Many Phillipinos have come to settle in Ireland and have brought with them their faith and devotions. Of all the new Irish they are probably the most popular and admired. One of their devotions is to Our Lady of Penafrancia. Found buried in 1434 after revelations to Simon Vela in Spain devotion travlled to the Phillipines with the Spaniards. After miraculously cured as a young boy through her intercession a young priest had a shrine built to her in Bicol. It is now a major shrine in the Phillipines and the largest pilgrimage shrine in the world.
The Phillipino community were looking around for a place to keep their statue of Our Lady of Penafrancia. A number of churches were approached and declined. When the approached the Guardian of Church Street, Dublin, Br. Bryan Shortall he is reported to have said "Why not? This is Our Lady of the Angels, it's Her church!" So while at the moment She is safe in a store room there are plans to convert the old choir behind the apse into a shrine to Our Lady of Penafrancia. May She pour many blessings on the Phillipino community and the people of Dublin!
Delighted to read that Our Lady of Peñafrancia has found a home in Church St. The devotion to her is focused on Naga City, Archdiocese of Caceres, in the Bicol Region, the southern part of Luzon, the largest island - nearly as big as Britain. It also includes Masbate island. I have hopes that the Filipinos who have come to Ireland and their Irish-born children will help renew the faith of the Irish.
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