Our Lady the Divine Shepherdess

The devotion to Mary as the Divine Shepherdess was born in Seville, Spain, in 1703, when the Capuchin friar Isidoro de Sevilla had an image painted of the Virgin dressed as a shepherdess, caring for lambs. Capuchin missionaries carried the devotion to Venezuela, where it took deep root.

In the village of Santa Rosa, near Barquisimeto, a much-loved statue of the Divina Pastora has been venerated since colonial times. Tradition says the parish priest had ordered an image of the Immaculate Conception from Spain, but a Divina Pastora arrived instead; when he tried to send it back, the box became too heavy to lift. In 1855–1856 a cholera epidemic struck the region, and the parish priest, Father José Macario Yépez, promised a yearly procession if the people were spared. The first procession took place on January 14, 1856, and it has been held ever since. The image was canonically crowned in 1906.

On January 14 the image is carried from Santa Rosa to the Cathedral of Barquisimeto, a walk of several miles, in one of the largest Marian processions in the world, with millions of pilgrims, many barefoot or carrying promises of thanksgiving. The image then visits parishes of the city before returning to Santa Rosa. Venezuelan communities abroad, including in Miami, hold their own Masses and processions.