La Laguna was filled with emotions and devotion yesterday during the official ceremony appointing the Cristo Lagunero as the special protector of the Field Artillery Regiment No. 93 (RACA 93).
The ceremony commenced at noon with a mass in the courtyard of the Christ sanctuary, led by the military archbishop of Spain, Juan Antonio Aznárez, and the bishop of Tenerife, Bernardo Álvarez. During the event, the special protector title was conferred upon the Nivariense Bishopric.
The sacred image was then paraded to the Plaza del Cristo, where a military ceremony was held under the auspices of Lieutenant General Salom, Chief of the Canary Islands Command of the Army. It was during this ceremony that the appointment of Christ as the special protector of RACA 93 was formalised. A military parade followed, with the entire regiment standing in formation, reaffirming their acceptance of the holy image’s protection, which the artillerymen have upheld for over a century.
The Slavery of the Holy Christ described the event as a “historical milestone,” noting that there are only two protector Christs in the Spanish Army; one being from Mena, with the legion, and now the one from La Laguna.
Field Artillery Regiment No. 93 traces its heritage back to the former Foot Artillery Battalion of the Canary Islands. The Expeditionary Mountain Battery of the battalion departed for the war in Morocco in September 1921, entrusting their protection to the Christ of La Laguna, whose image they carried throughout the campaign. They returned in October 1922 without any casualties. Many considered this extraordinary circumstance as miraculous, attributing it to the intercession of the Lagunero Christ. Since then, the artillerymen have escorted him every time he is paraded out, as a token of their promise.
