Naga City
Photo of the original before the theft and restoration by Fr. Allan A.
Our Lady of Peñafrancia, Ina (Mother)
In the Basilica of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, Balatas Rd, Naga, 4400 Camarines Sur, 1712, wood.
This Dark Mother is a copy of another famous Black Madonna in Peñafrancia, Spain.
According to local tradition, a Spanish colonial official from Peña de Francia, Spain settled with his family in Cavite, Philippines in 1712. One day, his son, Miguel Robles de Covarrubias, a seminarian, fell seriously ill. He and his family prayed to Our Lady of Peñafrancia, whose picture Miguel clutched to his breast as he hoped for recovery. Miguel vowed that if cured, he would construct a chapel in honor of his beloved Black Madonna. Our Lady accepted the deal and healed him. Miguel was the first diocesan priest to be ordained in Naga City and to fulfill his vow he mobilized natives along the slopes of Mount Isarog to build a traditional Philippine chapel from nipa and bamboo on the banks of the Naga River. He also commissioned a local artisan to carve an image patterned after the picture of Our Lady of Peñafrancia that he always carried with him.
Stories of miracles surrounding the image began circulating immediately, beginning with the account of a resurrected dog! The animal was killed for its blood, which was to be used in painting the newly carved image of Our Lady, and the carcass was dumped into the Naga river. Apparently Our Lady was not okay with that! So the dog suddenly came back to life and began swimming. Hundreds allegedly witnessed the event. News of many other miracles spread quickly, as did public devotion to the image. A letter sent by Miguel to the Dominicans in Salamanca, Spain in 1712 reported numerous miracles through the intercession of Our Lady.
The image is known to devotees by the title Ina, a local term for "Mother". The modern basilica was completed in 1981 and is one of the largest Marian pilgrimage sites in Asia. Her devotees come from near and far. She was canonically crowned in 1924.
In 1981, on the morning of August 15, the feast day of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, the image was stolen from its shrine inside Peñafrancia Church. The news shocked the entire region, and a massive search was immediately undertaken by the military and civilians, during which a policeman was killed and a police lieutenant wounded when they were ambushed by heavily armed men. Devotees almost lost all hope in finding the Black Madonna, with many of the tip-offs proving false. The approaching feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia called for an image to be borne in procession so a replica was commissioned by church authorities and paid for by the First Lady Imelda Marcos.
A little over a year later, the image was returned to the retired rector of Our Lady’s shrine Monsignor Florencio Yllana, P.A. On September 8, 1982, (the Feast of the Nativity of Mary), a motorcade from Manila bearing the image arrived in Naga during the height of Typhoon. The foul weather did not deter thousands of devotees who braved the raging winds and devastating floods to celebrate the image's return. At 10:00 in the evening of the same day, the image was safely re-enshrined at the Metropolitan Cathedral, with a solemn mass of thanksgiving.
Sources:
1. Wikipedia article on Our Lady of Peñafrancia scroll down to “in the Philippines”
2. Wikipedia article on the basilica.