Our Lady of Villar

Patrona de Corella, the "Virgen de la Rosa" (Navarra) · crowned in 1956

Other than Corella, the Villar shrine guards its patron, formerly called "Virgin of the Rose" by the legend of pastors who found their image on a rose born on the mountains; it was canonically crowned in 1956.

Origin and history

The devotion to Our Lady of the Villar is documented in Corella since the 16th century, although the image is older: its style refers to the Gothic stems of the XIII-XIV centuries, transformed into an image of dress during the Baroque. The present sanctuary is a 17th century hermitage, with a Latin cross plant and baroque ornamentation. In 1549 Pope Paul III granted the City Council the patron of the hermitage, a sign of an already rooted devotion.

The legend speaks of an ancient village in the place and of some shepherds who discovered the image on a rose born prodigiously on the mountains of Argenzón, which would explain the old title "Virgin of the Rose," which then changed to "del Villar" for the place of apparition. Patrona de Corella and named Mayor of Honor in 1948, was canonically crowned on June 10, 1956. His fellowship maintains the cult and the parties around the third Sunday of Easter.