Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Cebu

NUESTRA SEÑORA DE GUADALUPE DE CEBU

Patrona de la Ciudad y Provincia de Cebú

 

The origin of the Cebuano devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe; the origin and history of the image; and the religious practices and oral tradition that are associated with the Virgin of Guadalupe of Cebu.

 

That sometime in 1880, Ricardo Ramirez, a "Mangangayam" or wild chicken trapper who lived in the forested area of what was then Barrio Banawan (now Barangay Guadalupe), in the course of his trapping activities, one day saw a flashing light coming from inside the cave known as "langub nga duha'y baba" (cave with two mouths). It is near the river called Sapang Diyot of Barangay Kalunasan. Surprised by what he saw, Ramirez called the attention of the other trappers who were near him but when they looked, they could not see anything. Ricardo decided to investigate the source of the light inside the cave. He got inside and saw that the light flashes came from an estampita (Holy Card, usually measuring 2 inches by 3 inches) of Our Lady. The picture was standing atop a naturally formed rock, beside which a slow drip of water cascaded into a basin -shaped rock on the floor. The light and the flashing stopped when Ricardo got inside. He took the holy card and gave it to the teniente del barrio, Eustaquio Abapo, in turn showed the picture to the barrio's "mananabtan" (prayer group leader), Placido "Edo" Datan. Placido advised Eustaquio to keep the unusual find until they would know what to do with it.

 

Eustaquio Abapo hid the picture somewhere in his house as advised by Placido but soon forgot where, until some years later when Placido, Eustaquio, the barrio catechist Silverio Gonzales and other people in the area thought of building a chapel in Kalunasan, in the property of Eustaquio. This was sometime in 1889.

 

The four decided to ask permission of Fr. Ceferino Fernandez, parish priest of San Nicolas, who had jurisdiction over Banawan. When they arrived in San Nicolas convent office, they saw a two feet wooden image of Our Lady and they suddenly remembered the estampita given to them by Ricardo Ramirez years back because the image resembled the image in the holy card. Without telling the parish priest about their intention, the three hurried back to Banawan to look for the estampita in Eustaquio's house. They didn't find it then so; they decided to postpone telling the parish priest about their find and their plan until they have the holy card.

 

A few months later, the estampita was found by Eustaquio lying under a bundle of corn that was harvested from his field. The four immediately decided to go back to Fr. Fernandez and told the priest what Ricardo Ramirez found inside the cave, and what they were planning to do. When the priest saw the estampita, he told the group that it was the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He asked for it and kept it. He gave his consent for the construction of a small chapel in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in kalunasan, and agreed to lend them the two-foot wooden image they saw in the convent on their yearly novena and fiesta from December 4 to 12. However, he also made them promise that the image should be returned to San Nicolas after the fiesta. According to the narration of Florencio "Noy Rencio" Tabal, who was already 96 years old when I talked to him sometime in 2002, the parishioners from Pasil resented the lending of the image to the Banawan chapel for the first fiesta celebration, and they would always try to prevent the procession from leaving San Nicolas by blocking the path but the people of Banawan, more numerous in number than them, persisted and always succeeded in bringing the image to the chapel in the mountain. During this time, the name of the barrio became Guadalupe because word got around that the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe appeared in a cave in Banawan.

 

Although there was a story of a sighting by the late Josefa "Nang Sepa" Labra (d. 1948) of a young and beautiful girl who would play in what is now the church plaza which at that time was still full of fruit trees. According to Nang Seap, she would often check on her carrabaos tied in the trees along the plaza at dawn. Often, she would be disturbed by the sight of a young girl playing at dawn. So one day, she decided to spy on the girl, Nang Sepa wend inside the chapel to validate her suspicion that the girl could be no other that the Virgin of Guadalupe. She checked the image and saw amorseco weeds attached to the hemline of its dress, the kind that abounds in the plaza. In addition, the fragrance that accompanies the presence of the young girl when she shows herself to Nang Sepa at dawn also filled the chapel. From then on, word spread that the Blessed Virgin appears as a chubby little girl and plays around the plaza of the chapel at dawn.

 

From that first Fiesta in 1889 until 1901, Our lady of Guadalupe was just a local barrio devotion. Every year, the image was borrowed from San Nicolas in December, then returned on the Sunday after December 12, because ion the Saturday after December 12, the image would be brought inside the cave where the estampita was found for another Mass. The image would stay inside the cave overnight and would be brought back to San Nicolas the next day, a Sunday. So the Virgin actually stayed longer than nine days in the barrio.

 

In 1902, there was a cholera epidemic outbreak. The epidemic hit the whole city but hardest hit was Barrio Guadalupe. Probably because the source of our drinking water then was the river, which was also renamed Guadalupe, and some open wells. It was devastating. Hundreds of residents died. It was said that those who buried the dead, did not return as they themselves died along the way or right on the cemetery while grieving for their dead relatives.

 

The cholera outbreak was so bad in the barrio that there was burial everyday. Later, the burial had to be done en masse on a carabao cart. Death stalked the people of Guadalupe real bad.

 

It was sometime in the month of May. Anyway, the "mananabtan" Placido "Edo" Datan initiated a move and called on the barrio leaders to hold a penitential dawn procession to invoke the help of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Holy Cross of Jesus, and end the epidemic. The melody for the so-called "Antifon" was written by Silverio Gonzales, the catechist. One of the ardent supporters of the movement was Don Joaquin Labra, who, unfortunately, became one of the victims of the epidemic himself. The "Antifon" is actually the prayer Hail Mary in Spanish (Dios Te Salve Maria) but sung repeatedly in a very plaintive tune.

 

The Antifon was held for one month, from mid-May to Mid-June. What was placed on the andas (palanquin) and carried during the dawn procession was a small image of the Holy Cross and an estampa of Our lady of Guadalupe (an estampa is a bigger Holy Card, measuring anywhere from 8"x10" to as much 18"x24"

 

According to Maximo Gabutan, and the other old people of Guadalupe, the Antifon was purely the idea of the local devotees of Our lady of Guadalupe, the likes of Don Joaquin Labra, Don Gervacio Quijada, his brother-in-law Placido datan, the catechist Silverio Gonzales, Eustiquio Abapo, Melchor Abella and others.

 

The cholera epidemic stopped but not immediately. As the dawn procession went on, the number of deaths decreased until there were no more deaths in the barrio. The devotion and strong faith of our elders to the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe and to the Holy Cross of Jesus saved them from death. If the cholera outbreak did not stop sooner, there would have been nobody left in the barrio. As an act of thanksgiving to God and to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Silverio Gonzales and the other people involved, decided to hold a thanksgiving novena from July 8 to 16 1902, with a grand procession of the Holy Cross and the estampa of the Virgin. Melchor Abella paid for the brass band that accompanied the procession( note: July 16 is the feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross and the Virgin of Carmel) SInce then, July 16 has always been celebrated as the second fiesta of the Virgin of Guadalupe. If not for the Virgin's intercession, probably all our elders would have perished and we would not be here today.

 

December 12 is the official feastday but July 16 is also a celebrated as a Thanksgiving for her and the Holy Cross. There was a time during Mons. Tosing dela Cerna's time (parish priest 1987 - 1994) when he separated the feast of the Holy Cross and celebrated it on September 14, but the people didn't like it and he was compelled to return it to join feast on July 16.

 

Only in the 1920's, after the Labra and to lesser extent, the Lopez families, donated a sizable portion of their lot (which is now the present church and plaza) to the diocese, that the chapel was transferred from Kalunasan to the present site. In 1927 or 1928, an inexplicable event occurred that prompted the permanent enshrinement of the image in Guadalupe.

 

On the Sunday after the December 12 fiesta of that year, the image was, as usual securely tied with ropes to the andas for her return trip to San Nicolas, accompanied by a huge number of people. upon reaching a place we used to call Gucro, short for Guadalupe Crossing, along what was called Calamba road, now V. Rama Avenue, near the corner of M. Velez Street, near the Suzara property, the image suddenly fell from the andas, feet first to the ground but instead of tumbling, it remained standing and made a 180 degree turn by itself, facing the direction of the chapel where she came from. This happened in full view of many people who joined in the procession, including Florencio Tabal and Maximo Gabutan. (an area where a huge acacia tree is, right across Lacto PAFI office, as the place where the image fell. The spot was pointed by Mr. Maximo Gabutan who was an eye witness of the event).

 

The people secured the image back to the andas and brought it to San Nicolas. There they told the priest who was Fr. Emiliano Mercado (parish priest of San Nicolas from 1910 - 1942) what happend in the procession. Fr. Mercado was the one who decided that the wooden image of the Virgin of Guadalupe should already stay in the newly-built chapel. So in 1929, the image of Our Lady was permanently enshrined in Guadalupe. In 1933, four years later, Guadalupe became a parish with Fr. Emiliano Mercado himself acting as concurrent parish priest until 1936. Then Fr. Sancho Abadia took over in 1937.

 

During the World War 2, the church was bombed. Fortunately, the image was saved because it was kept in Amado Gabutan's house in a place called Nabongturan, what is now the Petron Gasoline Station along V. Rama Avenue.

 

During the war, Amado's mother, Andrea, one of the so-called "beatas" of Guadalupe, asked her son to secure the image in his house in Nabongturan. The parish priest then was Fr. Leonardo Arriba (parish priest 1939-1943) who was arrested and imprisoned by the Japanese on suspicions of being a guerilla. When he was released, he did not return to the parish but hid in the mountains and so Guadalupe did not have a parish priest. Andrea took it upon herself to secure the safety of the statue.

 

Unfortunately, Amado Gabutan’s house was hit by a bomb and burned down. What was really strange and surprising was that the image escaped unscathed from the bomb and the fire, although five people who were in the same area died.

 

Amado and family then evacuated to Pardo, bringing the image of Our Lady with them. From there he sent word to Maximo Gabutan to pick up the image from his place in Pardo so Maximo Gabutan sent Tranquilino Nacua to retrieve the image for a fee of two pesos "genuine" money , and bring it to where he and his family hid in the mountains of Candomorga, which is already a part of Talisay. The image was placed in a basket surrounded by pillows and was carried as a back-pack.

 

In early 1945, when my Maximo Gabutan, felt that the war was ending and the Americans were winning, Maximo and his family went back to Guadalupe from Candomorga only to find the church and their own house nearby burned. Maximo Gabutan then requested Don Gervacio Quijada and his wife Doña Teresa Datan, (sister of Placido, the mananabtan) whose big house was left intact after the war, to shelter the image and all of Maximos’s family, until a temporary church could be built, and until Maximo could rebuild our own house. So the Gabutan family and the Virgin stayed in the house of the generous Don Gervacio for about 10 months. The house still looks exactly the same now as it did when we stayed there in 1945. (the house is in Number 1335 V. Rama Avenue, obliquely across Guadalupe Heights subdivision entrance, now under the care of Don Gervacio's great grandson, Mr. Roger Quijada Lim. It was constructed on may May 10, 1932, as evidenced by the carving in a corner "tugas" round post inside)

 

When Maximo Gabutan passed away in 1974 at the age of 88, Eulogio Gabutan, father of Fr, Henrico and Philip, became the Virgin's caretaker until his death on December 15, 1986. Then it became his son Philip's responsibilty until now.

 

first hand information about miracles attributed to Our Lady other that half of 1902 was when Maximo Gabutan and the rest of their family were hiding in Candomorga mountain with the Virgin of Guadalupe, there was a Philippine army camp somewhere in Babag that was never penetrated by the Japanese. The stories of Lt. Ambrosio Gacayan and a Capt. Navarro of the Philippine Army, said that every time the Japs would attempt to raid their camp, a vision of a woman would be seen prancing along the hills of Babag mountain. The Japs got scared of the vision because she would just vanish into thin air, then show herself again. The army and the Gabutan Family also believed it was the Virgin of Guadalupe whose image was with them.

 

A miracle healing happened to Aniana Sacamay. She developed breast cancer but she was miraculously cured after praying to Our Lady of Guadalupe. She was one of our Lady's attendant,working together with Mohing Ibonalo.,

 

Another was when the image of the Virgin would be brought inside the cave for the post December 12 Mass, it would be placed in the exact place where the estampita was found, where the water drips from the ceiling of the cave. Despite the image is being placed directly in the water's way, it would remain dry.

 

The slowly dripping water inside the cave reportedly had curative powers. A long queue of people used to wait for their bottle to get full. Some devotees used the water from the cave to cure disease, and that there were a lot of cures that happened.

 

The water in the cave stopped dripping during the time of Mons. Esteban Binghay as parish priest of Guadalupe (parish priest 1975-1987), after he ordered the renovation of the cave with tiles and an overhead tank of water was placed atop the cave with the tube descending down the cave. People stopped gathering the water because they realized it was already water piped from the river and not from the original source.

 

The Image always wore a crown, the "rostrillo" around the face and carried a scepter a shorter one than what she carries now, and dressed up like she is dressed now.

 

During the 16th of July, 2006, the image was canonically crowned through solemn rites held at the Shrine of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Cebu at Guadalupe, Cebu City by virtue of a pontifical decree which was issued on May 9, 2006 issued by the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The coronation symbolized the official and formal recognition of Our Lady of Guadalupe as the patroness of the Archdiocese of Cebu.

 

There are two feast days celebrated in honor of Cebu’s Patroness. The first being held every 16th of July, her feast as Cebu’s Patroness, the anniversary of the ceasing of the epidemic through her intercession, and the anniversary of her canonical coronation. The second is celebrated every 12th of December, her feast which is celebrated by the church all throughout the globe.

Done