the National Museum of the Philippines on 4 February 2011. Strange letters on the original carving of the Virgin In the carved drapery of the Virgin of Candelaria original there were strange sequences of letters whose meaning is still unknown. These were: Band on the neck: ETIEPFSEPMERI In the belt: NARMPRLMOTARE On the left sleeve, by the candle: LPVRINENIPEPNEIFANT In the mantle, in the right arm: OLM INRANFR IAEBNPFM RFVEN NVINAPIMLIFINVIPI NIPIAN At the edge of the left hand: FVPMIRNA ENVPMTI EPNMPIR VRVIVINRN APVIMFRI PIVNIAN NTRHN At the bottom of the robe: EAFM IRENINI FMEAREI On the back of the cape: NBIMEI ANNEIPERFMIVIFVF There have been numerous theories proposed on possible meanings over the years, including that the evangelizing friars of the Canary Islands wrote devotions to the Virgin Mary in the context of the original (Insular-Amazigh) Guanche language, while attempting to transcribe them into Roman letters. In the Americas and Philippines The cult of the Virgin of Candelaria swept America due to the emigration of Canarians. They brought the devotion as a symbol of their culture, somewhat similar to the diffusion of the cult of St. Patrick by Irish emigrants. On the other hand, the Candelaria image brought to the Philippines has a white image with a child. She is widely venerated in South America and the Caribbean, where she is the patroness of Oruro and La Paz (Bolivia), Medellín (Colombia) (which was founded as Villa de Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria de Medellín), Mayagüez (Puerto Rico) (which was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez), and Manatí (Puerto Rico) (which was founded as Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria y San Matías). In the Cathedral of San Fernando of Texas (the oldest Catholic cathedral in the United States) is a replica of the Virgin of Candelaria, which is a facsimile of that venerated in the Canary Islands. This is because the city of San Antonio was founded by Canarians. In the Philippines, she is the patroness of Western Visayas and Negros Occidental, and a white version with a child is found in the Jaro Cathedral in Iloilo: it is either of local heavenly origin since its discovery was miraculous being found floating in a river, changing in weight and growing in size or it may be brought by the Spanish immigrants during Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. Her feast is celebrated every February 2