People flock to a village in Sibonga town after reports spread that the image of the Our Lady of Fatima owned by a family in barangay Papan produced a miracle.
A 12-year-old boy, Marco Fernandez, claimed that he saw the image in his grandmother’s house shining brightly and its color changed from pink to blue last April 13.
He was with his cousins Stephanie Banzon, 10, and Chabelita Fernandez, 12, in the house and they were supposed to take a nap at the time. They ran outside to tell their parents.
“I was scared because I didn’t know why the image was so bright as if a flashlight was pointed at it,” said Marco in Cebuano.
When their grandmother Gloria Fernandez inspected the image, she noticed that it was wet.
Since the incident, the body of the image continues to produce oil-like moisture.
Chabelita said Stephanie was the first one to experience the miracle of the image.
“After we saw the light and the changes in the color of the image, we prayed to Our Lady of Fatima. Stephanie asked that her sore eyes be healed and in less than five minutes, the redness was gone,” she said.
Stephanie was just visiting her grandmother and had gone home to Lutopan in Toledo City when Cebu Daily News went to Sibonga.
After the news about the miracle spread, people started to visit Fernandez’s house.
One of them was Ulde Potestas who came from Barangay Natad in Sibonga.
He has been suffering from a skin disease for more than five years and he hopes the oil from the miraculous image would heal him.
Fernandez also encased the image in a glass to prevent people from mobbing it to wipe the oil. But she clarifies that her house is open to visitors.
People in barangay Papan hold dawn procession every 3 a.m. and pray the rosary daily. The image of the Our Lady of Fatima was from Portugal.
Fernandez’s son, Alejandro, a seaman, gave it to her eight years ago. He had to borrow money from his colleagues to buy two Our Lady of Fatima images because he has not received his salary yet when they docked in Portugal. He gave the other image to the woman who sent him to school, Titang Escalante.
Escalante of Poblacion, Sibonga, said her image is pink and does not produce oil.
Escalante believes that the miracle happened because Barangay Papan is a mountain barangay and far from the church. The people there needed it to keep their faith alive.
Gloria, a masseuse, believes that it has something to do with her skills in giving massage to sick people.
She clarified she is not a faith healer but she prays to the Lady every time she performs a massage and ask Her to heal her patient. Correspondent Carine M. Asutilla