The province of Pampanga on Tuesday marked the 70th anniversary of the canonical coronation of the Virgen de los Remedios at the Repository Chapel of the Arzobispado de Pampanga in the City of San Fernando.

Kapampangan devotees gathered at the chapel for the historic celebration, which coincided with the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 September.

According to the Repository Chapel of the Arzobispado de Pampanga, the anniversary celebration was initially planned for a larger venue.

The Archdiocese of San Fernando, however, opted to hold the event at the Repository Chapel as Pampanga remains under a state of calamity due to flooding.

The canonical coronation of the Virgen de los Remedios originally took place on 8 September 1956 under a decree issued by Pope Pius XII.

The devotion traces its roots to 1952, when Bishop Cesar Maria Guerrero of the Diocese of San Fernando launched the Cruzada de Penitencia y Caridad, or Crusade of Penance and Charity.

The movement, which paired the Virgen de los Remedios with the Santo Cristo del Perdon, sought to address social unrest and bridge divisions between wealthy landowners and poorer communities through prayer and charity.

In 1954, after the original image was returned to the people of Baliti, Guerrero commissioned local artist Victoriano Siongco to carve a larger replica for the continuing provincial crusade.

On 11 February 1956, Guerrero formally petitioned the Vatican through Cardinal Federico Tedeschini for the canonical coronation of the image.

Pope Pius XII approved the petition through a pontifical decree issued on 15 July 1956.

On 8 September that year, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi placed a golden crown on the image before an estimated 70,000 faithful who gathered despite stormy weather.