Our Lady of Arantzazu (Arantzazuko Andra Mari)

Patrona de Gipuzkoa

Our Lady of Arantzazu is one of the great Marian advocates of Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country. A very widespread tradition shows that in 1469 the pastor John of Mendizábal found a small image of the Virgin in a bush or thorn and exclaimed in Basque "Arantzan zu?" ("You in the bush?"), from where the name Arantzazu would have come; this account belongs to the field of tradition. As a documented fact, references to the sanctuary have been preserved since the late 15th and early 16th century, with Franciscan presence and the development of an important focus of pilgrimages in the territory of Gipuzkoa.

Main data

Origin and history

Our Lady of Arantzazu is one of the great Marian advocates of Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country. A very widespread tradition shows that in 1469 the pastor John of Mendizábal found a small image of the Virgin in a bush or thorn and exclaimed in Basque "Arantzan zu?" ("You in the bush?"), from where the name Arantzazu would have come; this account belongs to the field of tradition. As a documented fact, references to the sanctuary have been preserved since the late 15th and early 16th century, with Franciscan presence and the development of an important focus of pilgrimages in the territory of Gipuzkoa.

The image and the sanctuary

The image is venerated in the Sanctuary of Arantzazu, in the term Oñati (Gipuzkoa), in the massif of Aizkorri, attended by the Order of Minor Friars (Franciscan). In the 20th century the sanctuary was rebuilt with the intervention of great Basque artists, such as Oteiza and Chillida, which made Arantzazu a symbol of Basque faith and culture at the same time.

Sponsorship and coronation

She is a patron of Gipuzkoa, thus recognized by the Diputación and the local Church. The literature usually places canonical coronation in 1954, Marian year, but the accessible sources consulted do not clearly set the date, so it is recorded as not recorded.

Party and devotion

The main feast is held on September 9, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin, which is the most stable date; there are also pilgrimages and events around August 15. The sanctuary has been the place of pilgrimage of generations of Gipuzcoans, with numerous promises and exvotes linked to graces attributed to the Virgin, collected in Franciscan chronicles.

Link to the Rosary

Although the Rosary is prayed in the sanctuary, the documentation consulted does not contain a specific rosarian devotion linked to this advocation.