Loboc river’s water level subsides after reaching critical level

The image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe de Extremadura was placed in front of the Loboc River after it swelled due to the inclement weather, known as “dungaw” (to look out) to calm the river. (Leo Udtohan/Inquirer Visayas)

TAGBILARAN CITY — The water level in the famous river of Loboc town, Bohol started to subside on Thursday afternoon after it reached a critical level following the continuous rains spawned by a low-pressure area and shear line.

But before the water level went down, residents turned to prayer. They placed an image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe de Extremadura in front of the river at the Museo de Loboc building.

Expressions of religious piety have been practiced in Loboc town as a response to plagues and pandemics, even during the arrival of the image on May 24, 1843.

Vir Jala, 50, said they seek comfort in prayer and ask God and the saints for mercy and protection from illness and loss of life.

“My parents taught us to seek help from Our Lady,” said Jala, a father of three.

The veneration of sacred images and placing them outside the window of a house or a church is a religious expression known as “dungaw” (to look out).

The devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe originated from the hilly town of Guadalupe in the Spanish region of Extremadura, close to the Portuguese border.

Church records showed that the Augustinian Recollects brought the image of the Lady carved from black wood.

Like its Bohol descendant, the Spanish image is dressed like a queen while holding the Child in one arm. Both the mother and child are dark-skinned and belong to the tradition of the “Black Madonnas” of medieval Western Europe.

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