The Virgin of Fuensanta debuts an apple-green brocaded shawl, a gift from a parishioner
The bells of the tower of the Cathedral of Murcia woke up, with their intense ringing, the Murcians minutes before 7 in the morning. At that time, the mass prior to the pilgrimage began this Tuesday in which the patron saint, the Virgen de la Fuensanta, will return to her sanctuary in Algezares after more than two years of residing in the Cathedral due to the pandemic.
Dressed in a new, brocaded, apple-green cloak, a gift from a parishioner, the Morenica began her ascent to the mountain surrounded by hundreds of devotees who reunite with the traditional spring pilgrimage.
A return for which the traditional route has been recovered, as explained by the dean of the Cathedral, Tomás Cascales, who also pointed out that the Virgin of Loreto, patron saint of the district of Algezares, the town where the Sanctuary is located, will join to the procession of the Virgin of Fuensanta, from Reguerón and until Morenica leaves the district. “The town of Algezares wants to pay tribute to La Morenica in this way on her return to the mountain,” he pointed out.
The mass, which was attended by civil and military authorities, was presided over by the Bishop of the Diocese of Cartagena, José Manuel Lorca Planes. “We are consoled that it is not a definitive farewell, but a see you later,” he said, highlighting the gratitude “that we all should feel for having had the Mother” for so long “with us” and in “so intense and worrying” moments.
Lorca Planes welcomed the recovery of the tradition of saying goodbye to her to return her to her Sanctuary, knowing that “she never leaves us; with that joy of hers we say goodbye to her ». Finally, the bishop prayed for the sick, the elderly and all the people who have not been able to attend the pilgrimage even if they had planned.
After mass, the entourage and devotees undertook the road to the Sanctuary with the traditional stop at the Iglesia del Carmen, where the authorities said goodbye to her. Upstairs, the Benedictine nuns await her, who take care of her in the Sanctuary, and who have been without the Patron Saint of Murcia for the 796 days since she came down to the Cathedral for Lent, Holy Week and the Spring Festival, as as tradition dictates.
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