By Christina Hermoso
Devotees of “Ina” and the Divino Rostro (Holy Face of Jesus) will lead the annual Traslacion Procession in Naga City at around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, September 13. The devotees will carry the revered images of Our Lady of Penafrancia fondly called by devotees as “Ina” and the Divino Rostro, on their shoulders for the much anticipated procession from the Penafrancia Basilica to the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral. The ritual is a prelude to the fluvial procession on September 21, and the Solemnity of Our Lady of Penafrancia on Sept.22.
FEAST OF OUR LADY OF PEÑAFRANCIA – Devotees as well as religious leaders join the procession of Our Lady of Peñafrancia as they celebrate its annual feast in Naga City, Camarines Sur (Czar Dancel / MANILA BULLETIN)
Today marks the 137th Feast of the Divino Rostro, one of the highlights of the festive 309th Penafrancia Festival.
Several activities will be held very early in the morning today, starting with a dawn penitential procession of the image of “Ina” at 4 a.m. from the basilica to the Our Lady of Penafrancia Parish. It will be followed by a pontifical mass at 5:30 a.m. A community mass (misa ng bayan) will be held at 6:30 a.m., to be followed by hourly masses.
A holy mass will also be celebrated at the Plaza de Covarrubias at 2 p.m. Caceres Archbishop Rolando Tria Tirona will preside over a pontifical mass at 5:30 p.m., to be followed by a community mass at 7 p.m. at the cathedral.
The first of the nine-day novena masses in honor of “Ina” will be offered today until September 21. The fluvial procession along the Naga River that will bring back the Holy Images from the centuries-old Naga Cathedral to the basilica will be held at 4 p.m. on Sept. 21.