Catholics celebrate Our Lady of Candles feast in Iloilo City

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Maura Estrella could barely walk.

But the 92-year-old woman from Barangay Zamora-Concepcion in Iloilo City did not allow her disability to stop her from continuing what she has been doing for 15 years now.

“For as long as my body can make it, I will continue to attend the feast of the Candelaria every second of February,” she said.

Estrella, who was wheelchair-bound, was among the devotees who trooped to the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral in Iloilo City on Sunday, Feb. 2, to celebrate the feast of the Our Lady of Candles or the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria.

They attended Mass at the cathedral which started with the blessing of candles.

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According to Fr. Angelo Colada, social communications director of the Archdiocese of Jaro, the candles were prepared by the church for the devotees.

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Colada said the candles, commonly known as “perdon,” were made up of beeswax from male bees or drone bees since they are born from unfertilized eggs of queen bees or called “virgin birth.”

He said the beeswax symbolizes Christ who was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

One pack of the perdon candles costs from P175 to P200.

The income goes to the church’s scholarship programs and those who in need.

Estrella said she was grateful to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary for healing her a few years back.

She recalled the time when she could not stand well due to a leg injury after she accidentally slipped in their bathroom.

Estrella said she prayed hard, underwent a successful operation, and was able to walk and stand again.

“Our Lady grants wishes,” she said.

At present, Estrella can barely stand already due to old age, but she continues her devotion to the Our Lady of Candles who she attributed for her healing and age.

Another devotee, Mary Hope Diaz, came all the way from Silay City, Negros Occidental, to pay homage to the Our Lady of Candles in Jaro.

She said she and her husband are praying hard so they will be given another child.

Diaz said she has difficulty conceiving a child but has not lost hope in God and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Although Sunday’s celebration is commonly known as the Feast of the Our Lady of Candles, the Catholic Church’s liturgy is for the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple.