By Pedro A. Gomez Barreto. The extraordinary general assembly of the Brotherhood of the Great Power of God was held a few days ago in the parish of Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia, in Puerto de la Cruz, with the sole objective of electing the person who would carry the destinies of this emblematic brotherhood that cares for the venerated image of El Viejito. Only one candidacy was presented, headed by Elena Cid Hernández, who received the unanimous support of the 60 brother sisters present at the assembly, who applauded the first woman who will govern the destinies of this distinctive religious brotherhood of the tourist city.
This 51-year-old from Porto, from an area with a long tradition such as Calle de Lomo, has the experience of belonging to the Brotherhood since 2007, where she has been treasurer and cult member, always contributing her important collaboration. “I entered the Brotherhood encouraged by Lolina – she told the DIARIO – and from a very young age I felt great devotion to the Great Power of God, deeply moved by its beauty, and I saw it pass from the window of my house during the festivities in its honor” .
Regarding his appointment, he confesses that he never had this goal. “God knows. My only desire from the beginning has been to follow him to serve him, to work for his Brotherhood by contributing whatever abilities I may have and above all my willingness to help reinforce the idea that the Great Power is much more than a sacred image worthy of veneration. : the Great Power is a “feeling”, it is “the fervor of a people” that goes to meet him every Holy Week and every month of July, throbbing with love and devotion when contemplating his majesty, his unquestionable greatness. All that desire of mine has been so that this feeling is never lost, but, on the contrary, it is consolidated in the heart of each portuense “.
The first woman in charge of this outstanding brotherhood states excitedly that “the encouragement received to become an older sister, I trust will give me strength to fulfill the responsibility that I have been entrusted from that moment on. El Viejito, as we people from Porto affectionately call him, and this nickname can be understood in its true dimension: closeness, affection and filial love. While that is a lot, it is no less important that the Great Power of God is recognized as Lord of the Valley and even beyond the borders of this island. And if you ask me about my feeling towards him, I can only summarize it in these few words: without him I don’t know how to live, nor do I want to, nor can I. The rest I cannot express in words. As I have said before, it is a feeling of profound veneration and unconditional love for the person who has always given meaning to my life”.
The curious circumstance occurs that her husband, Leopoldo Afonso, already served as an older brother. In this regard, she commented: “He had the best teacher, Don Pedro Melián Escobar. He prepared him from a young age so that in the future he would become, if the brothers decided so, because of his position, his successor. Leopoldo, and I’m not saying it alone, is endorsed by the vast majority of brothers who supported him during his tenure and who still show him their affection today, he was a magnificent older brother. And I say this without complex of any kind and without passion. He is my husband, yes, but I speak of him valuing his figure as the older brother that he was. His exquisite training for everything that this beautiful position entailed was only comparable to his infinite devotion to the Lord. From him, regarding the worship due to the Lord, I have learned almost everything and I am not just referring to, shall we say, technical knowledge. From him, even today, I marvel at the deep love and veneration with which he treats everything that has to do with the Old Man. I am satisfied with knowing how to imitate those values and doing at least half of what he achieved”.
The official inauguration of the charges has yet to be made, at the expense of the authorization of the Bishopric of Tenerife. The rest of the new board of the Brotherhood is made up of the following brothers: vice-elder brother, Sebastián Márquez Fumero -who for personal reasons was forced to resign from office-; secretary, Juan Francisco Fumero Gutiérrez; Master of ceremonies and member of Caridad, Concepción Ramos Méndez, and the treasurer and member of Apostolate, Josefa Luis González”.
Elena Cid has clear ideas: “The main objective is not only to maintain, but also to increase, the worship and devotion to the Great Power of God and to resume goals, objectives that, through no fault of the control of those of us who were holding positions during Leopoldo Afonso’s mandate could not be fulfilled”.
Regarding the current role of women in the Church, Elena Cid indicated that “it is a very active role and certainly not only not sufficiently rewarded, but also not valued. After all, one is at the service of the Lord and his things out of pure altruism, out of faith, but that does not mean that on more occasions than desirable, the respect and consideration due to the work of so many women, of so many lay people in generally within the Church. Particularly her – she added – she, I do not consider myself an example of anything, because I am a human being and I make mistakes as we all do. I am quite unaffordable and work as hard as I can for the Lord. If that serves to motivate other brothers, to encourage them to also work for that common cause that unites us, I will consider all the effort and work done as good.”
He expressed public gratitude to Sebastián Márquez, former older brother, and stressed that “this Elena, who today is an elected older sister of the Venerable Brotherhood of the Great Power of God, is thanks to the invaluable example that I received from all my predecessors in office, essential people in the Brotherhood such as its Chambermaid of Honor, Mrs. Conchita Carrillo, a living example of the most absolute and unreserved dedication to the Lord and his Brotherhood; and other people like Lolina Hernández, who literally left her skin, knocking door to door, looking for funds to provide the Lord with everything necessary to worship him with the dignity and poise that he deserved, and so many others that I did not know personally but whose works transcended to his person and who even today speak loud and clear of his love for our Great Power of God.”
Elena Cid wanted to finish by encouraging all the Christian faithful to live with faith and devotion this Holy Week 2023.
