In the historic and quiet town of Pakil in Laguna, just a few kilometers away from Paete – the town famous for its workshops dedicated to religious sculptures, can easily be dismissed as “one-of-those” old boring towns in this modern world. However, little that these people know is that when Holy Week and the month of September are fast approaching, the town will transform from its quiet state into a very lively and festive atmosphere where they will begin the famed seven month long festivity in honor of Laguna’s most popular and miraculous Patroness – Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba.
The Virgin also became one of the most important cultural icon in Southern Luzon and arguably one of the best known venerated Dolorosas in the Philippines, along with the Soledad of Cavite City, the Virgin of Turumba gained much popularity and devotion that she was also explicitly mentioned in Jose Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere” due to its festive fiesta – the longest Marian Festival in the Philippines and the miracles that are attributed to her.
The images
There are two images of the renowned images of the Virgin of Pakil that are held with much devotion; the original painting and the centuries-old statue in the altar mayor. The original oil painting of the Virgin is a 9″ x 11″ in measurement and painted on a tin canvas.
The original painting is framed in wood and decorated with silver filigree. At present, it is encased in glass in her own chapel located on the second floor of the Church. The face of the Virgin is contorted by pain from a dagger plunged into her heart reminiscent of the Prophecy of Simeon where he mentioned that she will suffer a great deal for His Son Jesus will endure a bitter Passion and death on the Cross in the future and her pain will like a sword will pierce her heart.
The statue on the other hand is a wooden statue that was commissioned in Spain sometime in the late 1700’s based on an image of Nuestra Señora de las Antiguas of Spain. The statue is a typical Mater Dolorosa image where she looks upward to the heavens in her bitter grief and her hands are closed holding a handkerchief. The image is a de vestir image where she was intended to be vested and has this conical shape which is common in almost every Marian Venerada during the Spanish period.
Devotees continuously gave the Virgin a set or sets of vestments that she would wear in a plethora of designs and styles of the times that she kept a large amount of wardrobe that she could wear for years. Some of the vestments or parts of the vestments are shredded and will be given to pilgrims as relics for it is believed that pieces of her worn vestments are also considered miraculous and several testimonies attest to this fact. These vestments alone are solid proof of the miraculous character of the Virgin that her popularity never waned over the centuries.
The origin of the devotion
The original image, the painting, according to tradition, belonged to some group of missionaries who crossed Laguna de Bay in a launch. When the launch was shipwrecked, some of its relics were washed ashore including the image of the Virgin. One Friday, 15 September 1788, some fishermen found the image in the nets. Believing it was a miraculous catch, they decided to drop it off at a parish church. When they started to carry the painting, they found that it was heavy. They tried to carry it in many directions until it was near the church of Pakil. While they headed that way, the wind and current aided their course; and when they landed, they left the image on a rock so they could continue their fishing duties.
A group of women found the image one Sunday morning on September 15, 1788. Although it had rained during the night, the canvas was dry. When they tried to take it away, they could not move it; even the strongest among them, Mariangga, could not lift it. They quickly told the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Miguel Soriano, who in turn called the sacristans, choir members, and churchgoers to get the image. As they lifted the image, the people around began to sing and dance. To their surprise, the image gave way that led to the tradition of Turumba that continues to be practiced up to this day.
The Virgin instantly found herself flocked by pilgrims and became popular in Laguna. Soon after, the Bishop commissioned a statue based on the painting and inspiration from an image of Nuestra Señora de la Antigua y Siete Dolores y Compasión venerated at the Parish of St. Mary Magdalene in Seville, Spain for the painting was too small for enshrinement and also a need for a processional image. The statue was made and immediately brought to the Philippines and the statue also gained much acclaim along with the original painting.
The first Catholic community in Pakil was founded by St. Pedro Bautista in 1588 as part of Paete, becoming independent in 1676. The initial church was built from bamboo and nipa. In 1684, tribute funds were approved for a stone church, with construction starting in 1732 but suffering a fire in 1739. It was rebuilt and completed in 1767, including a tower in 1777. Various repairs and renovations occurred over the years, including work by Father Juan de Dios de Villayos after an 1881 earthquake and major restoration from 1980 to 1984.
Miracles
Numerous miracles were further reported through the help of the Virgin of Turumba over the years from cures for different diseases to the protection of homes, livelihoods, and lives of her devotees, especially those who kept a piece of her worn-out vestment which is also believed to be miraculous as well. Such miracles of keeping a piece of the Virgin’s vestments were corroborated by testimonies from the surviving war veterans who relayed that they were saved and believed to be protected by the Virgin.
One notable miracle of the Virgin is when a fire raged in Pakil, Laguna, and the Church was one of its casualties. While the fire was going on, when it was about to reach the table of printed estampas (Block prints bearing illustrations of miraculous images which was popular to the faithful since photography was not yet developed at that time) and devotional materials related to the Virgin, the fire suddenly stopped and immediately died down.
