VIRGEN DE LOS DOLORES
VIRGEN DE LOS DOLORES
At the time of the volcanic eruptions in 1736, a Franciscan priest, Father Guardián, calls for a gathering of the town's people to calm them down and organises a procession carrying the virgin Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in order to go and meet the lava flows. The procession, overflowing with fervour, went to the mountain of Guiguán and there they made a solemn vow; they would build a church in honour of the virgin if she would put an end to the desolation that was taking place. One person, full of courage and determination, embracing a candlewood cross, advanced right to the edge of the boiling magma and nailed it into the ground, while the crowd cried and prayed with indomitable faith.
When the lava flow reached the foot of the cross it suddenly stopped and, swaying away from the fertile fields, went in the direction of old petrified stones from previous eruptions. On April 16th.1736 the terrible and unforgettable eruptions ceased their destructi.
As soon as the islanders felt peaceful and safe, they forgot the promises made in those desperate and fateful days.
Tinajo at the time had only a couple of rich people, amongst who was Juan Antonio Acosta, father of Juana Rafaela Acosta, a nine-year-old goat shepherdess. (Year 1774).
One day, while Juana Rafaela was watching the goats, a woman dressed in mourning came and greeted her, saying: "Girl, go and tell your parents that the neighbours must keep their promise to build the church, otherwise the volcano will erupt again" The little girl went to her parents and related the encounter she had, but she was not believed and was reprimanded for telling such lies.
A few days later the little girl sees the woman again and is given the same message, but she refuses to deliver it because her parents would punish her for making up such stories. But the Holy Virgin, because the woman in mourning was no other, put her hand on the girl's shoulder and said: "Go and tell them, now you will be believed" Juana Rafaela's parents were astonished and speechless when they saw the delicate purple shadow of a hand on the girl's shoulder. The little girl was taken to the main church and was shown the different images of the Virgin, and as soon as she saw the one belonging to Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, she recognised the woman in mourning. From that moment forward all the neighbours, rich and poor alike, put themselves to the task of building the promised church, which took around ten years to be finished. After that miracle, which spread by word of mouth throughout the island, the devotion to the Virgen de los Dolores was shown in countless ways: donations for the services and conservation of the church, gifts in produce of the fields and transfers of lands.
On July 31st.1824 at seven in the morning, the volcano Capellanía del Clérigo Duarte, between Tao and Tiagua, erupted. The neighbours organised a procession from Guiguan to La Vegueta, and when they arrived to the foothill of Tiama they knelt and implored Our Lady not to allow the lands to be destroyed again and to spare their possessions. A while later the volcano stopped spewing lava and all it came out of it was only smoke. After this new miracle by the 
Virgen de los Dolores she was proclaimed Señora de los Volcanes. (Lady of the Volcanoes).
EIn 1850 the church was temporarily closed by Bishop Buenaventura Codina to do some restoration work, which ended around 1854-60, reopening again in 1861.
In 1988, due to deterioration, another restoration work had to be done, and on the 18th of June of that year all its contents were transferred to the Parish of Tinajo. Around one o'clock in the afternoon the image of the Virgin was taken out, two hours later the dome of the church collapsed. (It looked as if it had been waiting for the Virgin to leave to come tumbling down).
Album with photographs of the Festival of Our Lady of Dolores 2001
Album with photographs of the Festival of Our Lady of Dolores 2001 2
Esta pagina ha sido realizada por Sarabel y Chino.
E-Mail: Sarabel y Chino