Origin of the devotion in Salamanca

The ultimate desire of every devotee of Our Lady of Peñafrancia is to reach the place where the devotion began. Such a day came to 13 Bicolanos, including Carmen Bernas and her sister Lina Villafuerte on June 12, 2000 when they reached the Basilica on top of the mountain in Salamanca, Spain.

Together, the group, put together by Economy Travel, heard Mass celebrated by Msgr. Ben Paderes of Pangasinan and a Spanish priest. Under the Basilica is a basement, which used to be a cave where the image of the Virgin was found by Simon Vela and five companions in May 19, 1534. The quest to find the image began five years ago when a French citizen, Simon Vela, born of a noble family and deeply religious, heard a voice that told him to go to Peña de Francia (on the part where the sun sets) and there he would find an image of the Virgin which shall be an object of great devotion.

Vela set out on his journey, heading for the western part of France. For five long, weary years, he looked for the cave but he couldn't find the place, so he gave up. But he heard the voice again telling him to continue his search. Having heard previously of the University of Salamanca, Simon decided to go there and asked the professors where the place might be. When he reached the market place, he overheard two vendors talking about the quality of coal. One said that the best came from Peña de Francia. Simon followed the vendor on his way home. When he reached San Martin de Castanar, the village at the foot of Peña de Francia, he was able to get information on the exact location of the cave. A voice later told him a dig at a certain place, and asked him to invite five other companions to witness the miracle.

After digging, the men removed the big stone blocking the entrance of the cave and there they found the Virgin. At that instant, miracles of healing took place among the five companions. How the devotion came to Nueva Caceres in the Philippines will be written in a future column. In the meantime, we'd like to ask those who have experienced miracles through the intercession of Our Lady ofPeñafrancia to please write me, so they can be part of the second edition of "Little Stories of Faith." . Thanks to the late Monsignor Florencio Yllana who translated the history from Spanish to English.

Lina VIllafuerte with Msgr. Florencio, Msgr. Alfredo, Msgr. Mora, Teresita and Raffy

Home | Genealogy | Contact

© Copyright by R. Yllana.     Yllana Online is a ® Registered ™ Trademark