Our Lady of Salvation (), also known as Our Lady of Light, is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The devotion to Our Lady of Salvation is based on a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary that was first venerated in Joroan (now part of Tiwi, Albay) in the Philippines.
The image was canonically crowned 25 August 1976 by Cardinal Jaime Sin. The former Bishop of Legazpi, Teotimo Pacis y Cruel declared the image as the patroness of Albay province.
Description
The original, 18th-century image of Our Lady of Salvation reflects her role, according to Catholic doctrine, as Co-Redemptrix. The Virgin is portrayed as carrying the Christ Child in her left arm, while her right arm grasps a man by the wrist as he is about to fall into a gaping Hellmouth. An angel kneels at the foot of the Virgin, offering a basket of burning hearts to Christ, who holds a burning heart in his right hand, while his left hand is stretched in a gesture of accepting the hearts.
History
Much of the history regarding the statue of the Lady of Salvation and the Marian devotion centered on it rely heavily on the written accounts, based on tradition, of the first parish priest of Joroan, Rev Lamberto S. Fulay (1919–1935), in his booklet An Kasaysayan Kan Ladawan Ni Birhen de Salvacion.
The Calpi tree
According to the Fulay account, in the 1770s a certain haciendero named Don Silverio Arcilla of Buhi, assigned a tenant farmer called Mariano Dacoba, to one of his vast estates in Joroan (once known as Cagnipa), which was a satellite barrio of Buhi. While Dacoba was clearing parts of Arcilla's hacienda one day, he chopped down a big Calpi tree. Although already severed at the base, the tree's leaves did not wilt and maintained its life and freshness. The tenant informed Arcilla about it, and the latter consulted with the pastor of Buhi.
A certain sculptor called Bagacumba was commissioned by the pastor of Buhi to carve an image from the Calpi trunk that Dacoba had found. Three images were carved out of the wood: that of Our Lady of Salvation, one of Our Lady of Solitude, and that of Saint Anthony of Padua. On 25 August 1776, the image of Our Lady of Salvation was lent to Joroan on condition that the village's residents build a chapel at the centre of their barrio. Consequently, a certain Sotera Cababag was assigned as the chapel's Hermana Mayor, in charge of caring for the image.
The 1853 agreement
Buhi was initially the image's rightful owner as Arcilla (who owned the land the statue's wood came from), the parish priest who had it commissioned, and the sculptor were all from the town. On 21 January 1853, Buhi and Joroan had an agreement transferring rights over the image to the latter. Buhi's parish priest and Gobernadorcillo, Rev Antonio Guadalajara and Mariano Buenaflor, respectively, made the pact with Joroan's barrio lieutenants. In accordance with the agreement, Buhi surrendered all its rights over the image if the people of Joroan made an offering of fifty pesos, and an additional twenty-five for a bell.
Miracles
First miracle
Joroan, according to Fulay, was often the target of Muslim marauders due to its proximity to the sea. During an attack, the people of Joroan would flock to the image and pray to the Virgin for protection. Tradition notes that Muslims pillaging Joroan would constantly fail to ignite houses, and this was attributed to the Virgin.
Deliverance of Hermana Tiray
The second miracle was when a Hermana Mayor known only as Tiray was captured in a Moro raid. After a year of being held captive in Sulu, Tiray fell into a deep sleep and upon waking up, had realised that she was not in her quarters but was standing in an unknown forest. She then saw in a strange, white deer in the woods, which she, out of curiosity, followed through the mountains until she lost sight of it. Tiray discovered that she had already been miraculously transported to Legazpi, and was now only 38 km away from Joroan. After this incident, the people of Joroan moved the chapel further away from the sea to a higher location in the mountains, in order to avoid its desecration by raiders.