Portal de Lorca
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For the first time in its history, since the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the centennial pilgrimage with the Virgen de La Salud, patron saint of the Lorca district of La Hoya, will not be held this year. The cursed Coronavirus and the serious consequences that it is causing, has been able to more than the fervor and devotion of an entire people, which every February 2 takes to the streets in their best clothes to continue with a tradition that has been passed from generation to generation.
generation, with more and more followers and in which the youngest are involved with greater enthusiasm, thus guaranteeing their future. This year, everything will be different.
The mayordomos of the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as the true architects of the festival, have been forced to reduce the extensive program of activities planned in normal times. In the parish a novena is being held in honor of the patron saint, who has also been honored with a floral offering, in charge of the different associations and organizations that work for the district. On February 2 and in strict compliance with the regulations established by the health authorities in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections, the acts will be reduced to the celebration of two masses that the parish priest Kenneth Chukwuka will officiate.
The first, at 9 in the morning in the parish church, aimed especially at pregnant women on Candlemas day, which is also celebrated on that day.
The second will be in the sanctuary of La Salud, at the foot of the Sierra de Tercia, where the patron saint of La Hoya spends most of the year.
At all times, compliance with the allowed capacity and established security measures will be taken into account. But this year, in which the procedures for the declaration of such a singular event, as a Festival of Regional Tourist Interest, by the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, have begun, there will be no crew; We will not hear the trovos and Easter songs of Andrés Abellaneda, Serafín Ruiz "El Fari", Juan José Montes or José Acosta "El Ganadero", so typical in a day like this, nor will we see along the 4 kilometers that separate the center of the town from the sanctuary, the performances on the way by the dance corps and musicians of the group with their unique parrandas, jotas and malagueñas.
Nor may Easter songs be celebrated inside the hermitage, nor pujas dances at the door of the sanctuary,much less the auction of the monumental 8-storey cake that on some occasion, when the economy was something else, was awarded to one of the opposing clubs in the amount of 9,000 euros. The only thing that the mayordomos and mayordomas of the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus have been able to prepare this year, within the existing limitations due to the pandemic, has been an extraordinary Christmas basket with more than a dozen hams and a multitude of ingredients, that will be raffled on February 2 at night.
The commercial establishments of the town and surroundings have participated in its preparation.
In order to participate in the raffle, tickets can still be purchased at the price of one euro per unit.
The content of the basket is around 2,000 euros. However, the most serious thing about the situation we are going through is that for the first time in so many years, a simple and hateful virus has been the culprit that hundreds of people, not only from La Hoya, but also from populations of around and other points of the Region of Murcia and Spain, they cannot live together a day of coexistence in which they unite, apart from the devotion that everyone feels towards María de La Salud, the feelings and the culinary families who take advantage of the day of every February 2 to spend the day in the mountains and enjoy the best local and regional cuisine.
Whoever goes to this pilgrimage every February 2 and has forgotten about the maintenance, does not have to worry, since it is the neighbors themselves who are in charge of providing the necessary food, by far,in addition to his pleasant and sincere company throughout the day. In its beginnings, the pilgrimage of the Virgen de la Salud, was limited to spending the festive day in the surroundings of the hermitage, private property, of the Periago family who graciously opened the doors of their house wide so that neighbors will enjoy the environment.
In the decade of the 70s of the 20th century, the then parish priest Pedro Pelegrín Navarro established the custom of transferring the image of the patron saint to La Hoya a few weeks before her festivity, something that is still done, to later go up in pilgrimage , February 2. In 2003, the Lorca city council built the new sanctuary located within the La Salud park, with a current area of ??around 70,000 square meters that is used throughout the year as a place of recreation for all those families who want to enjoy its wonders, especially natural, while worship in the hermitage is limited to the first Sunday of each month. The hope of all pilgrims is that in 2022, the celebration with the patron saint of La Hoya, the Virgen de la Salud, can continue to be celebrated as normal, free from a pandemic that is causing so many evils to humanity and that so many people has been carried away. We are sure that this Virgin, in whom so many people have placed their trust and honoring her name, will not disappoint anyone and will be the mediator so that this ordeal ends as soon as possible. Francisco Gómez Pérez.
Official Chronicler of La Hoya function { ;(, , {});}
Source: Francisco Gómez Pérez. Cronista Oficial de La Hoya
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