Our Lady of the Miracles of Mount Medo

Great Shrine of Baths of Molgas (Ourense)

In Mount Medo, in the mountains of San Mamede, the largest and most busy Marian sanctuary of the diocese of Ourense rises; every 8 September tens of thousands of pilgrims go up to the Virgin of the Miracles, many on foot from the capital, with the Rosary of torches and aurora.

Origin and history

There is a record of Marian devotion on Mount Medo since the 12th century; the image was formerly known as Virgin of the Medo, Mount or Saint Mamede, and about 1700, because of the fame of his miracles, was called Virxe dos Milagres. The present great Baroque sanctuary was built in the 18th century (1728-1768), promoted by the Bishop of Ourense; since 1869 it has been attended by the Missionaries of Paúles, and in 1982 it was declared a National Historical-Artistic Monument. The image was canonically crowned in 1963 by the bull of Saint Paul VI. Tradition speaks of an apparition to a shepherdess on an oak.

It is one of the most crowded Marian shrines in Galicia and the peninsular north-west: its rostery of September 8 brings together tens of thousands of faithful, many on foot from Ourense the night before. It has an explicit link with the Rosary: during the novena one prays each day, with the Torchas Rosary and the aurora Rosary with numerous parishes.