The Turumba Festivities and Tradition
The festivities in honor of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba is considered the longest Marian religious festival in the country The word “Turumba” is taken from the word “Tarumba” which could be a Spanish or Filipino term from a Tagalog phrase “natumba sa laki ng tuwa” or tremble in great joy.
The first Tarumba in Our Lady’s Honor was held on September 15, 1788, a Sunday when the original painting was miraculously lifted from one of the rocks in the river near Pakil. The Turumba Festival or Pistang Lupi is celebrated to commemorate the seven sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast in honor of the Virgin of Sorrows is highlighted by a procession and a dance to the beat of the famed “Awit ng Turumba”. The dance procession follows at the end of each “lupi.” The term “Lupi” is a Filipino term for the fold for when the Turumba fest will start again, the novena booklet is folded to mark when will the prayers start in preparation for the next Lupi.
The whole fest is held on specific dates devoted to the observation of key novenas corresponding to the seven sorrows of the Nuestra Señora de los Dolores. The festival is considered the longest Marian religious festival in the country which starts from the Friday before Palm Sunday, also known as “Viernes de Dolores” and ends with the “Domingo de Dolores” which is celebrated every Sunday before or nearest September 15 to commemorate the finding of the image. During “Pistang Lupi” season, tens of thousands of devotees from nearby towns and provinces (particularly from the province of Quezon), even from Metro Manila, join together to participate in the festivity.
The Lupi Fiestas are dated in this particular order:
- 1st Lupi or Viernes Dolores falls on the Friday preceding Palm Sunday.
- 2nd Lupi or Pistang Martes falls on the 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 5th Sunday after Easter Sunday.
- 6th Lupi for Pistang Pag-akyat on Friday after the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ is observed in the Philippine Liturgical Calendar on Sunday after the actual feast observed on Thursday.
- 7th Lupi on Pistang Pagpanaog on Pentecost Sunday.
- 8th Lupi or Domingo de Dolores falls on Sunday nearest September 15.
In recent years, other Lupi dates have been added, almost one for each month that stretches the period of the entire Turumba festivities.
- Fiestang Pakileña every May 12, the Town Fiesta of Pakil.
- Piyesta ng Inang Matulungin on Saturday nearest June 27, Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
- Piyestang Lagueños: Ina ng Kalikasan on Saturday nearest July 16, Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel as part of the Anilag celebrations in the province of Laguna.
- Piyestang Pag-akyat sa langit kay Maria every August 5, in anticipation of the Solemnity of the Assumption and the Feast of the Dedication of Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in line with the shrine’s Spiritual Bond of Affinity with the said Basilica.
A modern tradition has emerged where the Virgin of Turumba actively participates in the annual Grand Marian Procession held in Intramuros, Manila on the First Sunday of December since 1980. The town of Pakil, along with other parts of Laguna, joins their beloved Patroness in Manila’s Walled City to celebrate the Turumba. The music of Turumba fills the air, thrilling the people of Manila and other delegates from different parts of the country, who eagerly join in and experience the Turumba—a significant highlight of the Grand Marian Procession.
During this procession, the song “Awit ng Turumba” is sung by the faithful the song narrates the finding of the painting of the Virgin and the subsequent celebration of the townsfolk. The first half of the song was composed by Prof. Julian Balita before the Second World War while the second half of the song was composed by Iñigo Vito during the 1980s to remind the faithful of the narrative of the finding of the miraculous painting and the first Turumba.
AWIT NG TURUMBA
Turumba, Turumba Mariangga
Matuwa tayo’t magsaya
Sumayaw ng Tu-Turumba
Puri sa Birhen Maria,
Sa Birhen!
Turumba, Turumba sa Birhen!
Matuwa tayo’t mag-aliw
Turumba’y ating sayawin
Puri sa Mahal na Birhen,
Sa Birhen!
Biyernes ng makita Ka
Linggo ng i-ahon Ka
Sumayaw ng Tu-Turumba
Puri sa Birhen Maria,
Sa Birhen ! Sa Birhen!
Turumba, Turumba sa Birhen
Turumba, Turumba sa Birhen
Turumba’y ating sayawin
Puri sa Mahal na Birhen
Sa Birhen! Sa Birhen!
The song embodies that spirit of the festival that makes everyone joyful to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary for all the things that she did for her devotees over the centuries as the devotees shout and sing “Sa Birhen!” in each line of the popular song.
One of the most notable parts of the devotion to the Virgin of Turumba was the visit to the Turumba Swimming Pool, also known as “Panghulo” which was located at the back of the parish near the Sierra Madre where the freshwater of the pool would come from. The pool was developed by Rev. Fr. Juan Valladeres de San Jose, OFM to address the drought that was experienced in the town and was completed in 1804.
