The title commemorates Mary's ritual purification during the Presentation of Jesus.
Tradition recounts the statue's first appearance in 1587, where a group of fishermen found it floating in the Iloilo River yet could not lift it due to its heavy weight. When the fishermen decided to bring it to Jaro, the image became easier to carry. The statue was initially placed in a small niche near the apex of the local church's central spire. Folklore speaks of the statue's recorded growth in size over the centuries, to the point that it was transferred to the church's balcony. The image's shrine is accessible today by a flight of steps attached to the cathedral northeastern façade.
The statue received Papal sanction from Pope John Paul II, who personally canonically crowned the statue on 21 February 1981 during his first Apostolic Visit to the Philippines.It is thus the only Marian statue in the Philippines personally crowned by a Pope and saint.
