Three centuries after the image of Our Lady of Abona appeared on the shores of Arico, the residents of the town returned yesterday to sing songs in honor of their patron saint and accompany her on her descent from the Church of San Juan Bautista to the beautiful coast del Porís and La Punta.
Some 5,500 people yesterday accompanied Our Lady of Abona in one of the last acts of the Lustral Festivities in his honor and after almost a month and a half of celebrations. The town of Porís de Abona experienced the last part of a descent that started at 8:00 in the morning in Villa de Arico. Devotion and the festive spirit were the predominant notes on a day to mark in the calendar of this municipality in the south of the Island.
Coincidence – and the need to delay the Lustrales from last year to this 2022 due to the limitations of the pandemic – made these festivities coincide with the 300th anniversary of the appearance of the revered image on the coast of the town. The mayor of Arico, Sebastián Martín, celebrated the success that the festivities have enjoyed. “This is definitely a special day. After having had to postpone the events due to covid, it is clear that the whole town really wanted to celebrate and honor Our Lady of Abona. All the neighborhoods have turned upside down,” the leader stressed. “We have had a pilgrimage that has passed through the 22 nuclei of the town,” he recalled. For her part, the Councilor for Festivals and Culture, Dácil Cano, wanted to thank all the neighbors for their collaboration in the events. “People want to party and it shows. Everything has gone according to plan and we are also enjoying an exceptional day », she said.
“After postponing the events due to the covid, it shows that the people really wanted to celebrate it”
After leaving Villa de Arico accompanied by some 40 vehicles – many of them decorated floats and with groups of neighbors dressed in traditional clothing – the image of the Virgin arrived at the entrance to Porís at around 1:00 p.m. Yesterday’s was the 13th edition of this tour of the Marian carving to the point where it was found three centuries ago. The first time it was organized was in 1961. Our Lady of Abona holds the rank of honorary and permanent mayor of the south of the island and is also the patron saint of Arico.
Also, the descent served for the Virgin to go back through some of those more than 20 nuclei where she has been taken on pilgrimage in recent weeks. From Villa she went to La Cisnera, El Río, again to La Cisnera and Villa, to Teguedite, to Arico Nuevo and to Arico Viejo to be taken to the entrance of Porís de Abona. There, next to the church of Our Lady of Fátima, she was lowered from the float in which she had been transported to be carried on the shoulders of the faithful to the nearby town of La Punta. After an emotional descent from the vehicle that carried it, the carving began its journey amid shouts of “Long live!” and folías sung in her honor.
The pilgrimage that for weeks starred the carving throughout the towns of Arico was completed yesterday with which it ran between Porís and La Punta. According to local authorities, a total of more than 80 kilometers on foot were completed in honor of the image in this edition.
“Everything went according to plan and we enjoyed an exceptional day”
Upon her arrival in La Punta, she was transferred to the interior of the Church of Our Lady of Mercedes. She will remain there until today, at which time she will be transferred to Villa de Arico.
The festive day continued in the afternoon with the performance of one of the most emblematic groups of the Islands: Los Sabandelos. The mass in honor of the Virgin was celebrated at 8:00 p.m. to continue with the candlelight procession and an impressive fireworks display.
Today, the town of La Punta will wake up to attend an institutional fight, the subsequent mass, the farewell ceremony in the square and the image’s rise, which this time will not stop in the neighborhoods and will go directly to the temple of San Juan Bautista, usual dwelling of the carving.
