OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY OF ROTA

Day 282: February 18

Our Lady of the Rosary of Rota, Cadiz, Spain



The city of Rota is a municipality of Almería province, located in the province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It borders the towns of Chipiona, Sanlucar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. It is located 36 kilometers from the provincial capital, Cadiz. Located near the Bay of Cádiz on the Atlantic coast, halfway between Portugal and Gibraltar, it is a tourist city par excellence.

Although we are not able to document the origins of devotion to the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary in the city of Rota, we can say that the image dates back to the 1500's. The oldest document that refers to this devotion is dated 1671 and speaks of a Brotherhood established by Doña Juana for the devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary.

The church was built under the patronage of Duke Rodrigo Ponce de Leon and Ponce de Leon, 1st Duke of Arcos and Mr Rota, in the first third of the sixteenth century in the Elizabethan Gothic style with hints of plateresque. The structure is the result of a single project, but the product of a series of transformations undertaken over different periods. For this reason, we find two very different parts inside: a nave, in Gothic-Renaissance style and on the other the Baroque chapels added later.

In the sixteenth century, the confraternity commissioned the statue of Our Lady, which was restored several times over the years with a retouching of the face in 1943. The most particular signs of this statue are the use of glass for the eyes, (certainly included in one of the restorations), then the hands and the body.

In 1709 a terrible plague struck the city of Rota. Thousands of grasshoppers devoured the crops, leading many families to starvation. It was in addition to the damage already caused by the Anglo-Dutch invasions. The exhausted citizens decided to raise their supplications to Our Lady, Patroness of their city and soon these calamities ceased. Also in 1807, when the drought returned to scourge Rota, on February 18, 1807, it was decided to organize a procession with the statue of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary and Christ through the streets of the city of Rota. The prayers were indeed heard; it rained.

On February 22, 1822, Our Lady was again called upon for the drought, instituting an octave of prayer and once again the crops were saved.

The construction of the first church in 1758 was demolished by a tsunami in 1755. Rebuilt in 1895 thanks to the offerings of the Faithful, by now Our Lady of the holy Rosary had been chosen as the patron saint of the city. The coronation took place on May 4, 1947.

On the night of August 18, 1947, there was a terrible explosion in the torpedo factory in Cadiz. With the explosion, the window of the chapel of the Virgin broke, ruining the base of the statue as well.

The liturgical feast was established on October 7, the day on which Our Lady of the Rosary is venerated.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Bring about that we may love Him with a motherly heart; grant that we may live totally for Him present in us, since He is essentially the Son of God and Son of man, He wants to be welcomed, loved and glorified by motherly hearts."

(Justin Russolillo, Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, Newark, 1996, pp. 157-158)

Comments

Post a Comment

Hot Picks

OUR LADY OF MELIAPORE

Image
Day 47: June 26 This is the shrine in the East Indies, where Saint Francis Xavier often retired to pray during his eleven years with the people of India. The Blessed Virgin Mary was Francis’ constant source of strength and inspiration. The image before which Saint Francis used to pray is called Mylai Matha in Tamil, or Our Lady of Mylapore in English. It is an ancient statue about three feet tall, Our Lady of Meliapore can still be venerated at the church. The church of Saint Thomas of Mylapore – spelled somewhat differently from the above – contains Mary’s shrine. According to tradition, the Apostle Saint Thomas came to India in 52 AD. Due to his success making converts to the True Faith, he was persecuted and finally martyred in the year 72 AD. Saint Thomas is buried at the shrine of Our Lady of Meliapore, and there are relics of Saint Francis Xavier. There was a church known to be in Mylapore going back to the 1st century, and built by St Thomas. According to tradition, there was a ...
Read more

Marian Year 2025-26

Image
  MARIAN YEAR The year 2026 marks the first centenary of the apparition of Our Lady to St Justin Russolillo, the Founder of the Vocationists. As the feast of Our Lady of Divine Vocations falls on May 11, the year preceding to that year (May 11 2025 – May 11 2026) has been declared to be celebrated as Marian Year by the Vocationists. The reason behind this year-long celebration is, as Pope Pius XII decreed prior to the Marian Year in 1953 on the occasion of the first centenary of the definition of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mother, “that the faith of the people may be increased and their devotion to the Virgin Mother of God become daily more inflamed.” As Rev. Fr. Louis Caputo SDV rightly points out, “the life of Fr. Justin here on earth began with the…apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary…, it developed in the shadow of Mary and ended in union with Mary.” The birth of Justin was preceded by an announcement by the Blessed Virgin Mary to Fr. Sa...
Read more

OUR LADY OF DIVINE VOCATIONS

Image
The Devotion to Our Lady of Divine Vocations The devotion to Our Lady of Divine Vocations has its foundation on the Marian Apparition that St Justin Russolillo had on May 10, 1926. He was praying breviary near a hut made of straws called pagliarella. St. Justin describes it in his diary (Book of the Soul) "May 10, 1926, first day of the Rogations. It was given to me the certainty that the Blessed Trinity has given the Blessed Lady the Office of the Immediate Superior of the Society of Divine Vocations and therefore of all the offices, mansions, studies, works, spheres and everything. She is the authority of the Society. Glory and thanks to God and Mary. Therefore, the established practice of having one person always present and on guard in the room dedicated to Our Lady to honor and venerate her perpetually." After the Marian Apparition, St Justin rushed to the rectory of St George's parish in Pianura where he used to be the parish priest. He asked Fr Luigi Diodato to pre...
Read more