This event is brought to you in part by Rock Ed Iloilo. Please bring Old Books for Donation for the Rock Ed Iloilo’s BOOK BIGAYAN CAMPAIGN. These books will be donated to Elementary Schools which greatly need more books that will help the Filipino youth of tomorrow.

This blog is in support of   iloilo and RockEd Philippines. Good job guys!

photo by: flicker.com

Our Lady of the Candles or Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria is known internationally as the Candlemas Virgin. It was the title given to Our Blessed Virgin Mary in commemoration of the Presentation of Jesus and Mary’s own rite of Purification according to Jewish Law.

According to the Mosaic law a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain three and thirty days “in the blood of her purification”; for a maid-child the time which excluded the mother from sanctuary was even doubled. When the time (forty or eighty days) was over the mother was to “bring to the temple a lamb for a holocaust and a young pigeon or turtle dove for sin”; if she was not able to offer a lamb, she was to take two turtle doves or two pigeons; the priest prayed for her and so she was cleansed. (Leviticus 12:2-8)

Forty days after the birth of Christ, Mary complied with this precept of the law, she redeemed her first-born from the temple (Numbers 18:15), and was purified by the prayer of Simeon the just, in the presence of Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:22 sqq.). No doubt this event, the first solemn introduction of Christ into the house of God, was in the earliest times celebrated in the Church of Jerusalem. We find it attested for the first half of the fourth century by the pilgrim of Bordeaux, Egeria or Silvia. The day (14 February) was solemnly kept by a procession to the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection, a homily on Luke 2:22 sqq., and the Holy Sacrifice. But the feast then had no proper name; it was simply called the fortieth day after Epiphany. This latter circumstance proves that in Jerusalem Epiphany was then the feast of Christ’s birth.

From Jerusalem the feast of the fortieth day spread over the entire Church and later on was kept on the 2nd of February, since within the last twenty-five years of the fourth century the Roman feast of Christ’s nativity (25 December) was introduced. In Antioch it is attested in 526 (Cedrenue); in the entire Eastern Empire it was introduced by the Emperor Justinian I (542) in thanksgiving for the cessation of the great pestilence which had depopulated the city of Constantinople.

Today, in the Philippines, the observance of  the Feast of Our Lady of Candles (Nuestra Senora dela Candelaria) is one of the most granduous religious event in Western Visayas. The celebration of the festival of Our Lady is a blessing through procession of candles followed by a pageantry with the fiesta queen around the district of Jaro.  The annual religious festival highlights agro-industrial exhibits, garden show, fiesta carnivals, concerts, contests, among many others. Iloilo people believe that the celebration of the feast symbolizes the prosperity of the city and the enjoyment of Filipino over grand fiesta and celebrations. One of the highlights of this celebration is cockfighting . A blood sport between two gamecocks especially bred and condition for the fight held at Iloilo Coliseum.

photo by latimesblogs.latimes.com

photo by ilonggos.net

The image of the Our Lady of Candles in Iloilo, was  installed in the old Augustinian church located in a section of La Paz town. When Jaro became a diocese in 1867, a cathedral was constructed in the town proper named after St. Elizabeth of Hungary. It became the new permanent home of the image. The image was canonically crowned by Pope John Paul II in 1982. It is the only religious image to have personally crowned by a Pope.

Article sources: newadvent.org (Catholic Encyclopedia), en.wikipilipinas.org and philippinefiestas.com

Schedule of Activities 2010

Source: dinagyangsailoilo.com

Fiesta sa Villa!

District of Arevalo (La Villa Rica de Arevalo), Iloilo  City’s Annual Fireworks Competition

Let’s HANGOUTin Arevalo. January 17, Sunday, 2010.

Villa orArevaloas it is popularly called today is one of the six districts of Iloilo City, in the Philippine province of Iloilo. It was originally founded as La Villa Rica de Arevaloby a Spanish official who built his mansion along the coastal settlement in the 16th Century. It was absorbed by Iloilo City during the 20thCentury along with the towns of Mandurriao, La Paz, Molo and the city of Jaro. Its historical church possesses one of the oldest Sto. Niño (Infant Jesus) figurines in the Philippines. Its prominent attraction is the Villa Beach along the coast which boasts several resorts and an outdoor nightlife such as open air restaurants and bars.

The District of Arevalo has thirteen barangays. This are Barangay Bonifacio, Calaparan, Dulunan, Mohon, Quezon, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Santa Molanida, Santa Felomina, Santo Domingo, Santo Niño Norte, Santo Niño Sur, Sooc, and Yulo Drive.

The annual fireworks display and competition is the highlight of the district’s annual patronal fiesta.It is a celebration in honor of the their patron, Sr. Santo Niño (Infant Jesus). The competition is a showdown between local fireworks makers and designers. The presentation is a deafening spectacle of elaborate and best-known fireworks: either the ones that produces sound; the ones that are mounted around the periphery of a wheel to rotate by rocket effect; the ones placed in the ground and emit balls or stars of fire at intervals; or the ones that explodes high in the air to produce any of the several types of display. Specifically, the celebration is for the entertainment purposes of the people of Arevalo and their way of frightening away bad luck.

photo and article source: iloilocity.gov and en.wikipedia.org

Lets HANGOUT in Lambunao for the Binanog Festival!

Banog bird (local hawk) an endangered species
found at the WVSU Wildlife and Conservation
Park in Brgy. Jayubo, Lambunao

“The Binanog dance brings the soul of the Bukidnons to the limelight. It celebrates love and the spirit of the people as they perform to the symbolic beating of a gong. It is a simple dance of concentric circles based on the mating of banog birds (hawk). Each of the movements represents a commitment to action and involvement: the extension of the arms, the dignity of various foot works, and the recuperation of stillness. Performers pace themselves as they move to the steady heartbeat of the gong, they become one collective body. They dance for attention with each other. From the heart of their movements, the steps depict courtly pastime and stories that have been handed down over the generations.” – Bombette G. Marin, The News Today

Photo and article source: thenewstoday.info

To Check Iloilo Province and Western Visayas Festivals just click: http://iloilohangout.tigaswebs.com/festivals/