Our Lady of Lourdes de Bailadores, venerated in the Sanctuary of Lourdes de Bailadores

Marian Advocation of Dancers (Merida)

La devoción a Our Lady of Lourdes de Bailadores is part of the expansion of the cult of the Virgin of Lourdes born in France, 1858from the apparitions recognized in the town of Lourdes to Saint Bernadette Soubirous; from there, the advocation spread widely throughout the Catholic world and gave name to numerous shrines, grotto and Marian pilgrimages. In the case of dancers, local devotion is linked to Sanctuary of Lourdes de Bailadores, en el municipio Rivas Davila of the state Mérida, Venezuela, where the veneration has acquired a remarkable popular arraigo.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Our Lady of Lourdes de Bailadores is part of the expansion of the cult of the Virgin of Lourdes born in France, 1858from the apparitions recognized in the town of Lourdes to Saint Bernadette Soubirous; from there, the advocation spread widely throughout the Catholic world and gave name to numerous shrines, grotto and Marian pilgrimages. In the case of dancers, local devotion is linked to Sanctuary of Lourdes de Bailadores, en el municipio Rivas Davila of the state Mérida, Venezuela, where the veneration has acquired a remarkable popular arraigo.

On the concrete origin of the Andean shrine of dancers, the sources available at this time only make it possible to claim with certainty that there is a already consolidated annual pilgrimagebecause a recent record of the sanctuary itself speaks of the "68th Pilgrimage". There is no complete documentary chronology of the foundation or a single date of the beginning of the local cult in the sources verified here; for historical prudence, these data should be considered no constatados In this file.

The image and the sanctuary

The verifiable information obtained from the sources consulted does not sufficiently describe the material, authorship or detailed iconography of the venerated image in Dancers; therefore, those traits no constan In this file. It does know that the advocation is venerated in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes of Dancers, identified in practice as grotto and temple, within the municipality Rivas Davilain the Southern Andes.

Nor does the revised sources state that the temple has the title of minor basilicaor that it has been declared National sanctuary; with available information, it should be presented with caution as a a sanctuary of strong diocesan and regional relevance within the diocese of Merida.

Sponsorship and coronation

It does not contain in the sources verified here a Official patronage universal, national or diocesan formally documented for this advocation in Bailators. It can be said that it has a Local devotional patronage very deeply rooted among the faithful of Bailators and of the Andean area of Meridian, for the persistence of the pilgrimage and of the veneration in the sanctuary.

As for the canonical coronation, does not contain a documented canonical coronation in the sources consulted for this advocation in Bailators.

Party and devotion

The main party corresponds to the 11 February, universal date of Our Lady of Lourdes and the day the Church commemorates the Marian advocation linked to the apparitions of Lourdes. In Dancers, this celebration is expressed by a very deep-rooted annual pilgrimagewhich in recent records already appears in 68th edition, which shows continuity, local identity and strong popular participation.

The devotion in this sanctuary is characterized, as verifiable, by the Community support for pilgrims and by the centrality of the grotto or prayer space associated with Lourdes, typical feature of the sanctuaries inspired by the Lourdes tradition. There are no quantitative flow data, approved local miracles or specific popular traditions documented in the sources consulted to include them without the risk of error.

Link to the Rosary

In the verified sources there is no exclusive or normative association between this specific advocation of dancers and a particular practice of the Rosary; however, the spirituality of Lourdes is deeply linked to Marian prayer, and the Rosary It usually occupies a central place in the sanctuaries dedicated to the Virgin. In this context, this devotion is well understood as an invitation to contemplate with Mary the mysteries of Christ, in continuity with the traditional Marian piety of the Church.