceremony which was the first to be held at the Tarlac Diocese.

Many of the parishioners who could not be accomodated inside the church watched the 9 a.m. Mass from the window as Tarlac Bishop Enrique Macaraeg crowned the image of the Virgin Mary.

“I remember one story of a family when a typhoon hit their town. They were struggling in the flood. The current swept them away, yet their mother told her children to hold on to a piece of wood to be saved. This is also what the Virgin Mother tells us. We should hold on to the wood of the Holy Cross of her Son and we will be saved,” Bishop Macaraeg said in his homily.

The Mater Dolorosa Parish is open 24 hours a day, and is run by Fr. Melvin Castro, former spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. /ee