12/12/2020
December 12, 2020 | SOLEMNIDAD SA MAHAL NGA BIRHEN SA GUADALUPE SA SUGBO
Principal patroness of Cebu
Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu gathers devotees to a euphoric state of holiness and bliss. With the holy festivity, Catholic faithful are in reverence to the patroness of Cebu whose miracles make people kneel down in deep prayer.
The Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu is the official patroness of Cebu City, although many presume that it is the Sto. Niño for whom the annual Sinulog is being celebrated.
The “debate on the technicality” of the Santo Niño being referred to as patron saint surfaced on the premise that “the Holy Child is a representation of Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity and therefore, he cannot, as God, be considered a patron.”
Last 2002, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal declared the Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu as the patroness of Cebu.
The declaration, however, brought dismay to some devotees of the Santo Niño who felt that such move stripped off the role of Santo Niño as the most important figure of the Catholic Church.
Catholic officials then explained that the move is not a desecration in itself because Catholic teaching requires that a “patron saint be a human saint who has gone to his or her heavenly reward and who prays to God on behalf of the living, rather than a divine being himself.”
Vidal, in one of his homilies, expressed that the declaration of the Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu as patroness of Cebu was by virtue of a pontifical decree dated May 9, 2006, issued by the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Vidal also recalled how the devotion to the patroness helped stop the outbreak of cholera in Cebu City in 1902.
Last 2006, in time of the Our Lady of Guadalupe’s coronation, Rev. Fr. Carlito Pono, the parish priest of Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu Parish in barangay Guadalupe, explained that there should be no confusion between the feast of the blessed image as a parish and its celebration as the patroness of the Archdiocese of Cebu, as well as the Feast of Señor Sto. Niño.
Pono said the Catholic faithful celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe as the patroness of the archdiocese of Cebu every July 16, while the one being celebrated every December 12 is the feast as a parish.
Monsignor Renato C. Beltran, Jr., Papal Chaplain of the Archdiocese of Cebu, also pointed out that the installation of the Our Lady of Guadalupe as the patroness of Cebu does not make Santo Niño less of a holy figure because the Holy Child remains a titular figure in the Catholic Church.
Moreover, the homage and respect people pay to the Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu has been justified by series of historical accounts. The faithful recall stories that the image of the Virgin first appeared in a certain cave in Banawa, a sitio in barangay Guadalupe.
The locals then traced the increased number of people devoting their plights and prayers throughout Cebu to the Our Lady of Guadalupe until she was declared the patroness of the archdiocese of Cebu.
Based on accounts shared by some folks, the icon used to be sheltered in the convent office in barangay San Nicolas, when Guadalupe was still called Sitio Banawa under barangay San Nicolas.
According to the locals, a vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe was seen in the cave of Kalunasan, which was then part of Sitio Banawa.
Because of the testimonies of the eyewitnesses of the apparition, the parish priest of San Nicolas decided to lend the icon to the people of Banawa annually, so they could celebrate Our Lady’s feast on December 12. The icon would then be returned back to San Nicolas the Saturday after.
This ritual went on until the 1920s when locals saw that upon the procession back to San Nicolas, the icon, which was then placed in a cart carried by four men, fell and landed on the ground upright.
According to them, the image rotated in such a manner that it faced the direction where it came from.
When the parish priest learned of the incident, he allowed the icon to stay permanently in the chapel, which served as a pilgrimage site.
Because of the strong devotion of the people, a new parish in Guadalupe was established on May 1, 1933. It was subsequently declared as Archdiocesan Shrine and devotees continue to flock in the hope of curing their ailments and marital problems, among others.
The pastor of San Nicolas, Fr. Emilio Mercado, also became the concurrent and first pastor of the new parish in Guadalupe.
Today, the Our Lady of Guadalupe stands a holy representation and significant embodiment of the people’s faith tantamount to the blessings they are receiving.
ANG PAGBASA GIKAN SA BASAHON NI ZACARIAS (Zech. 2:14-17)
“Pag-awit ug pagsadya. O anak nga dalaga sa Sion! Tan-awa, miabot ako aron motipon uban kaninyo,” miingon ang Ginoo. Nianang adlawa daghang nasud motipon diha sa Ginoo ug mamahimo silang Iyang katawhan. Magpabilin Siya ug inyong mahibaloan nga ang Ginoo maoy nagpadala kanako diha kaninyo. Alang sa Ginoo, ang katawhan sa Juda mahimo nga iyang bahin sa balaang yuta ug Iyang pilion pag-usab ang Jerusalem. Ayaw pagsaba, kamong Iyang katawhan, kay ang Ginoo mobarug gikan sa Iyang Balaang pahulayan.
ANG PULONG SA GINOO.
SALAMAT SA DIOS
SALMO RESPONSORYO
(Jdt. 13: 18, 19, 20)
T. Ikaw ang labing daku nga dungog sa atong kaliwat.
Ang Dios Labing Halangdon nagdayeg kanimo, nagpanalangin siya kanimo, labaw sa tanang babaye sa yuta. Pagkatakus daygon ang Ginoong Dios nga nagbuhat sa langit ug sa yuta!
T. Ikaw ang labing daku nga dungog sa atong kaliwat.
Ang imong pagsalig sa Dios dili gayud hikalimtan nila nga nagtug-an sa gahum sa Dios.
T. Ikaw ang labing daku nga dungog sa atong kaliwat.
Ang Dios maghatag unta kanimo sa walay kinutuban nga dungog tungod sa imong nabuhat. Magganti unta Siya kanimo sa mga panalangin tungod kay nagpabilin ikaw nga nagmatinumanon Kaniya ug wala magduhaduha sa pagtahan sa imong kinabuhi aron pagpalingkawas sa pagdaugdaug sa imong katawhan.
T. Ikaw ang labing daku nga dungog sa atong kaliwat.
ALELUYA
T. Aleluya.
Nagmalipayon ang akong kalag tungod sa Dios nga akong Manunubos.
T. Aleluya.
ANG PAGBASA GIKAN SA EBANGHELYO SUMALA NI SAN LUCAS (Lk. 1:26-38)
Sa ikaunom ka bulan sa pagmabdos ni Isabel, gipadala sa Dios ang anghel nga si Gabriel ngadto sa usa ka lungsod sa Galilea nga ginganla’g Nazaret. May mensahe siya alang sa usa ka batan-ong dalaga nga sinayuran sa usa ka lalaki nga ginganla’g Jose, nga kaliwat ni Hari David. Maria ang ngalan sa babaye.’ Miadto ang anghel kaniya ug miingon, “Paglipay! Ang Ginoo nag-uban ug nagpanalangin kanimo pag-ayo”. Nalibog pag-ayo si Maria sa pagkabati niya sa mensahe sa anghel, ug nagpalandong siya kon unsay kahulugan sa iyang mga pulong. Miingon ang anghel kaniya, “Ayaw kahadlok, Maria, kay gikahimut-an ka sa Dios. Magmabdos ka ug manganak og lalaki, ug nganlan mo siya’g Jesus. Mahimo siyang inila ug tawgon siya nga Anak sa Dios nga Labing Halangdon. Ang Ginoong Dios maghimo kaniyang hari, sama sa iyang katigulangan nga si David, ug mahimo siyang hari sa mga kaliwat ni Jacob hangtod sa kahangturan; ug dili gayod matapos ang iyang gingharian!”
Si Maria miingon sa anghel, “Ulay ako, busa unsaon man pagkahimo niini?” Ang anghel mitubag, “Mokunsad kanimo ang Espiritu Santo, ug magpabilin ang gahom sa Dios diha kanimo. Tungod niini, ang balaan nga bata tawgon nga anak sa Dios. Hinumdomi ang imong paryenti nga si Isabel. Giingon nga dili siya moanak; apan karon ikaunom na ka bulan ang iyang pagsabak, bisan tigulang na siya kaayo; kay walay dili mahimo sa Dios.”
Miingon si Maria, “Sulugoon ako sa Ginoo; mahitabo unta kanako ang imong gisulti.” Ug mibiya ang anghel kaniya.
ANG EBANGHELYO SA GINOO.
DAYGON IKAW, O CRISTO
