Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Quezon - The Sorrowing Mother of Quezon Province

Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Quezon
(Altar image)

In the quiet yet mystical town of Dolores, Quezon, known as one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in the province where the famed Mount Banahaw is located where syncretic folk beliefs are practiced up to this day. Aside form the “mystical” Mount Banahaw, pilgrims would flock a church near the mountain and it became a center of pilgrimage for ages, the National Shrine of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores.

The devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows of Dolores, Quezon flourished over the years and it became one of the most visited in the Quezon Province due to the numerous miracles that were attributed to her intercession.

The image

There were two images of the Virgin of Sorrows that is venerated in the shrine, the famed altar image that is currently enthroned at the center of the main altar and the processional image that also served as the pilgrim image of the shrine. Both images depict the Blessed Virgin Mary in her moment oi sorrow with sad and teary eyes, a sad expression, hands held together, holding a handkerchief, the diagnostic heart with either a single or seven daggers and the resplendor (half-moon shaped facial halo) on her face, wears a straight cut vestment and a long veil – a typical  iconography of the Philippine Mater Dolorosa images. A crown was recently added to the processional image due to the conferment of Episcopal Coronation that was recently held in 2019.

Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Quezon

The origins

The origins of the arrival of the image of Our Lady of Sorrows are unknown due to scant records available. However, several theories and legends sprung up over the years in an attempt to trace its origins. Here are some of the theories and legends of the arrival of the original image:

One of which is that the image was brought by the Spaniards and it was placed in a chapel for veneration. Another folk story goes that the image was said to be owned by a prominent family that was left behind in their garage and the people took the image and have it enshrined in a makeshift chapel, or it was sheltered in the residence of Perpetua Luico Gaurano and it will be brought to the chapel for masses.

Another legend about the Virgin was that there was a beautiful lady wandering around the streets of Dolores and mountains of Banahaw and San Cristobal and a soldier happend to be patrolling Dolores. The soldier saw the mysterious lady and asked her on what she was doing, the lady did not answer, the soldier became impatient that he his the face of the lady ran away. The next day, when the soldier went to the Parish of Dolores, he was surprised that the image of the Virgin has a bruise on her face similiar to that to the lady that he hit the night before. The soldier was horrified with what he saw that he asked forgiveness to the Virgin and later narrated the encounter to the parish priest and to the townsfolk.

Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Quezon
(Processional image)

But arguably the most popular  that sometime in 1896, the Virgin made herself known by appearing in the town wandering in the area and once the chapel was built, the lady suddenly disappeared and the image of Our Lady of Sorrows showed up in the chapel.

Another plausible theory of the origins of the image and the devotion is that the image was brought by a priest from Laguna who was said to be a devotee of the Virgin of Sorrows of Turumba which might explain the existence of the Turumba song in Dolores.

The Shrine

The church of Dolores, Quezon was originally attached to the church of Tiaong and part of the bishopric of Nueva Caceres in Southern Luzon like the other towns of Tayabas (now Quezon) to as far away as Guinayangan in the south and Mauban in the eastern part of the province. The town of Dolores, Quezon was established in 1840 and the chapel of the town became a parish that same year. In 1902 it had Fr. Rufino Cadiz as its first Filipino parish priest until 1904 when he was relieved by Fr. Basilio Rada. In 1905 he was again assigned to the parish where he stayed until 1916, ten years after the parish was formally separated from Tiaong and canonically erected in 1910. The parish at present was later declared as the National Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows in 2017.

The Episcopal Coronation of Nuestra
Señora de los Dolores de Quezon

Church Recognition

Due to the numerous miracles that were recorded through the intercession of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores , the image  was granted the honor of Episcopal Coronation and the coronation rites took place on April 12, 2019, VIernes de Dolores.  The coronation rites was well attended by her devotees and the Turumba procession in honor of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores followed afterwards with devotees and pilgrims joined her in throngs.

Just a few months after the episcopal coronation of the processional image of Nuestra Señora delos Dolores, on June 9, 2019, Pentecost  Sunday, the Diocese of Lucena announced through a circular the approval of the Canonical Coronation of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores by the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on March 23, 2019, just months before the Episcopal Coronation of the Virgin of Sorrows of Quezon Province. The coronation rites will take place on March 25, 2020, Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lady. However, due to the lockdown imposed by the National government due to the rising cases of COVID-19 victims. the coronation rites was postponed. The Canonical Coronation rites is now set on March 25, 2020 -  Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lady.

The devotion

People from all walks of life, often whole families, flock the shrine to pay homage to the Lady of Sorrows, invoke her aid and ask for her intercession in dealing with life's problems. Since the establishment of the Shrine and the miracles that were attributed to its patroness, it became a major pilgrimage site in the province, most especially during Lent and the month of September.

The Turumba procession in honor of
Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Quezon

The “Pangkuan” rites is held every Friday of the week. Devotees and pilgrims from the neighboring towns come to Dolores to attend the mass in honor of the famed Mater Dolorosa. It is also known for the yearly “Viernes de Dolores” which falls either in March or April with a holy Mass and a “Turumba”, a dance praising the town’s patron saint which is said to be taken from Pakil, Laguna where the a similar patroness is also flocked.

Evidently, the Lady of Sorrows has been answering the prayers of her devotees, consoling them and bringing them closer to her son, Jesus. In recent years, she was later declared as the Patroness of Overseas Filipino Workers and their families which is fitting since the Holy family themselves moved to Egypt for the safety of the Child Jesus  Numerous stories about her miraculous cures and powerful intervention filled the records of the shrine over the past years and it continues up to this day.

Reference:

Shrines, Incarnating Christ Today. St. Paul Philippines, 2004.

Interview:
Praga, Angelo of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows, Dolores, Quezon

Credits to the owners of the photos utilized in this blogpost. Coronation photo courtesy of Mr. John Marquez.