Our Lady of Turumba

The word turumba is alleged to be from the Tagalog phrase “Natumbá sa lakí ng tuwâ” ("Had trembled in great joy"). The first turumba in the icon's honour was held on September 14, 1788.

The icon of Our Lady is a 9 by 11 inches (23 by 28 cm) oil painting on canvas. The face of Mary is contorted by pain from the dagger plunged into her heart, which Simeon has prophesied.

The icon is presently enshrined at the St. Peter of Alcantara Parish Church in Pakil. The second image of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows is an in-the-round replica of the image of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias from Spain.

The image, according to tradition, belonged to some missionaries who crossed Laguna de Bay in a launch. When the launch was shipwrecked, some of its relics were washed ashore including the icon of the Virgin.[1]

One Friday morning, some fishermen found the icon in their nets. Believing it to be a religious image, they decided to bring it to a parish church. When the men carried the small painting, they found it too heavy. They tried sailing in directions with three icon until they brought it to the shore near Pakil Church. When they headed that way, the wind and current aided their course. Upon landing, they left the heavy image on a rock so they could continue their fishing duties.

A group of women found the icon the following Sunday morning. Although it had rained during the night, the canvas was miraculously dry. When they tried to take the icon away, they could not move it; even the strongest among them, Mariangga, could not lift it. They quickly told the parish priest, who in turn called the sacristans, choristers, and churchgoers at Mass to fetch the image. As they lifted the image, it gave way. The townsfolk around begun to sing and dance, giving birth to the turumba.

The Nuestra Señora de las Antiguas was episcopally crowned by Alejandro Olalia, the Bishop of Lipa, on 23–24 May 1953.

Church of St. Peter of Alcantara in Pakil, Laguna, where the image is enshrined.

The Seven days of Sorrows are known to the Philippines as Lupi fiestas:

• 1st Lupi or Biernes Dolores falls on the Friday preceding Palm Sunday.
• 2nd Lupi or Pistang Martes falls on Tuesday following Easter Sunday
• 3rd Lupi or Pistang Biyatiko falls on the 2nd Wednesday after Easter Sunday.
• 4th Lupi or Pistang Biyernes falls on the 3rd Friday after Easter Sunday.
• 5th Lupi or Pistang Linggo falls on the 4th Sunday after Easter Sunday.
• 6th Lupi or Feast of the Ascension falls on the 5th Sunday after Easter.
• 7th Lupi or Feast of the Holy Spirit falls on the Sunday of Pentecost.

The image is also taken on a procession on October 19, The Town Fiesta of Pakil. On the Sunday nearest September 15, The Catholic Church celebrates the national feast of the discovery of the image.

Homage to the Virgin of Sorrows is done by the way of song and dance, drumbeat and shill cries of its devotees that the people regard as co-sharing with Mary's grief during the Passion of Christ. The turumba episodes are called lupi (meaning to fold) it is so because at the closing of every festivities, the novena booklet is folded to mark the pause in preparation for the next Lupi.

Dresses of the Virgin are shredded and given to pilgrims as tokens. It was said that when the piece of cloth from the Virgin is kept close to one person, miraculous powers and against personal injury, accidents, fire and calamities happen.

The statue is enshrined at the retablo in the main altar, The image is dressed in violet as a sign of sorrow for her son's passion (the color of Lent) And the original image is enshrined in a separate retablo around bas reliefs of her Seven Sorrows at a chapel in the church. St Peter of Alcantara Parish is located in Pakil, Laguna; over facing Laguna de Bay

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Our Lady of Turumba.

• Barcelona, Mary Anne. Ynang Maria: A Celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines. Edited by Consuelo B. Estepa, P.D. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2004.
• Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo: Diocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba