In the Bible according to the Gospel of Matthew and Luke, Mary was a young woman who was destined to get married to a man named Joseph. Angel Gabriel came to Mary and said she would give birth to a son and will call him Jesus. He also told Mary that her son will save the people.
I heard a lot of Mama Mary's names. But these are the names that are commonly mentioned by the people surrounding me when I was growing up. What I usually know is "Our Lady of Fatima" or "Our Lady of the Rosary where my mom is a devotee. This is the Virgin Mary who made apparitions to the three shepherd children at Fátima. The three children were Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto. Her first apparition was on May 13, 1917 which is her feast day.
Our Lady of Fatima (Photo credit: Web)
Another one that rings a bell to my ear is the "Mother of Perpetual Help". Been seeing my granny when she was still alive reciting her rosary every night and doing her novena every Wednesday. Her feast day is every June 27. Her devotional novena is held every Wednesday. Under the Pontification of Pope Pius XII, our Mother of Perpetual Help was designated as the national Patroness of the Republic of Haiti and Almoradi, Spain.
Mother of Perpetual Help (Photo Credit: Web)
Our Lady of Lourdes is one of the names of Mama Mary. On February 11, 1858, the Virgin Mary who appeared and spoke to a 14 year old peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous in the cave of Massabielle while collecting some firewood together with her sisters Toinette and Jeanne Abadie.
Our Lady of Lourdes (Photo Credit: Web)
One of the most famous Mama Mary in our town is the miraculous cave of "Our Lady of Guadalupe". An image of Our Lady was found in this cave, a replica of Our Lady of Guadalupe enshrined in Merida, Estramadura, Spain. According to history, the image was brought by the first Spanish Missionaries and the novena pamphlet is believed to be brought by Magellan to the Philippines with images of Sto. Niño and the Holy Face. It was also believed that the natives hid the image in this cave because of the Hispano-Filipino conflicts at that time. The image was founded accidentally by Berto Miñoza a native of Kalunasan and a wild chicken trapper. It was then brought to San Nicholas Church where the parish of Barangay Guadalupe belonged. In 1902, a plague struck the city of Cebu. On July 16, 1902, the archbishop ordered that the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe be carried in procession to pray for Mary's intercession. On that day of the procession, the plague ceased, manifesting the efficacy of Mary’s intercessory power”.
This is the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Cebu City.
Our Lady of Guadalupe inside the shrine.
