OUR LADY OF ASSUMPTION OF ELCHE

Day 230: December 28

Our Lady of Assumption of Elche, Valencia, Spain



The Virgin of the Assumption has become the patron saint of the city of Elche since she was found in a wooden ark floating on the waters of the sea, near the beach of Tamarit by the soldier Guardia Francesc Cantó who, after notifying the City Council, discovered together with the statue depicting the Holy Virgin standing with her hands joined in prayer, manuscripts and documents that explained how it was the Assumption and how her feast was to be celebrated.

On the lid of the ark there was indicated the destination of this crate or Alicante and Orihuela, who claimed to belong to it, so in order not to hurt anyone it was decided to place it on a cart pulled by oxen that were blindfolded at a crossroad.

The cart, without any kind of hesitation, set off towards Elche and did not stop until it reached the door of the chapel of San Sebastiano, where the Marian figure was then placed.

It was decided to take it to a larger church to give it greater prestige by placing it on the main altar, but in the end the next morning, the statue was always found on its old altar and in its old church which was nicknamed the Church of Holy Mary.

Unfortunately, the original image of the Lady of Elche disappeared in a fire that broke out in 1936. A copy was then made, the work of the Valencian sculptor José Capuz.

Every December 29, the discovery of the ark is commemorated with a representation. On December 29, 1970 she was canonically crowned.

The statue of the Assumption of the Virgin of Elche is carried in procession on three different annual occasions: on Easter Sunday, the procession called "la Aleluyas" – so nicknamed for the cries that the people emit as it passes; on 15 August (between 16 and 22 August, she is lying on a large bed and exposed to the veneration of the faithful, in front of the main altar of the Basilica); on December 29, the feast that commemorates her arrival in Elche, where she is carried on the throne and accompanied by children dressed as angels.

For these outings, the Virgin is changed in dress and to do so the so-called "waiters" are instructed, who by hereditary order are directly responsible for this service.

The cloak covered with precious metals allows the view of only the head, hands and feet. Each celebration has its own cloak that is kept in the parish museum. The head is covered with a silver fabric that hides the hair and a large imperial crown, surmounted by the figure of the Holy Spirit represented in the form of a dove and also placed on the shield of the city of Elche. The silver crown was commissioned in 1940 and is the result of popular offerings and a goldsmith's workshop in Valencia.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"I unite myself to the Divine Favors of God - Creator, Savior, Sanctifier, shed upon you and accepted by you, with every privilege of nature and grace, mission and dignity, glory and sovereignty, O Daughter of all the Divine Predilections, my Virgin Mary!"

(Justin Russolillo, Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, Newark, 1996, p. 144)

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