Our Lady of Peñafrancia
is a wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in Naga City, Bicol, Philippines. The image comes from the original image enshrined in Salamanca, Spain. It is currently housed at the Peñafrancia Basilica where every September is held for the novena festivities in honor of the image as the principal Patroness and Queen of Bicol.
The Peñafrancia festival has come to be an important marker of the city’s identity, so much so that Naga often refers to itself as the “pilgrim city” in its public relations initiatives. The city is even home to a massive triumphal arch, the Porta Mariae, with a gold image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia on top. Religious pilgrimage is a core element of the Peñafrancia events, but the weeks surrounding the actual feast days are packed with a diverse and seemingly secular array of civic celebrations including women’s beauty contests, a “Pretty Boy Bicolandia” contest, tattoo festivals, a dog show, concerts, a triathlon, a skateboarding competition, a military parade, a chess tournament, dance events and a Peñafrancia “run” at the shrine. In Naga, however, these seemingly “secular” events are often spoken about as heartfelt forms or proofs of the people’s devotion to Ina. Participants in these events often wear headbands or carry banners printed Viva la Virgen or Viva el Divino Rostro.
