Our Lady of the Polco Rosary, venerated in the diocesan Sanctuary of the Polco Rosary

Marian Advocation of Chamical (La Rioja)

La devoción a Our Lady of the Rosary of Polco is in the region of Los Llanos riojanos, in the rural town of Polco, about 6-7 km from the city of Chamical, province of La Rioja, Argentina. Polco has been established as a meeting place for the patron parties of the Virgin of the Rosary of Polco, with a tradition of romaneries and pilgrimages that attract faithful from all over the area.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Our Lady of the Rosary of Polco is in the region of Los Llanos riojanos, in the rural town of Polco, about 6-7 km from the city of Chamical, province of La Rioja, Argentina. Polco has been established as a meeting place for the patron parties of the Virgin of the Rosary of Polco, with a tradition of romaneries and pilgrimages that attract faithful from all over the area.

Documented history. The chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary of Polco was declared National Historical Monument by Act No. 24,851, adopted on 18 June 1997. This declaration recognizes the historical and religious value of the rural temple and the Marian devotion that is professed there. The image of the Virgin of the Rosary of Polco was proclaimed Patron of the Decanate of Los Llanos Riojanos on 7 October 1988, following the efforts of the priest Miguel La Civita, a decree approved by Bishop Fabriciano Sigampa. Since then there has been a "massive accompaniment" of the faithful in the patron celebrations of Chamical and Polco.

Tradition and legend. In the popular memory there are stories about the miraculous and protective character of the Virgin of the Polco Rosary towards the inhabitants of the riojan plains, and it is especially invoked by the land, the family and the travelers; however, the legendary details about a possible prodigious finding of the image, apparitions or foundational miracles do not reflect in the sources consulted with verifiable precision. When "myths and legends" linked to Polco are mentioned, it is made in general, without providing any chronological data or specific ecclesiastical documents. Such elements should therefore be considered as undocumented oral tradition, transmitted by popular piety.

The image and the sanctuary

The available sources on Our Lady of the Polco Rosary describe devotion, temple and parties, but No precise technical details on typology, material or author image (package size, picture, old or modern, etc.). In graphic records (photographs and devotional videos) it is seen that it is a Marian image dressed, under the title of the Rosary, but the detailed iconographic characteristics (height, material of the size, time of realization) not documented in the sources consulted.

The main place of worship is the Chapel of Our Lady of the Polco Rosary, in the town of Polco, Chamical department, officially recognized as National Historical Monument by Act No. 24,851. The building is located about 6 km south-west of Chamical, on Provincial Route 25, in a rural area of Los Llanos riojanos. The temple, which is typical of the rural chapels of Northwest Argentina, is a place of spiritual and cultural reference for the region.

In the present ecclesial context, the place is known as Santuario Mariano Diocesano de Polco, belonging to the diocese of La Rioja, with an active presence in the parish pastoral and in the Marian devotional life of Chamical. The sources present it as diocesan Marian shrinenot as a minor basilica or national sanctuary. There is no pontifical title that elevates the temple to the category of lower basilica.

Sponsorship and coronation

The Virgin of the Rosary of Polco is recognized as Patron of the Decanate of Los Llanos Riojanos within the diocese of La Rioja. This proclamation, approved by Bishop Fabriciano Sigampa and dated the 7 October 1988, consolidated the patronage of the advocation over the extensive area of Los Llanos Riojanos and favored the growth of the pilgrimages to the sanctuary of Polco and the city of Chamical. In some journalistic and devotional chronicles it is also called Patrona de Los Llanos Riojanos, an expression that highlights its roots throughout the region.

It does not know that the image of Our Lady of the Polco Rosary has received a canonical coronation (pontifical or diocesan) formally documented in the terms of canon law and the praxis of the Congregation for Divine Veneration. It is therefore appropriate to state: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The patron party of Our Lady of the Polco Rosary is held in the framework of the October, identified as "winter" parties of the sanctuary. Several local and devotional sources point out that the main celebration takes place in Octoberwith a particularly intense concentration of second octubre Sundaythe day when many pilgrims come to the sanctuary to honor the Virgin. In local networks and media it is explicitly mentioned that "the second Sunday of October is celebrated the feast of the Virgin of the Rosary of Polco [...] in the Llanos of La Rioja."

La devoción incluye: – Rural Pilgrims and Traditional Pilgrimage al santuario, con participación de fieles de Chamical y de otros puntos de la región de Los Llanos. – Masses, novenas and processions con la imagen de la Virgen, especialmente durante el mes de octubre, cuando el santuario “se viste” con los colores marianos y se intensifica la actividad litúrgica. – Un marcado carácter de popular pietywith songs, promises, offerings and numerous presence of families, which according to the local press calls "thousands of pilgrims."

The chronicles point out that since 1988 the city of Chamical has held a stable celebration of the Patron of Los Llanos Riojanos with a "massive accompaniment," which shows the consolidation of a regional Marian identity around the Virgin of the Rosary of Polco.

Link to the Rosary

By his own advocation, Our Lady of the Polco Rosary is part of the great tradition of Maria del Rosario, directly linked to the prayer of Holy Rosary as a way of contemplating the mysteries of Christ with the Virgin. In the pastoral life of the diocesan sanctuary of Polco and of the corresponding parish, the usual practice of pray the Rosary in community, including the explicit invitation to the "Prayer of the Holy Rosary" in the regular programming of the parish of Chamical, closely linked to the sanctuary.

Aunque las fuentes consultadas no describen en detalle normas propias o ejercicios específicos de esta advocación (como cofradías históricas del Rosario, indulgencias particulares u horarios tradicionales de rosarios procesionales vinculados exclusivamente a Polco), la naturaleza misma del título “del Rosario” permite afirmar que: – La devoción central se expresa en la meditación de los misterios del Rosario, en las novenas y en las procesiones de octubre. – El Rosario funciona como una simple and deep school of faith for the devotees of the Riojan plains, who find in the repetition of the Avemarias a way to accompany Mary in the contemplation of the life of Jesus, and to put under his protection daily life, rural work and family.

In this sense, even when no old statutes of co-fradies are entered, the organic link between the advocation of Our Lady of the Rosary of Polco and the prayer of the Rosary is explicit in the same name of the sanctuary and in the ordinary pastoral practice of the local community.