Bishop Enrique Macaraeg of Tarlac has approved the episcopal coronation of the image of the Nuestra Señora de la Merced at a diocesan shrine in the city.
“In honor of our beloved patroness, Nuestra Señora de la Merced, the Diocese of Tarlac has approved our request that the image be given an episcopal coronation,” announced Father Jesus Gragasin, rector of the Dela Merced Shrine.
He said the coronation will be held at 8:30 a.m. on September 24, feast day of the parish in the city’s Matatalaib district.
“We shall hold nine-day Masses in honor of the patroness and a simple yet meaningful celebration of the coronation will be held on the parish’s feast day,” said the priest.
Bishop Macaraeg will lead the ceremony, which also coincides with the parish’s 65th anniversary of its canonical erection.
The statue of Nuestra Señora de la Merced will be the second Marian image to be granted episcopal coronation in the diocese, next to the image of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores of Mater Dolorosa parish in Capas town that was crowned on Sept. 15, 2018.
The shrine is also one of the nine diocesan shrines of the Diocese of Tarlac and its third Marian shrine.
