Thursday, February 24, 2011

EDSA ‘Fatima’ blessed by Pope; Jaime Cardinal Sin fetched image in NJ:

SIGN OF PROTECTION. Then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and then AFP Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos carry the image of Our Lady of Fatima which was delivered to them on Feb. 23 1986, the second day of the 4-day People Power revolt, for Bahay Maria Foundation heeding the call of Jaime Cardinal Sin. INQUIRER PHOTO

 

MANILA, Philippines—The simple image of Our Lady of Fatima that helped embolden Filipinos to topple the Marcos dictatorship 25 years ago was once stored all but forgotten in the attic of a parish church in New Jersey in the United States.

The wooden Marian image is now enshrined in a glass case surrounded by other venerated icons in the Chapel of the Saints, at the basement of Valenzuela City’s National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. It has been there since 1999.

It was the very image hoisted by then Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos and Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile as they addressed the crowd on EDSA following their defection from the strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, according to parish priest Msgr. Bart Santos.

The striking scene was immortalized in a snapshot published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Feb. 25, 1986.

“The world may emulate EDSA I but it can never be repeated as is because there are things lacking in [the others’] revolutions,” Santos said.

He said peaceful revolts could never be achieved by mere shouting and waving of placards: “We had a miracle [because of] the faith of the people and the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary—an instrument we have that other revolutions in other countries don’t have.”

The same Marian image was also present at the Manila Cathedral on Aug. 5, 2009, when Filipinos prepared to bid the late President Corazon Aquino a final and fond farewell, Santos told the Inquirer.

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How did the statue of Our Lady of Fatima become a focal point in the Philippines’ most critical times? This was how its previous and present caretakers pieced the story together:

Read more here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110224-321898/EDSA-Fatima-blessed-by-Pope-Sin-fetched-image-in-NJ

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