By Christina Hermoso Hundreds of Marian devotees and pilgrims from different parts of the country are expected to gather on July 1 and 2 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Visitation in Barangay Guibang in Gamu, Isabela, in celebration of the feast of the miraculous Our Lady of Guibang. (FLICKR / MANILA BULLETIN) The last of the nine-day novena masses that began last June 23 will be held on July 1. On July 2, a concelebrated fiesta mass is traditionally held at the shrine in commemoration of the feast. The well-venerated image of Our Lady of Guibang was canonically crowned by the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Carmine Rocco in May 1973. In January 1986, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) elevated her church in Guibang into a national shrine. According to stories, a young man brought the image of Our Lady to the hut of a poor couple named Francisco Noe and Maria Noble in 1905. He asked them to pray the Holy Rosary and offer works of mercy in honor of the Blessed Mother. The couple lit a candle in front of the image and prayed the whole night. At dawn, the couple noticed an unusually sweet fragrance in their hut. They later discovered that the fragrance, which lasted for several days, was emanating from the image of the Blessed Mother. News of the event spread throughout the village of Guibang and soon, people came in droves to the poor couple’s hut and sang hymns to Our Lady. A chapel was then built and later, a church, to accommodate the hundreds of devotees who came daily.