The Lady of Remedies

I. The Triptych Caught in a "Baling" Net

Way back in the 1930's, the original settlement was not in present day Odlot, but in another site called Daang Lungsod, or old settlement. Then as now, the people depended on the sea for livelihood. in one of those shore fishing days, when only a small net called "baling" is used, a fisherman repeatedly caught nothing but a piece of wooden plank. Twice he hurled it back to to the sea, but twice the plank would get caught in his net.

While the other fishermen have had their catch fr yhe day, the unnamed fisher stil got nothing, and it waas already past noon time. on the third time, he caught the same plank; he threw it by the shore, and finally caught some fish. When he arrived home, the hungry wife scolded him for being late for lunch, so he narrated what happened. The woman got curious and told the husband to bring her the "mysterious" wood. Next day, the fisherman got the plank and gave it to the wife who, seeing nothing but a piece of wood with some carved decorations on the sides placed it in their hut's "swambi", or small extension.

Perhaps, the wife thought of using the find as firewood but, she was told in a dream not to desecrate the wood, but rather to take care of it as it has certain value that would be revealed in time. Then in another dream, the wife was told to look closely at the wood, for an image of the Virgin and the Child Jesus would appear. She was also told to venerate the image that slowly showed as our Lady of Remedies. Images supposedly appeared gradually on the plain wood, and it was not only of the Virgin and Child Jesus, but also of two others, one on each side flanking the central figure. The couple told the neighbors about their unusual find, and the community decided to build a small chapel to enshrine the icon. Since then, the fisher folk took Our Lady of Remedies as their very own patroness, and invokedher help before going out to the sea.

An annual fiesta was celebrated in the chapel on December 18, simultaneous with the feast of Our Lady of Remedies in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Cebu. On the fiesta, the icon would be borne in a decorated banca, for a fluvial processsion reaching as far as Nailon, another fishing village in Bogo, accompanied by fishing boats from Daang Lungsod.

When Barrio Odlot was established on a higher ground the settlers transferred but every December, the icon woul be brought to it's original chapel site, and after the Holy Mass, would be still be carried in a fluvial parade, as they have always done in earlier times. In 1987, during the curacy of Fr. Hendrico Gabutan, the feasy was moved to December 14 (which the parish kept unti now), to avoid conflict of focus with the nine day Misa de Gallo for Christmas that starts on December 16.


II. The Honeycomb Event

In 1945, Mr. Anton Menoria and wife donated to Odlot Chapel a round sculptured image of Our Lady which was carved by the famous Ma. Binoy Carabio of Bantayan Island. Legend has it that Jesusa, the wife of Anton Menoria was told in a dream by the Blessed Mother to donate an Image by Her, as Our Lady of Remedies which will henceforth be venerated in the village. The arrival of the image was joyfully met by a big delegation of Odlotanons in Hagnaya port, as it traveled from Bantayan Island to mainland Cebu.

Sometime in 1974 the face and entire head of this image were mysteriously covered with honeycomb (pukyutan). Disturbed by such unusual occurence, some Odlotanons went to Bogo to seek for the Parish Priest's advice. To their surprise, the priest told them not to touch the unusual mass on he image's face and head, for it is a good sign: a sign of good things to happen in Odlot, as the produce of the bees is honey, a symbol of abundance. During this year, fishing in Odlot was bad, and a lot of people were impoverished but another source of income was discovered right in it shores: Puka Shells then a worldwide craze, were found abundantly in Odlot. The Barrio then became the center of inceased income and economic activity. Through this new found livelihood, thhe people never forgot their Virgin, whom everyone believes provide them with alternate source of living when the sea yielded little or no fish at all. Holy Mass became regular in the Barrio Chapel as the people's way of showing their gratitude to the Virgin. In the late 1977, people went back o their usual fishing but it was not fish that gave Odlot its second economic windfall. After puka shells, rare and valuable shellfish species were also found deep in the sea of Odlot, which up until today, remains abundant and provides the villagers with it main livelihood side by side with farming. Aside from the continuous economic windfalls, people of Odlot and neighboring barrios and towns also testify about getting cured from various illnesses when they pray to Our Lady of Remedies of Odlot, and rub Holy Oil from the Virgin's Lamp on their afflicted body parts.

III. Phenomena on June 21 and 25, 2008

On June 21, 2008 a Saturday around 11:30 a.m. the bigger image of Our Lady of Remedies of Odlot in the lobby of the rectory was noticed to be shedding tears by Mr. Ricky Mata, a parish volunteer, together with some local boys. They were trimming the row of Inian trees in front of the rectory when they noticed this unusual manifestation. The news spread in the village and about a hundred more people saw and observed the phenomenon which lasted until midnight.

Father Romeo Desuyo, the parish priest, was asking himself for the possible meaning of the Virgin's tears and when the news about the sinking of the MV Princes of the Stars came out the next day, he discerned that it was the Blessed Mother's way of asking the Odlot parishioners to pray for those who perished in the tragic incident. Two of the missing passengers happened to be from Odlot.

The phenomenon was repeated on June 25, Wednesday, after the 5 p.m. healing mass and while Fr. Desuyo was praying over the people inside the Churcu one by one, the devotees who were passing by the rectory noticed that the image was again shedding tears. This occurrence was observed from 6:30 p.m. until about 7:30 p.m. When Fr. Desuyo got out of the church, witness rushed to him and told him what happened, and that they prayed the rosary before the image.