Pampanga Floods Force Scaled-Down Celebration for Patroness's 70th Anniversary

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Widespread and prolonged flooding in Pampanga has prompted the Archdiocese of San Fernando to scale down the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the canonical coronation of the Virgen de los Remedios, the province’s patroness, on Sept. 8. “Our celebration will be very simple yet meaningful,” Archbishop Florentino Lavarias said in a video message posted online on Saturday. Lavarias said lamak, or donations given during the event, would be earmarked for food and other essential needs of flood victims. As of 5 p.m. on Saturday, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported that 252 barangays in 17 towns had been flooded. Pampanga, a catch basin for the Pampanga River and its 30 tributaries in Central Luzon, has experienced flooding for 34 days since Aug. 4. The province was placed under a state of calamity on Aug. 12. The floods have also appeared to deepen devotion to the Virgen de los Remedios, with local processions being held despite inclement weather. Lavarias said the donations would be handled by the Social Action Center of Pampanga. A smaller venue, the Repository Chapel at the Arzobizpado de Pampanga, will accommodate representatives from the province’s 12 vicariates during the 3 p.m. Holy Mass. Hourly Masses beginning at 6 a.m. will also be streamed online. The image of the Virgen de los Remedios, or the Virgen of Remedies of Pampanga, was canonically crowned on Sept. 8, 1956, just weeks after Pope Pius XII issued a decree on July 15 of that year authorizing its canonical coronation. Then San Fernando Bishop Cesar Maria Guerrero revived the Marian tradition amid a lack of charity during a period of agrarian unrest in Pampanga. The image was carved by Victoriano Siongco, the maternal grandfather of Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David. It has traditionally been paired with the Santo Cristo del Perdon y Caridad, or the Holy Christ of Pardon and Charity. The two images are brought to parishes across Pampanga as part of a year-round crusade. /mcm