From this Friday to Monday the 15th Moguer celebrate the pilgrimage in honor of the Virgin of Montemayorone of the great pilgrimage festivals in the province that brings together thousands of people in the area surrounding the hermitage of the patron saint of Moguereña who live four days of joyful coexistence around the devotion to María de Montemayor
More than 200 huts scattered around the beautiful pilgrimage site dotted with pines, eucalyptus and chaparros, these days welcome pilgrims and visitors who live intensely both the acts and cults in honor of the Virgin and the flamenco festival that fills every corner of the preserve.
While the Matrix of Montemayor Brotherhood organizes the acts and cults in honor of the Patron Saint, the Moguer City Council is in charge of starting up all the infrastructures and services that a celebration of this magnitude demands, in which tens of thousands of people are expected to attend.
Adaptation of paths and parking areas, installation of electricity and water supply infrastructures, public services, lighting of the path and of the entire pilgrimage site, which this year has also seen an increase in the number of lights installed, or painting and cleaning the hermitage and the most significant buildings are some of the previous works that the local council has been carrying out so that everything is ready tomorrow when the procession that accompanies the hdad. Matrix enters the preserve at the end of the afternoon.
The affiliated brotherhoods that come to Montemayor are also given special support from the Town Hall, whose workers assemble the structures and awnings for their booths, as well as public service modules and, in the cases of those that make the pilgrimage with the largest number of people , also showers.
Regarding security in the enclosure, the device that will ensure the proper development of the pilgrimage contemplates a significant presence of local police, civil protection volunteers and Civil Guard agents, who will carry out different operations to guarantee at all times normality in the pilgrimage, which will once again have machinery and a permanent fire-fighting checkpoint to deal with any outbreak that may occur.
In this sense, the City Council requires all huts and booths to have both one or two fire extinguishers and electrical panels with automatic differentials to avoid the danger that overloads entail.
The information and coordination center for services is located in the Casa de los Velo and there are operators on duty to attend to possible anomalies in the distribution systems, infrastructures and elements of the pilgrimage site.
Program of events
The pilgrimage begins with the mass of pilgrims tomorrow Friday afternoon at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaza de la Coronación, which is followed by the parade through the streets of the city of the procession that accompanies the Simpecado de la Matriz de Montemayor, made up of hundreds of horsemen and dozens of carts and wagons that will arrive at the hermitage of the Virgin at sunset, greeting the Lady of Moguer before the festival begins to take place in all corners of the pilgrimage site.
One of the most important moments on Saturday is the official entrance of the filial brotherhoods starting at 1 pm, a beautiful image of love for the Virgin reflected in the faces of the pilgrims who arrive from Seville, Huelva, Punta Umbría, Madrid , El Arahal, Villamanrique, Lucena, Campofrío and Dehesa de Riotinto, who will also attend the mass of the affiliates at the hermitage starting at 7:00 p.m.
At 12 at night the rosary of torches will be held at the pilgrimage site, which will be attended by numerous faithful and the representation of all the affiliates during the luminous journey.
Starting at 12 noon on Sunday, it will be presided over by the parish priest José Antonio Omist and concelebrated by priests from Moguer or those linked to Moguer, as well as by the chaplains of the filial brotherhoods, in what becomes a new example of the devotion that wakes up the Virgin of Montemayor.
Without a doubt, the most anticipated moment of the pilgrimage is the procession of the Virgin through the preserve. From early in the afternoon they will begin to tie the handkerchiefs with which the bearers reserve their place on the Virgin’s litter, while the time for the procession of the Patron Saint approaches, which thousands of pilgrims await in the vicinity of her hermitage to accompany her on her triumphant tour of the venue.
Although the save of the Virgin that begins the procession is scheduled at 6 in the afternoon, the concern of the costaleros will surely bring forward the departure of the Patron Saint of Moguera, who from that moment on will receive the heartfelt expressions of devotion from the people of Moguera and devotees of Montemayor.
Especially emotional will be the arrival of the Virgin on the shoulders of her bearers to the various affiliated brotherhoods and to the house of the mayordomos of this year’s pilgrimage, a young gathering of kids who look forward to that special moment of meeting with their patron saint.
Sevillanas, dances, compliments and flower petals will accompany the Virgen Chiquita on her journey among pine trees and chaparros until, with the last light of day, the Patron Saint of Moguer returns to her altar in the hermitage among the fervor of the pilgrims.
Already on Monday the 15th, the day of farewells, the pilgrims will start their way back to Moguer, after the celebration of the Holy Mass for Mayordomos, which will take place in the hermitage at 6:30 p.m. In this same act, the butlers who say goodbye to their position will deliver the insignia to the new butlers who will represent the town of Moguer in the 2024 pilgrimage.
After the mass in Montemayor, the return to the town is organized, where the procession arrives around 8:30 p.m., thus concluding a pilgrimage that we all hope will develop with devotion and joy, and without notable incidents.
