Devotion. Oftentimes, I’d ask myself what is it with faith that simply makes people continue to support and recognize icons like that of the Divino Rostro and Our Lady of Peñafrancia here in Bicol. Maybe some follow them blindly because or rumored miracles that they are capable of doing. On the other hand, maybe it’s because of the traditions and the passed down teachings that every generation of adults have passed down to their children when it comes to the faith that should be given to the said icons.

It is a different thing however for me. It’s not really what my mom told me about these icons nor is it the stories of miracles from these icons which make me respect and appreciate these icons. It is the feeling that they elicit from me. It is the overwhelming feeling that simply by watching the Traslacion Procession or the Fluvial Procession, I feel safe and protected. It is the happiness that I feel by looking at the icons themselves.

I may be a more logical person in a sense that I don’t really go for miracles unless I see them myself. But I am a person who knows how important emotions and feelings are. Why do I feel overwhelmed with these icons? Why do I feel safe or happy? It’s not something that logic and science can explain. Maybe, it doesn’t need any scientific experiment just to prove their existence of the worth of these icons. I believe that it is just as it is. That’s devotion.


(Photographed by Carlo Martinez Aspe)