The pool became part of the devotion to the Virgin due to a popular pious legend where it is said that the townsfolk would often see the Blessed Virgin Mary walking the waters in the moonlight. It is also said that during the cholera epidemic in Quezon Province, there was an old woman who invited them to bathe in the waters of Panghulo to be cured, and the people who came experienced miraculous cures. The said swimming pool also became integral in the Salibanda rites in honor of the Santo Niño venerated in the Parish of Pakil during the Santo Niño festivities every January.
Pilgrims, especially during the Lupi fiestas, would bathe or take home the clean waters of Panghulo that they would drink for cures up to this day.
Ecclesiastical and Civil Recognition
By order of Pope Pius XII, likewise, and in recognition of the miracles credited to the Virgin, the statue was Episcopally crowned by Bishop Alejandro Olalia, the Bishop of Lipa, on May 24, 1953.
The Parish of San Pedro de Alcantara was declared the Diocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba on October 19, 2006, and in 2014, the Shrine was granted a Special Bond of Spiritual Affinity with the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome which makes the fourth Marian Shrine in the country to receive such grant.
On July 30, 2016, the Virgin of Turumba was formally declared the “Mother and Patroness of Laguna Lake” and the “Patroness of Laguna’s Environmental Stewardship”.
In 2021, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments acceded to the request of the faithful and devotees of the Virgin to grant the image the honor of Pontifical Coronation. The news of the grant of the petition for the Coronation was celebrated by her devotees nationwide.
After two years of long preparation, due to the restrictions due to the pandemic, the much-anticipated coronation rites took place on September 15, 2023, where the original painting was crowned on a special throne frame specifically made for the occasion.
To celebrate this momentous event as the first Pontifically Crowned image of the Province of Laguna and the Diocese of San Pablo, a special lupi called “Lupi ng Koronasyon” was set where the different barangays will host the mass and procession of the Virgin before heading to Majayjay, Laguna and to San Pablo Cathedral on September 24, 2023, for the coronation of the statue of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba (Las Antiguas).
The devotion
The devotion to the Virgin of Turumba continues to be strong and ever-popular over the centuries. Thousands of devotees gather to Pakil during the Lupi Fiestas to join the people to celebrate the festivities.
The popularity of the devotion to the Virgin of Turumba and its famous dance procession was further cemented as our country’s National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal briefly mentioned the famed Turumba devotion in his novel “Noli me Tangere” and locals would recall that the young Rizal would join the festivities to court a young woman from Pakil but didn’t succeed. The devotion also became the subject of different films and is often featured in different television specials or drama series to this day.
The idea of having a festival this lively and joyful to a Sorrowful Virgin might be unusual for those who heard or seen it for the first time, yet according to the devotees, it’s a way to put a smile on Our Lady’s face for the people knew that her Son Jesus rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven in full glory. And the Virgin in turn granted the graces that are necessary to her throngs of devotees over the years.
As we close this blog post, we are sharing the prayer in honor of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba as we continue to honor her great participation in the Passion of Our Lord and to ask for her guidance in carrying on with our journey as we carry our own crosses.
Panalangin sa Mahal na Birhen ng Hapis ng Turumba
Namimighati at kalinis-linisang Birheng Maria, Ina ng Masintahing Anak na Lubhang tigib ng lumbay sa lahat ng ina sa mundo, naninikluhod po ako sa mahal mong harapan, Ina naming maawain at nagsusumamo sa iyo ng buong pagpapakumbaba, na kung itong awa’t kagalingang hinihingi ko ay magiging karangalan ng Panginoong Diyos at ikagagaling ko, ay idalangin mo sa Kanyang kapangyarihan, na ipagkaloob sa akin at kung hindi ay ang Kanyang kasanto-santosang kalooban ang tutupdin ko at pasasalamatan, nang maging dapat akong magpuri sa pagka-Diyos Niyang walang hanggan. Amen.
Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba, Ipanalangin mo kami.
References:
Aviado, Lutgarda, “Madonnas of the Philippines”, Manlapaz Press, Quezon City, 1972.
Barcelona, Mary Anne; Estepa, Consuelo, “Ynang Maria: A Celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines”. Anvil Publishing, 2004.
“Nobena sa Karangalan ng Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba”, Aklatang Lunas, Manila, 1980.
Rivera, Mariano, “Ang Birhen ng Turumba“, Diocese of San Pablo, San Pablo, Laguna, 2018.
Sanchez, Francisco, “La Virgen Maria Venerada en sus Imagenes Filipinas”, Manila: Imp. De Santos y Bernal, 1904.
Vito, I, “Turumba sa Birhen Maria de los Dolores: Mga Kwento, Alamat, Kasaysayan, Himala ng Mahal na Birhen ng Hapis”, Echanis Press, Inc. Diliman, Quezon City. 1997.
Photos:
Atienza, Lorenzo
Dambana ng Mahal na Birhen ng Turumba Facebook page
Innocencio, Glenn
Malabanan, James Benedict
Special thanks to Dr. Cyndee Fernoles of the Diocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba, Pakil, Laguna.
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