FOR the past several weeks, folks in Central Luzon were so very worried of their hundreds and thousands of ricefields. Drought was commonplace. The nervous officials of the local governments had sought the help of authorities in Malacanang which poised Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for emergency powers from Congress to check the problem.

        The farming households did the inevitable: pray for rain. Then the downpour blasted without letup courtesy of Typhoon Chedeng which shied far away, controlled as if by prayers, its coming towed with other rainbringers.

        Is this a bulletproof repeat of a similar instance in Canaman town and neighboring places, Naga, Bula, and Nabua, in l7ll? Crops, too, were threatened by terrible dry spell and the inhabitants of Canaman together with their parish priest, Fr. Matias Guadalupe, knowing of their predicament hopeless, went to the church of Our Lady of Penafrancia, the first stone edifice of Ina made by Fr. Miguel de Robles Covarrubias, to pray. After the Holy Mass, the sky darkened, spewed heavy rains to save the harvest. And countless other events of this nature proclaimed the divine intervention of God with the nonundulating petitions of Ina for Bicolanos and Her other children.

        “Ina is always there for us,” Archbishop Leonardo Z. Legaspi often tells devotees. To strengthen our relationship with Our Holy Mother and God, the good archbishop has prepared a tricentennial of faith beginning this coming Penafrancia Fiesta to culminate in the same celebration in 2010. This is history in the making.

        There can be no equal occasion over a thanksgiving for, while it more than restore to the giver the essence of the gift, it magnifies the easing of our humanity in recognition of better-than-ordinary mundane perception. We have no choice anyway with the Light.

        Since time immemorial Our Lady of Panafrancia has been trying to reach out the innocence of men, women, and children. She temporarily revived from the dead the innocent Juana Hernandez of Salamanca, Spain in l424 to reveal three God-given occurrences: the founding of the Franciscan convent in l429, the discovery of the image of Our Holy Virgin in l434, and the construction of the Virgin’s church in l437, all in the said place.

        Moreover, She chose the simple Simon Vela to fulfill Her inviolable reaching out to us by way of the guided finding of the icon. No sooner was done, Her coming to our old Caceres, except on the facilitated entry into priesthood of the usually ill Miguel de Robles Covarrubias. He gave us and the world the living tale of the dog, which was butchered to draw blood to color the statue of Ina, brought back to life by Her.

        The stories went on and on, telling everyone how the Lady of Penafrancia has been transforming them. Its echo reverberates farther in foreign lands where Bicolanos and other devotees have opted to work. Now, there is no denying after the fact: Ina is a part of our lives.

        So, the Peñafrancia Fiesta 2007 on September l6 from the Traslacion on the 7th commemorates through a decree to be presented by the archbishop our romance, our love and devotion to Ina. For this all a prayed for the continued involvement: politicians, businessmen, employees, religious, expatriates, and evry other Juan de la Cruz, to give Ina and God their due—our impartial dedication, acknowledging She has reached us in.