Virgin of the Rosary of Rojales

Marian title of Rojales (Comunitat Valenciana)

The Virgin of the Rosary is the patron of Rojales, the municipality of Vega Baja del Segura, located next to the Segura River. The image is venerated in the Parish of St. Peter the Apostle. The 16 April 1936, three months before the start of the Civil War, several neighbors claimed to see by the river a great glow shaped like a woman with a mantle holding a child, on top of a Alamo. Local chronist Fausto Cartagena wrote: ‘Recuerdo haber visto un resplandor vivísimo en lo más alto del árbol; un resplandor extraño, desacostumbrado, que en su contorno figuraba como la imagen de una Virgen. Era la Virgen del Rosario porque estábamos en Rojales. Eso nadie lo puso en duda.’ This story is a written, pious tradition, without a process of ecclesiastical research. A few months later, in 1936, the original image was destroyed during the Civil War.

Main data

Origin and history

The Virgin of the Rosary is the patron of Rojales, the municipality of Vega Baja del Segura, located next to the Segura River. The image is venerated in the Parish of St. Peter the Apostle. The 16 April 1936, three months before the start of the Civil War, several neighbors claimed to see by the river a great glow shaped like a woman with a mantle holding a child, on top of a Alamo. Local chronist Fausto Cartagena wrote: ‘Recuerdo haber visto un resplandor vivísimo en lo más alto del árbol; un resplandor extraño, desacostumbrado, que en su contorno figuraba como la imagen de una Virgen. Era la Virgen del Rosario porque estábamos en Rojales. Eso nadie lo puso en duda.’ This story is a written, pious tradition, without a process of ecclesiastical research. A few months later, in 1936, the original image was destroyed during the Civil War.

Image and sanctuary

The current image is venerated in the specific chapel dedicated to this advocation within the Parish of St. Peter the Apostle. In the 1990s, local painter Isabel Bass painted the chapel's shrimp with scenes based on the devotional memory of Rojales and the apparition of 1936.

Sponsorship and coronation

Patron of Rojales. No canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The patronal holiday is celebrated 7 October, universal liturgical feast of the Virgin of the Rosary, with solemn Mass and procession.

Link to the Rosary

The Virgin of the Rosary of Rojales is, by advocation, a special protector of this devotion. The prayer of the Rosary is central to the life of the parish of St. Peter the Apostle and to the holidays of October 7.