Our Lady of the Candles

Our Lady of the Candles Nuestra Señora de la Purificación y Candelaria
The icon enshrined on the balcony of Jaro Cathedral.
Location	Jaro, Iloilo Philippines
Date	April 1587
Witness	Don Cristobal Mercado
Type	Limestone
Holy See approval	21 February 1981 by Pope John Paul II
Shrine	National Shrine of Our Lady of the Candles
Patronage	Jaro, Iloilo, Western Visayas

Our Lady of the Candles (Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria; formally: Nuestra Señora de la Purificación y Candelaria) is a Marian title and image venerated by Filipino Catholics in the Western Visayas. The image, which is enshrined in the balcony of Jaro Cathedral, is locally known as the patroness of Jaro District of Iloilo City and the whole of Western Visayas region.

The feast day of Our Lady of the Candles is on Candlemas (2 February), and is celebrated in Iloilo City with Tridentine Masses, a grand procession, and numerous other parades.

The title commemorates Mary's ritual purification during the Presentation of Jesus. Halakha (Jewish law) ordered that firstborn sons be redeemed at the Temple in Jerusalem when they are 40 days old. The mother, who expelled blood during the birth, was considered unclean for a week and 33 days thereafter, necessitating her purification at the same time the child is redeemed.

The 16th-century limestone statue depicts Mary and the Child Jesus carrying tapers in their right hands. It is customarily vested in gold cloth; crowns adorn mother and son, the latter holding a globus cruciger in his left hand. The candle held by the image enshrined in the cathedral's façade is today tipped with a red electrical bulb.

Tradition recounts the statue's first appearance in 1587, where a group of fishermen found it floating in the Iloilo River yet could not lift it due to its heavy weight. When the fishermen decided to bring it to Jaro, the image became easier to carry. The statue was initially placed in a small niche near the apex of the local church's central spire. Folklore speaks of the statue's recorded growth in size over the centuries, to the point that it was transferred to the balcony. The image's shrine is accessible today by a flight of steps attached to the cathedral's northeastern façade.