Survivors to get authentic Marian images from sculptor

GUAGUA, Pampanga—For the second anniversary of the disaster wrought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) in the Visayas, sculptor Wilfredo Layug is making sure the 100 replicas of the Our Lady of Hope of Palo, which will be distributed to parishes and schools in Leyte province later this year, are all original images.

IMAGE of the Our Lady of Hope of Palo E.I. REYMOND OREJAS/CONTRIBUTOR

This image of the Virgin Mary, done at no cost for Archdiocese of Palo, was seen in public for the first time during the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at the Tacloban airport on Jan. 17.

It was one of seven ecclesiastical items Layug had made for the archdiocese and for the Archdiocese of Manila for the first visit of Francis in the country.

To prevent illegal imitations of the Marian figure, which are sold in Laguna province and in the cities of Manila and Marikina, Layug secured a certificate of copyright registration and deposit from the National Library of the Philippines and Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines on May 14.

“They’re making money. They’re not doing it to popularize the devotion,” the sculptor said of the imitators.

The authentic replicas will be 30 centimeters (1 foot) tall and made of resin.

In making the image, Layug combined the features of the Our Mother of Perpetual Help and Our Lady of Sorrows. He initially called the image Nuestra Señora de Salvacion.

Palo Archbishop John Du named the image, “Our Lady of Hope,” in line with the message of the Pope, he said.

During his homily, Francis referred to the Marian image, telling Yolanda survivors: “Let us look at our Mother and, like a little child, let us hold onto her mantle and with a true heart say—‘Mother.’”

“In silence, tell your Mother what you feel in your heart. Let us know that we have a Mother, Mary, and a great brother, Jesus. We are not alone. We also have many brothers who in this moment of catastrophe came to help. And we too, because of this, feel more like brothers and sisters because we helped each other,” he said.

Yolanda whipped tsunami-like waves in Eastern Visayas on Nov. 8, 2013, killing more than 6,000 people, mostly in Leyte.

The Marian image, enshrined at the cathedral of Palo, stands 152 cm (5 ft) and steps on a 61-cm (2-ft) base consisting of a globe featuring violent waves. Its shawl is done in estofado, a style that makes it look like it was embroidered by hand.

The Virgin Mary, with sadness etched on her face, holds a boy by her waist. This boy reaches out to another boy by extending a rosary to the latter.

“We are like a little child in the moments when we have so much pain and no longer understand anything. All we can do is hold her hand firmly and say ‘Mommy’—like a child does when it is afraid. It is perhaps the only words we can say in difficult times,” Francis further said in his homily.

Replicas of the image will be manufactured in Layug’s workshop in the wood-carving district of Betis in Guagua, one of Pampanga’s oldest towns.