**This is the hardcover edition. Inside pages (with photos) are in color.
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The Filipino Dominicans were popularly known for the propagation of Our Lady of the Rosary of La Naval and Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag. It is very timely that the author, who is a Bicolano Dominican, introduces in this book a peculiarly unknown ancient image. The Bicolanos are well-known for the devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia and with the addition of the devotion to Our Lady of Salvation, the patroness of the Diocese of Legazpi. This book will reveal its history, the theology behind the image and the piety of the Bicolanos that made them deeply Marian in heart and are rightly called “pueblo amante de Maria.”
- Fr. Rodel E. Aligan, OP
Admittedly, this fast-growing devotion among the Albayanos is not as well-known as that of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga (the Archdiocese of Caceres). So, for those who may want to know more about the Marian devotion, this book, Nuestra Señora de Salvación of Joroan: History, Theology, Piety, is a most valuable and welcome answer. Tracing the history and origin of the Image, the author offers insightful reflections on the significance of the Image to those who have been touched by her presence and influence, and the devotion that grew from it. In the end, Fr. Alaurin comes up with a simple but clear and beautiful Mariology that aptly describes what the devotion to our Blessed Mother has been to the Albayanos—to borrow the author’s own words, “a miracle of faith that leads people to God, through Mary, a religious trait that truly defines the Albayano and Bicolano character.”
- Bishop Joel Z. Baylon†
While the main focus of Dominican Fr. Edgardo D. Alaurin’s remarkable book is the popularly revered Icon of the Nuestra Señora de Salvación of Joroan, it is interesting to note the breadth of this devotion’s historical background as well as that of many other Marian devotions in the country.
Reading through this scholarly feat by this accomplished Bicolano author, one will surely be regaled, not only with this Marian devotion’s interesting origin and the journey of its several historical icons, but also with Our Lady of Salvation’s countless astonishing miraculous interventions since arriving in our country in 1776 up to this day.
- Bishop-Emeritus Jose C. Sorra, DD