Nuestra Señora de las Nieves de Cavinti - Patroness of Cavinti, Laguna

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Nuestra Señora de Las Nieves de Cavinti
We have already made a feature about the miraculous Amamang Badong of Cavinti, a quiet yet historical town in the mountainous portion of Laguna province, the principal Patron of the town and its miracles that developed a strong devotion to the Transfigured Lord. Now we will also feature the accompanying Marian Patroness of the town, the miraculous Nuestra Señora de las Nieves.

The image

The miraculous image of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves of The Transfiguration of Our Lord Parish in Cavinti, Laguna is a de tallado image of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Snows - one of the few venerated titles of Our Lady in the country. The image presents the Blessed Virgin Mary, standing in a moon, holds an long imperial scepter and holds the Child Jesus. The Virgin wears a white robe and a blue cloak, has loose long hair and sports the her traditional metal accessories of her queenship: the crown, a rostrillo and estrellas. The Child Jesus on the other hand was carved uniquely for the Child was carved a bit smaller than the usual proportions of a Madonna and Child image, wears a robe and looks upwards to His mother.

Nuestra Señora
de las Nieves
de Cavinti
The origin of the devotion

The devotion to Nuestra Señora de las Nieves originated in Rome where a wealthy but childless Roman couple, John and his wife decided to leave their fortune to the Church. The Virgin appeared to them on the night of August 4th and told them that she wished a basilica to be constructed on the Esquiline Hill which would be outlined in snow. Pope Liberius also received the same message from the Virgin and ordered the construction of St. Mary Major Basilica.

The following day, August 5, 358, John and his wife and Pope Liberius went to the top of the Equiline Hill which had been covered with snow. After they measured out the area for the basilica, the snow disappeared. Pope Liberius immediately called for the construction of the Basilica and was completed in 360. This Basilica became the Mother Basilica of all Marian shrines in the world and the lone Major Basilica dedicated to the Mother of God.

Nuestra Señora de las Nieves
de Cavinti (processional image)
The Feast of the Our Lady of the Snows is celebrated on August 5th. Locals drop white rose petals from the dome during the feast mass. White jasmine is used to symbolize the purity and innocence of the Blessed Virgin.

The devotion in Cavinti

The arrival of the image of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves of Cavinti is not known yet in the parish records, it is indicated that the image was already present since the 1600's together with that of the image of the Transfiguration of Our Lord.

Nuestra Señora de las Nieves became the Secondary Patroness of the Cavinti due to numerous miracles that were attributed to her intercession. In the parish records, there was a particular event that further strengthen the cultus of the Virgin  - miraculous snow falls.

The miraculous snow fall occurred first in 1885 and in 1895. On the second recorded snow miracle, it is testified that they saw a strange cotton plant which is unheard of in the town and it has glistening white material on it, but when they examine the material, it was not cotton but snow and suddenly the Virgin made an appearance near the parish vicinity. From then on, the Blessed Mother as Nuestra Señora de las Nieves was made the secondary Patroness of the town up to the present.

The devotion at present
Nuestra Señora de Las Nieves de Cavinti


The devotion to Nuestra Señora de las Nieves of Cavinti, Laguna continues to flourish up to the present. The feast of the Virgin is observed every August 5, the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore which also coincidentally the eve of the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord.

Morally speaking, we experience this truth whenever she sends us consolations in the most heated hours of our battles, trials and sufferings. At such moments, she lets fall on us an immaculate, white and refreshing snow that gives us a foretaste of Heaven. Therefore, even though someone can dispute the veracity of the legend of the snow that fell, he cannot dispute that Our Lady is able to make this miracle if she desires, and that in fact she does so frequently in a moral sense. This is the superior truth the legend contains.

Let us pray to Our Lady that under this very poetic invocation of Our Lady of the Snow, she will help us to love and fight for the sacred traditions of the Church and open our souls to the most astonishing miracles in the midst of the challenges of modern times.

References:

Fiesta 2012 Parish Fiesta Souvenir Program, Transfiguration of the Lord Parish, Cavinti, Laguna, 2012.
Huerta, Felix de,. Estado geográfico, topográfico, estadístico, histórico-religioso. Binondo: Imprenta de M. Sanchez y Ca. 1865.
Our Lady of the Snows, Retrieved from http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/rome/index.html on July 30, 2019.


Special thanks to Mr. Edward Ramos of the Transfiguration of the Lord for the narrative and photo of the processional image of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves of Cavinti, Laguna that were utilized for this blogpost. 
+AM+DG+

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