I was able to celebrate a second Independence Day this year - today in Uruguay. Being a national holiday, there was no school. I concelebrated Mass in the Cathedral with Cardinal Daniel Sturla of Montevideo as principal celebrant. Then, Frs. Bernardo and Juan, and Ramon, the cathedral sacristan, and I went on a pilgrimage to the city of Florida, about 75 miles north of Montevideo. There, on August 25, 1825, Uruguay declared its independence from Brazil. In the Cathedral in Florida, there is a statue of "La Virgen de los Treinta y Tres" (The Virgin of the Thirty-Three). In 1825, thirty-three Uruguayan patriots placed the future of their new nation at the feet of the Virgin. Ever since, the image has been called "La Virgen de los Treinta y Tres." It is a baroque, wooden carving of the Assumption of the Virgin. Its cloak and robes seem to move because of their many pleats. In 1962 Pope St. John XXIII declared her the patroness of Uruguay.
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| Padres Juan, Bernardo, y yo |
The statue leaves one in Awe!
ReplyDeleteRosemary