Third Saturday in September
Nuestra Señora de
Peñafrancia, Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines
Devotion to this Virgin, the Black Madonna of Salamanca, goes back to 1434, when a Frenchman discovered a miracle-working statue in the Peña de Francia Mountains. Dominican missionary Miguel de Cobarrubias brought a copy, sculpted in 1710, from Spain to his post in Naga City, where he built a small chapel to fulfill a vow in thanks for favors granted. The present basilica was dedicated May 22, 1982. Naga City's week-long celebration of Our Lady of Peñafrancia culminates on the third Saturday of September in a procession of boats, transporting the Virgin's statue in a colorful pagoda down the Bicol River from the Cathedral to her Basilica, as pilgrims kneel on shore in prayer, holding candles and shouting "Viva la Virgen." (Information from "Naga City: 2006 Peñafrancia Festival," Dagos Po Kamo sa Naga City!, www.naga.gov.ph/pf/2006 and other sources; picture from SEAsite - SE Asian Languages and Cultures, www.seasite.niu.edu.)
Also celebrated this date:
 | Virgen de la Esclavitud, Cihuri, La Rioja, Spain (Virgin of Slavery). Thanksgiving procession. |
| Virgen de la Peña, Vega de Río Palmas, Fuerteventura, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain |