Angel Virgin Day
Description:
A very important religious holiday
A very important religious holiday is the Day of the Angelic Virgin, August 2. The figure of the Virgin is located in the Basilica Church in Cartago, in the old capital of Costa Rica, it is located 23 km from San Jose.
People go to church services in this city on foot, for this they leave the house the day before, and those who live far away go even three or four days. Many people ride horses or bicycles, on rollers. The most committed walk the last meters in front of the church on their knees. The most stunning and mystical sight is a large column of people walking on the highway at night.
On this day, the highway is closed to traffic. The highway is lit almost all along its length, on the sidelines are sold any snack, people for a small fee let pilgrims into their toilets, an equal number of kilometers stands the tents of the Red Cross, where, if necessary, orderlies do massages and give pills for pressure. Along the way, music is heard, cheerful voices of television commentators are heard on the radio, interviews with pilgrims are broadcast on all television channels, in general, for many it is a fun walk. The young, the elderly and even the old go, carry and carry children in wheelchairs.
Those who come in the evening or at night, settle in the park in front of the church to sleep in tents or just on the litter, if there is no rain. In the morning, a ceremonial service begins, with people putting their lips on the sacred stone on which the statue was standing when a poor Indian girl, Juana, found her in the woods three centuries ago.
The Angel Maiden is considered the miraculous patroness of Costa Rica, many people believe in its miraculous properties and pray for the recovery of their child or father, for good luck in exams, for getting a job and money and for solving other personal problems. And many people say that the Virgin gave them His mercy.
As a token of gratitude, they bring and attach to the wall gold miniature figures symbolizing the miracle: legs, hands, hearts, kidneys and other healed parts of the body, excellent grades, certificates for valiant work. Behind the church, a spring of holy water beats from the wall; people drink it and fill bottles. Water is not sold, everyone gives it away for free. But, of course, there is no business: in the wide courtyard sold many souvenirs, copies of miraculous statuettes, prayer books, icons.
On all the central streets of the city, too, trade is boiling: food, souvenirs, clothes, toys ... Crowds of pilgrims number in the millions, and this despite the fact that the entire population of Costa Rica is only 4 million people! By evening, long lines line up for buses that come one by one to bring pilgrims home to San Jose and other cities. There are people who go to Cartago every year. But most decide to do this feat only a few times in their lives.