Divina Pastora (English title: ''Divine Shepherdess'') is a statue of the
Madonna and Child
In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...
, the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, with a lamb at her side. It is considered to be one of the most important religious icons of Venezuela. Divina Pastora is the patron saint of the city of
Barquisimeto
Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the f ...
and of the Venezuelan National Militia. The image dates from 1735. Divina Pastora is celebrated in a procession on January 14 of each year,
when a massive
Marian
Marian may refer to:
People
* Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia
* Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name
* Marian (surname), a list of people so named
Places
* Marian, Iran (disambiguation)
* Marian, Queenslan ...
procession occurs, considered to be one of the largest in the world, attracting millions of pilgrims.
The statue is removed from its shrine and is carried on the main streets of Barquisimeto in a procession which starts at the ''Iglesia de la Divina Pastora'' in Santa Rosa until it reaches the
Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This procession is unlike those mass Marian celebrations in the world where the image does not leave its temple. This procession occurs due to the devotion the people of Barquisimeto have towards it as gratitude towards saving the city from a cholera outbreak that occurred in the city in the 19th century. In 2016, 4,000,000 faithful honored the Divina Pastora.
Background
The tradition comes from
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. A
Capuchin friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...
, Isidore of Seville, had a dream in which he saw an image of the Divina Pastora. Days later, he gave a detailed description of his vision to the artist
Alonso Miguel de Tovar so that he could paint it. The painting of the virgin with pastoral hat, covered by a blue mantle, holding a boy in her left hand and a lamb in her right one, was called "Divina Pastora de Almas". Later, the sculptor
Francisco Antonio Ruiz Gijón, made a life-sized
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
of the ''Divina Pastora'', which was carried in its first procession in 1705.
History
The devotion to the ''Divina Pastora'' in Venezuela dates from 1736, when the parish priest of the town of Santa Rosa commissioned a sculptor to make a statue of the
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...
. Unexpectedly, the figure that was delivered was of the Divina Pastora. The priest wanted to return it, but the packing crate could not be lifted. The whole town took this as a sign that the statue was to remain in Santa Rosa. In 1855, the status of the ''Divina Pastora'' as the patron saint of the Venezuelan state of
Lara
Lara may refer to:
Places
* Lara (state), a state in Venezuela
*Electoral district of Lara, an electoral district in Victoria, Australia
* Lara, Antalya, an urban district in Turkey
* Lara, Victoria, a township in Australia
* Lara de los Infa ...
was further established, when a
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
epidemic occurred, striking a great number of families in Barquisimeto. Desperate, they implored the Divina Pastora for help. It is said that Father Jose Macario Yépez, parish priest of the ''La Concepción'' church of Barquisimeto, offered himself before the Virgin, to be the last victim of the disease. Some accounts say that the priest died six months later and that the epidemic then left the city; others indicate that his supplications stopped the epidemic immediately. The January 14th procession commemorates this event. In 2011, a group of vandals destroyed part of the Divina Pastora monument. The heads of sheep were decapitated and the face of the Virgin was hit by a bullet. Other images in the town were also vandalized with paint or destroyed.
Procession
![Procesionpastora](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Procesionpastora.jpg)
Each January 14 in
Lara state
Lara State ( es, Estado Lara, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Barquisimeto.
Lara State covers a total surface area of and, in 2015, had a census population of 2,019,211.
Toponymy
The state is named after a notable ...
, the Divine Shepherdess statue is carried by 6 to 10 men and women accompanied by a procession of more than 2 million people, some barefoot and carrying crosses, from ''Iglesia de la Divina Pastora'' in Santa Rosa near Barquisimeto to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Barquisimeto.
It is a festive occasion, with countless street vendors selling anything from food and liquor to small religious figurines along the route of just over 7.5 km that snakes through the city. Beginning at about 11:30 after the 10:00 am Mass at Santa Rosa, the procession lasts nearly 7 hours, making a traditional stop at Macario Yepez square. It culminates in the arrival Mass celebrated far and wide on Avenida Venezuela, with various cultural and musical acts ending a day full of fervor and faith. During the next couple of months the "Shepherdess" visits some of the 52 parishes of Barquisimeto and arrives back in Santa Rosa in time for
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy ...
.
Veneration
The
earthquake of March 26, 1812, (which devastated the cities of
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
, Barquisimeto,
Mérida,
El Tocuyo
El Tocuyo is a fertile valley and city in west-central Venezuela at elevation. It is located in south-central Lara State about 60 km southwest of Barquisimeto. The town of El Tocuyo was founded by Juan de Carvajal in 1545 on the banks of the T ...
and
San Felipe) destroyed the temple of the Divina Pastora, but the sculpture remained intact, reinforcing the belief of the faithful that the Virgin wanted to stay to protect them.
The faith of devotees was also strengthened in 1855 after the breakout in Venezuela of a terrible cholera epidemic that decimated many families from Barquisimeto. The disease lingered, in spite of medicine, laments and prayers, and the desperate people decided as a last resort to walk in procession through the streets of Barquisimeto to the Divina Pastora, to implore her intercession, which was supposedly granted, as the epidemic ceased thereafter.
Gallery
Every year the Virgin is dressed differently by a local fashion designer and her gown is donated by devotees paying penance.
Divina Pastora-Barquisimeto.JPG, Divina Pastora (2009)
Divina Pastora 2010.jpg, Divina Pastora (2010)
DivinaPastora.jpg, Divina Pastora (2013)
References
*Francisco Aguilar Piñal: ''Historia de Sevilla, siglo XVIII'', Universidad de Sevilla, 1989, , pagina 335
*''Diario critico de Venezuela'', 15-1-2009, "Procesión multitudinaria. Divina Pastora convocó a más de dos millones de fieles"
*''Fe y cultura en Venezuela. Memorias de la II jornadas de historia y religión'', Caracas, 2002, , página 91
*Analítica.com, 27-5-2011, Atacaron otra imagen de la Divina Pastora
*''El Observador'', 27-5-2011, ''Yaracuy amaneció la imagen de la Virgen del Rosario pintada de rojo''
*''El Universal'', 28-5-2011, ''En Lara y Yaracuy decapitan imágenes de El Venerable''
External links
*
{{authority control
Barquisimeto
1735 establishments in South America
Titles of Mary
Patron saints
Statues of the Madonna and Child
Catholic Church in Venezuela
Statues in Venezuela
1735 establishments in the Spanish Empire
Vandalized works of art