The Philippine Postal Corporation is coming up with the 300 Years of Devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia stamps which will be issued on September 8, 2010. It is classified as a “Commemorative” kind of issue with a denomination of P 7.00 and quantity of 160,000 pieces.
One of the many Catholic traditions is the Marian devotion. We, the Filipinos, especially the Bicolanos, have that extraordinary, exceptional, and devoted love for Mother Mary — the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, too. We believe that she will intercede for us and will lift our prayers up to God. Thus, there is strong belief and unshakable faith that our prayers are answered through the intercession of the Blessed Mother.
She has been called many names in different regions of the Philippines. Some of them are the following: Nuestra Señora de Caridad to Ilocanos; Our Lady of Manaoag to the people of Pangasinan; Lady of Piat to Cagayanos; Nuestra Señora del Rosario de la Naval or Nuestra Señora de Antipolo to the Tagalogs and many others. Perhaps, one of her most notable names is Our Lady of Peñafrancia, more warmly called INA or Mother, to the Bicolanos. This intense devotion to Mother Mary by the Bicolanos can be traced back in Spain.
In a Basilica Minore atop a hill overlooking the Chico River, the image of our Blessed Mother is specially venerated under the title "Our Lady of the Holy Rosary". In 1604, the sons of St. Dominic brought the revered image from Macau, China to the ancient city of Lallo-c, Cagayan, which was then the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Nueva Segovia.
The Holy Father has paid tribute to the maturing faith of the people of Cagayan and their respective filial devotion to Mary by conceding to the Shrine of Our Lady of Piat, the title of Basilica Minore or Minor Basilica. On June 20, 1999, the Basilica was inaugurated in solemn ceremonies led by the Papal legate Antonio Cardinal Javierre Ortas and Archbishop Antonio Franco, the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines.