Piat
Our Lady of Piat,
Mother of Cagayan (province)
Mother of Us All,
Venerable Matriarch,
Black Virgin Mary
In her basilica, St. Dominic Parish, Cagayan Apayao Road, Piat, 16th century, life size.
This Black Mother of Us All was brought from Macau to Manila in 1604. From there she was taken to Nueva Segovia (now Lal-lo) to aid in the evangelization of the homeland of the Itawes and then to Piat for five years. No precise description of the image is given by its historians, though the statue is often noted to be constructed from paper mache.
Soon, people felt special divine favors manifesting through the image and their love for her grew to such proportions that in 1622 the priest Fr. Juan de Santa Ana judged it as fanaticism and sent her away to another city. Then he brought a “more beautiful” (probably white) statue from Manila as a replacement. The people promptly protested, insisting that the original image be returned to them. De Santa Ana finally gave in, and the image was brought back amidst great rejoicing.
Centuries later, a dispute between the people of Piat and Tuao as to where the image's sanctuary should be was resolved by both towns agreeing to build the shrine midway between them. On December 26th 1923, the image was solemnly transferred to the new sanctuary. A venerable lady, Doña Ines Maguillabbun, was charged with the care of the sanctuary. She introduced the current custom of keeping a votive light burning perpetually before the icon, something that has been done in Europe for some of the most holy Mary statues.
Many years later, the people suffered great losses due to the inundations of the Chico River. Their deeply rooted devotion to Our Lady prompted them to move her sanctuary near the riverbank in the hope that she would spare them from the scourges of the yearly inundations. There a more spacious and sturdy church was built.
The Black Madonna of Piat was canonically crowned on June 20, 1954. Her feast day is celebrated every year on July 2nd with a great procession.
On June 28–30, 2011, the icon participated in an enormous procession of 12 famous Mary icons from the northern part of the country during the “Third Marian Voyage of Peace and Love” at the Cagayan Foundation Day.
Source and a list of her most famous miracles: Wikipedia article on Our Lady of Piat