marian anniversaries     october

October 31

Virgen de Río Blanco y Paypaya, San Salvador, Jujuy, Argentina

On this day the image of Our Lady of the Rosary, patron of Jujuy province, goes from its altar in the side chapel of Jujuy Cathedral to its original Sanctuary of Rio Blanco. Thousands of pilgrims from all over accompany the Virgin on this journey. They walk for miles, many barefoot, in keeping with tradition. The procession leaves the Cathedral by candlelight, before dawn. Along the way, “misachicos,” family groups bringing their own patron saints' images covered with flowers, join in, singing greetings to the Virgin. These groups are usually accompanied by their own musicians dressed in gaudy colors and using traditional cane and wooden flutes. From time to time the huge pipe-shaped "erke" huffs over the singing voices, and the sound of the drums resounds in the sunrise. Daybreak finds the procession at its goal, the small Sanctuary of Rio Blanco, where fireworks mark the joy the Virgin brings.  

The story goes that in colonial times the Virgin of the Rosary, with a radiant mantle and small baton, appeared and turned back Tobas warriors attacking the Spanish settlement. After the battle, a small image of unknown origin, carrying a staff, was found in the combat zone beneath a big earpod tree. This is the image now in the Cathedral, crowned October 31, 1920. Usually dressed in a white gown and light blue veil, the statue depicts the Virgin standing with the child in her left arm.

Another statue of Our Lady resides in the Sanctuary in the town of Río Blanco ("White" River, "Paypaya" in the native language), where another great celebration takes place January 6.