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Alegado Joannes P., Consolacion (2025)

10/09/2025

PUBLIC ADVISORY

Passengers are advised to plan ahead when traveling to and from Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) due to ongoing repair works at the Marcelo Fernan Bridge.

Starting tonight, September 10, 2025, from 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM daily, the northbound lane (from Lapu-Lapu City to Mandaue City) will be temporarily closed for deck slab repairs. During this time:

• The southbound lane (Mandaue to Lapu-Lapu) will remain open while merging traffic with northbound lane (zipper merge system) to keep traffic moving.

• Drivers going from Lapu-Lapu to Mandaue are strongly advised to take the Old (First) Mactan-Mandaue Bridge as an alternate route.

The repair works are expected to be finished by October 2025, and updates will be shared as the project progresses.

Passengers are encouraged to allow extra travel time to the airport, especially during the closure hours, to avoid delays. We also urge passengers to check their flight status with their airlines to plan their travel to and from the airport.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

04/09/2025

OUR LADY OF CONSOLATION
SEPTEMBER 4, 2025

The Blessed Virgin Mary is venerated as Mother of Consolation, because through her, God sent Jesus Christ the Consoler to the world. At least since the seventeenth century, “Our Lady of Consolation” or “Our Lady of the Cincture” is a key title with which the Order honours the Virgin Mary.

Its origin among the Augustinians is directly tied to the life of the mother and son Saints Monica and Augustine who are commonly depicted together with the figures of Mary and the Child Jesus in renditions of the image. The other title of the devotion is Our Lady of the Cincture.

Based on these titles, numerous statues and paintings depict the Virgin with the child Jesus, who is giving the cincture to Saint Monica and to Saint Augustine as a sign of consolation. The painting above is displayed in the Augustinian parish church at Shiroyama district, Nagasaki, Japan, where the church is dedicated in honour of Mary as the Mother of Consolation.

In 1439, the Order obtained the faculty to constitute groups of laity in the “Confraternity of the Cincture”. In 1495, in the Augustinian church in Bologna, the “Confraternity of St. Mary of the Cincture” came into existence. In 1575, various confraternities were united into the Archconfraternity of the Cincture, which received multiple indulgences from the Holy See.

According to tradition, Monica, immersed in sorrow because of the death of her husband and the waywardness of her son, was granted a vision of Mary and the Child Jesus, who sought to offer her comfort or consolation. Mary handed her a leather cincture which she asked Monica to wear as a continual reminder of her presence and thus, a visible sign of encouragement. From that moment Monica wore the cincture and, after his conversion, recommended it also to her son as an indication of Mary’s abiding protection. Thus, by this same tradition, it became the principal and common symbol for all who follow Augustine’s Rule.

The various titles by which the Order venerates Mary – Help, Grace, Good Counsel, Consolation – all suggest an understanding of the Mother of God as benefactress or patroness of her people, as one who responds to the many needs which humanity experiences. Mary is truly