Can you believe?

Today is a great feast in Jaro, the fiesta day known in this region as Candelaria. This fiesta is also held in Bácolod, in the parish of Our Lady of Candles in Capitol Heights and in San Enrique, but the fiestas in the two parishes of the Diocese of Bácolod cannot compare with the Candelaria of Jaro that brings out a real religious devotion unmatched in the region.

The fiesta commemorates the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple and the candles represent Christ as the light of the world.

The Candelaria is an expression of devotion and belief in the power of the candles that are blessed during this day and valued as a “charm”. At the core of Candelaria is the faith in the mysteries of God, albeit queer to some but without this faith there would be no Candelaria that has lasted for decades.

This expression of faith is manifested when the International Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima came to visit us on January 15-17. I wrote about this visit on the 18th after she left for Cebu and that could have been it. But some photographs shown to me were puzzling and until now nobody can explain. I studied the photos several times and even challenged one who claimed that the photos could have been manipulated but soon backed out explaining it cannot be done even in a photo shop.  

I write again with the hope some others may have noticed in the hundreds of photographs they took of the Pilgrim image and share an unusual shot.

In my earlier column, I commented to Carl Malburg, custodian of the statute for 19 years, that the face of the statue was a bit smiling when he opened it at the airport and again at the San Sebastian Cathedral. But why was the face of the statue sad in the photographs that he brought? The one at the internet was expressionless and in deep contemplation.

Can a statue change countenance within minutes?

Carl explained I am not the first to notice these changes in image’s facial expression and that there were instances when she would smile, clear enough to show her teeth. I told him that could be another statue. I never heard of any same religious image with mouth closed that smiles with an open mouth, the teeth showing.

Now can you believe that a photograph was taken of the image of Our Lady of Fatima at the Cathedral with a winsome smile, her lips parted and showing her two front teeth? Not only was she smiling but she was looking up as if in prayer.  

Her usual pose was looking down, her head tilted a little bit on her left shoulder as all of those who have seen her in Silay, in Bacolod and in the internet (go check) would attest. Her published photos show her in this posture.

But in the photograph where she smiled with her teeth shown, she was looking up although the shot was taken from below her, thus it appears as if the cameraman climbed up at several feet higher than her and she was looking up at the camera.

This is incredible but there is more. Consider two other photographs. Bishop Vicente Navarra, after the evening Mass and while the Cathedral was filled with people, posed at the right side of the statute which was placed on top of a small table and therefore higher than the bishop.

After his photo was taken several priests joined him for pictures, some to the right of the statute and others to the left. 

When the photograph of the bishop came out, lo and behold! The statue had turned 45 degrees to the right towards and looking down on the bishop while her head had tilted to her right shoulders. The sign at the foot of the statue that says “don’t touch, I will touch you” had also turned towards the bishop.

The position of the table had remained the same as in the other preceding and succeeding photographs. The flowers had remained as they were. Only the statue had changed position in the photos but nobody had seen the statue being moved since only the custodian could touch it.

At the airport on her arrival and when her statue was opened the crowd applauded and cameras flashed. We never noticed it until we saw the blown up photographs – with Mayor Oti Montelibano, Fr. Felix Pasquin and Boy Infante. She was smiling a Mona Lisa smile, a shy smile, as if amused but happy. Was she glad with the reception? 

We hope to exhibit these pictures on May 13, the anniversary of her apparition at Fatima. Then you can decide whether to believe or not and discern your own interpretation on what messages she is sending this diocese or to you.*

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