Our Lady of Fuencisla

Patrona de Segovia

Our Lady of the Fuencisla is the Marian advocation venerated in the Spanish city of Segovia, of which she is patron, as well as the Community of the City and Land of Segovia. His image is kept in the Sanctuary of the Fuencisla, at the foot of the city's rocks, by the river. His name, very typical of Segovia, derives from Latin Fons still, "source of power."

Main data

Central message: The Fuencysla is for Segovia source of life and sweetness, Mother worshipped to which the people ascend to the Cathedral and accompany back to their sanctuary every year.

Tradition and history: a necessary distinction

There are two plans that should not be confused.

The legend He argues that the image was brought to the city in the year 71 by St. Timothy, the first bishop of the diocese, and that the sculpture had been made by St. Luke. Hiding during the Muslim occupation, she would have been found by chance very close to the sanctuary, reestablishing her veneration. It is a foundational account of popular piety, presented by the source itself as legend.

La documented history On the other hand, it attests to a consolidated sanctuary and devotion: the canonical coronation of 1916, the ninth annual in the Cathedral, the solemn transfer of the image and centuries of segovian fervor. The devotion to the Fuencysla depends not on the legendary details of its origin, but on the love of a people who recognize it as their Mother.

History and veneration

The origin of devotion

The name "Fuencisla," so typical of Segovia, derives from Latin Fons still, "a fountain that can," in allusion to the place where the sanctuary is located, at the feet of the rocks and by the river. Tradition links the image to the very origins of the diocese, but what history conserves with firmness is a deep-rooted devotion that made the Virgin patron of the city and its land.

The canonical coronation

The Virgin of the Fuencysla was canonically crowned on September 24, 1916 by the Bishop of Segovia, Remigio Gandásegui and Gorrochátegui. Years later, in 1957, he was imposed the Gold Medal of the province of Segovia. The image, which has at its feet a command staff and a fajin, reflects honors of a military and civil character granted at different times in its history.

The party and the ninth

His party is held 25 Septemberwith the day of greatest celebration last Sunday of the month. Two Thursday before, the Virgin goes up from her sanctuary, on the wire of the Fuencisla, to the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Segovia, where she occupies the center of the major altarpiece and is prayed a ninth of nine days in which her anthem are sung. On the last Sunday, the image returns to its sanctuary, fired by the bishop and the people at the foot of the Aqueduct; in the square of the Azoguejo a salve is sung, and upon its arrival it crosses an arch of flowers between dances and regional suits.

Other images

In addition to the size venerated in its sanctuary, a canvas of the 18th century Fuencisla is preserved in the National Museum of Art of Bolivia, in La Paz, testimony to the extension of this Spanish devotion.

Spiritual message of the Fuencisla

The devotion to the Fuencysla continues to speak with simplicity today:

💧 Mary is a source of power. The same name presents it as a source of life and sweetness for those who come to it.
📿 The faith of the people sustains devotion. Not the details of legend, but centuries of prayer and trusting novena.
🌸 Segovia walks with her mother. He goes up with her to the Cathedral and accompanies her back to her sanctuary: a devotion made a shared way.
✝️ Mary always takes the Son. His whole glory is to lead his own to God.

Prayer to Our Lady of the Fire

Prayer inspired by the traditional anthem of the Fuencysla: "Blessed Virgin of our Earth, Mother worshipped of the Fuencysla, a source that hands life and sweetness."