Cagayanos honor Our Lady of Piat

By Ian Roger M. Francisco

TUGUEGARAO CITY, July 3 — Cagayanos honored the Our Lady of Piat, the patroness of Cagayan Valley Region, on her feast Thursday.

Pilgrims and devotees coming from all over the country flocked to the Basilica Minore of Piat, the home of the miraculous Marian image which the local people fondly call "Apo Baket" — the Iluko appellation of the Dear Mother.

In order to invite maximum participation of Catholics and foreign and local tourists for the feast day of the Blessed Mother, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed and issued Proclamation No. 1821, declaring July 2 a special non-working holiday in the province.

Earlier, the provincial council of Cagayan headed by Vice Governor Odi Fausto passed a resolution making July 2 a special day for all Cagayanos who dearly love "Apo Baket" whose image was displayed for veneration for a week at the St. Peter’s Cathedral as part of the first-ever Marian Voyage of Peace capped with a parade of prominent Marian icons from Luzon, including Metro Manila, last Sunday.

The resolution was forwarded to President Arroyo who, in turn, signed Proclamation 1821, through Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

The Piat Parish headed by Msgr. Samuel Baculi prepared a queue of activities befitting the miraculous healing intercessor of many Catholics here.

Eucharistic celebrations were held in all parishes making up the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao in honor of the miraculous image.

In Metro Manila, devotees of Our Lady of Piat, also known as "Yena Tam Ngamin" (the Ibanag title of Mother of Us All), gathered at the Club Filipino for a special mass celebrated by Msgr. Bong Cabrera, parish priest of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City.

The Piat Legacy Foundation headed by its president, lawyer Hesiquio Mallillin, sponsored the mass for the Lady, one of the oldest Marian images brought by the Dominicans in 1604 from Macau to Cagayan Valley. (PNA)

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