The programming will continue and conclude on Saturday. Starting at 6:00 p.m., in the Church of San Juan Bautista, the mass and offering – which is recovered in this edition – will take place in honor of the Virgin of Abona. The closing of these festivities will begin at 9:00 p.m. on September 11 and will consist of the broadcast of a solidarity festival, enlivened by the Tropin Orchestra. It will be developed through the official accounts of the Arico City Council on social networks. As it is decreed, the acts that are in person are subject to compliance with the protocol and containment of the covid, so the temple will also have limited capacity.
Mayor.
Sebastián Martín highlights “responsibility” as the main factor in the development of these festivities, appreciates the collaboration of the church and cultural groups and recognizes “the work of the council.” But, above all, the councilor thinks “in the future” and says that next year “we have a great challenge.” “Our people deserve to face with optimism the festivities of 2022 and the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the image, with the pilgrimage and the descent of our Virgin of Abona”, he explains with enthusiasm.
The councilor.
Dácil Cano, mayor of the Culture and Festivities area, emphasizes that «with these small cultural events of a blended nature we have tried to honor the faith and religion of the neighbors in these difficult times, in which many people have relied on the Virgin and has felt their help ». It highlights the fact that the Virgin of Abona is the Honorary and Perpetual Mayor of the region as well as the “challenge” posed by the organization of these meetings. «It has been a great effort for the City Council and my council, but we consider it necessary. I want to thank the behavior of the neighbors and the great follow-up that the acts transmitted by social networks have had and the excellent behavior of the population, respecting the measures that we have to live. It ends with the reminder that in 2022 there will be a pilgrimage and descent of the Virgin, if the evolution of the pandemic allows it.
The official chronicler.
“This is a very important celebration, because it intends to unite not only the municipality, but the entire south of the Island as Our Lady of Abona is the protector and Honorary and Perpetual mayor of the south of Nivaria”, indicates Emiliano Rodríguez, official chronicler of Arico since 2009. Remember that the dedication of the Virgin of Abona “came to compete with that of Candelaria”, after the disappearance of the original image of La Morenita, in the flood of 1826. “But Arico was left without a hermitage and without an image” because of a fire. “To speak of the Virgin of Abona is to make it a symbol of great interest to the south of the Island,” adds the chronicler, who points out the two events of 2022: “The 30th anniversary of La torcha, an act that symbolizes the unity of the neighbors, and the 300 years of the appearance in the sea of the current image of the Virgin of Abona ».
The priest.
In the words of Father Martín Feliciossi, parish priest of Arico, “these years of pandemic have helped us to keep the essence of the festivities: the mass, from where they sprout and removing the most decorative part. It also allowed to introduce the transmission through social networks, reaching many more people. You are already starting to work on the descent, the organization and the fundraising. That is the challenge now, the lustral parties and the descent, postponed until then by the authorities. And the return to normality.
