Our Lady of Valme

Patron Saint of Dos Hermanas

The pious tradition attributes the origin of this advocation to the king Fernando III el Santoduring the campaign of reconquest of Seville in the 13th century: the monarch would have invoked the Virgin with the words "Valedme, Lady," from where the title would come Valme. This connection with San Fernando, supported by local chronists, belongs to tradition and is not demonstrable with contemporary documents.

Main data

Origin and history

The pious tradition attributes the origin of this advocation to the king Fernando III el Santoduring the campaign of reconquest of Seville in the 13th century: the monarch would have invoked the Virgin with the words "Valedme, Lady," from where the title would come Valme. This connection with San Fernando, supported by local chronists, belongs to tradition and is not demonstrable with contemporary documents.

What is documented is that devotion to the Virgin of Valme has been attested in the Cuarto area since the Late Middle Ages. The current statue, a processional image, is Baroque in style, with later modifications. The large pilgrimage that characterizes it today began to be organized regularly in the 19th century.

The image and the sanctuary

The image is usually venerated in the Parish of Santa María Magdalena of Two Sisters, and moved into Romany to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Valmelocated in the cortijo of Cuarto, within the old royal estate of Cuarto, in the end of Two Sisters. It is a size of baroque bill candlestick, with subsequent touches.

Sponsorship and coronation

She's a patron of Two Sisters. His canonical coronation took place on 23 June 1973by Paul VI, in the Plaza de España of Seville.

Party and devotion

The great devotional date is the Romería de Valme, que se celebra el third Sunday of October with a very large popular participation. The sanctuary conserves a multitude of exvotes of people who attribute favors to the Virgin. A local tradition gives him special protection of the city in times of drought and epidemics, and there are documents of begging and thanksgiving in municipal acts, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Link to the Rosary

There is no record of a canonical Rosary confraternity specifically linked to Our Lady of Valme. However, the Rosary is recited during the preparatory services for the pilgrimage and during the novenas to Saint Mary Magdalene, as a common devotional practice surrounding the Virgin.