MARY MEETS JESUS The image of the Black Nazarene meets the image of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel during the traditional “Dungaw” at the Quiapo church, where a reenactment of the historic arrival of the Marian image from Mexico 400 years ago was held.—MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
On the 400th anniversary of the arrival in the Philippines of the image of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on Friday, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle called on the public to embody the essence of this version of the Virgin Mary by doing good deeds, especially at a time when “the world is being destroyed by false gods.”
In a letter read during the Mass at Quirino Grandstand, Tagle said the people should strive to live for the values of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, which include having a heart connected to God and acts in accordance to His word.
“In a world that is loud and refuses to hear the cry of the people, especially the poor, let us go back to Carmel. In a world that worships false gods, let us go back to Carmel. We hope that the guns and the cries would turn silent and be replaced by a silence brought about by genuine peace,” he said.
False gods
“In a world that is being destroyed by false gods, may the Lord mold us to become givers of life,” he added.
Brought to Manila in 1618 by missionaries of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, the image of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was enthroned at the then San Sebastian Church in Quiapo district in Manila.
It was canonically crowned by St. John Paul II in 1991.
For its 400th anniversary, a fluvial procession reenacting its arrival was held in Manila Bay.
A three-hour-long traslacion of the image to San Sebastian drew a crowd of 5,000 devotees.
Low turnout
Organizers, however, had expected that the celebration would gather around a million devotees.
The low turnout may have been due to the summer break and there was no declaration of a holiday yesterday.
Nonetheless, Father Emilio Quilatan, Recoletos School of Theology dean, said that the celebration should still serve as a reminder for every Filipino to be good Christians by deeds.
“Look at the situation of our country. We are a predominantly Christian country but many of our brothers and sisters are unchristian in their behavior. Sad to say that we are only Christian by name, not by deeds,” he said.