Just over a kilometer from the Navarrese town of Cintruénigo lies the Hermitage of the Purísima. This is how the people of Cintruénigo call the Immaculate Conception: the Purísima.

The hermitage, in the Mannerist style, built in the early 17th century, is considered the first temple dedicated to the Immaculate Conception in Spain. That hermitage houses the large statue of the Purísima—also Mannerist—which watches over, accompanies, and protects the deceased of Cirbon who rest in the adjacent cemetery.

Photograph by Pedro Jiménez

Well, the image has paid a visit to the town, as is customary, and it is decreed that it will always happen every Jubilee Year. The last time was twenty-five years ago; In the year 2000. Already then, fifty years after her last visit, during the reception given to her, a request was made: “It is the general feeling of the people of Cirbonela that your visits be more frequent, and not every 50 years.” And indeed, the Virgin answered the request and made the then mayor’s request her own.

And it had to be on May 1st. The first day of the month dedicated to the Virgin, when the Archbishop of Navarre, Don Florencio Roselló, accompanied by the parish priest Don Santiago Jiménez and other priests from the area, the Cintruénigo City Council as a corporation, with the Cintruénigo Music Band, and a multitude of neighbors who absolutely did not want to miss the procession, came to the hermitage to begin the procession that would bring the Immaculate Conception to Cintruénigo, accompanying her throughout the entire journey.

Photograph by Pedro Jiménez

At ten o’clock in the morning, the Brothers of the Holy Sepulchre, who were in charge of its transfer, carried the image out of the hermitage, which was greeted with a prolonged ovation. Once La Purísima was perched on the platform that would carry her and escorted by the Crossbowmen of the Holy Cross (a medieval brotherhood in charge of defending the town), the procession began. The silence, which reflected the fervor that the people of Cintruénigo feel for the Virgin, was only broken when the Municipal Band began playing a selection of fine pieces, which accompanied the procession for the long hour until its arrival at the Paseos—the nerve center of Cintruénigo—where the official reception took place.

The mayor, Don Óscar Bea, and the archbishop, Monsignor Roselló, welcomed the Immaculate Conception to a crowd of faithful who were waiting for her and who would escort her to the already completely packed parish church, where the Holy Mass would begin, presided over by the archbishop and concelebrated by all the priests who had accompanied him.

Photograph by Pedro Jiménez

Thus began ten days of intense celebration and Christian religiosity. Not in vain, the Immaculate Conception is very present among the people of Cintruénigo, who, every December 8, come to her hermitage and celebrate one of her greatest festivals; if not, the greatest.

The following day, the Novena in her honor began. Virtually all the social groups and associations that make up the Cintruénigo community participated. Starting with the Town Hall itself, the youth, the children’s association, the women’s association, the Retirement Home, as well as the various sports and music groups, and the volunteers who care for the hermitage and parish throughout the year.

Photograph by Pedro Jiménez

And on Friday the 9th, announcing her imminent return to her hermitage, the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception paraded through the streets of Cintruénigo together with the town’s patron saint: the Virgin of Peace. There is no record of the two images, venerated by the sons and daughters of Cintruénigo, having previously been carried together in procession. The Rosary recited during the procession drew a large crowd. If the turnout for the procession on the 1st was largely a matter of tradition, the rosary on the 9th was a matter of spirituality.

Thus, as evening fell, and the Novena concluded, the Virgin of Peace as hostess, and the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, accompanied by a small statue of the Virgin of Cisne, which the Ecuadorian colony of Cintruénigo also wanted to be present, began the procession and the recitation of the Holy Rosary. The town, the entire Municipal Corporation, and other authorities supported the images as the joyful mysteries were recited. The Municipal Band sang religious pieces, and at the end of each mystery, at the five scheduled stops, various musical groups sang to the Virgin: the Parish Choir, the Auroros, the Jota School, the Virgen de la Paz Choir, and the 12 o’clock Mass choir.

Finally, on the morning of Sunday the 11th, after the celebration of Holy Mass presided over by the Vicar General of the diocese, Don Miguel Larrembere, the Immaculate Conception returned. Escorted by the crossbowmen of the Holy Cross, surrounded by faithful and accompanied by authorities and the municipal band, she arrived at the esplanade of the hermitage. There, to the sounds of the national anthem, she was returned to her abode. Inside, the choir sang the Salve (Salve Prayer) while the Virgin was placed in her dressing room, where, barring unforeseen circumstances, she will remain for the next twenty-five years.

The visit of the Immaculate Conception and the eleven days she spent among her neighbors were quite an event, not only because of the Cirboneros’ strong attachment to the traditions inherited from their ancestors. Above all, the visit represented a great demonstration of faith, love, and devotion to the Virgin; In this case, under the patronage of Her Immaculate Conception.

Photograph by Pedro Jiménez