Our Lady of the Sagrarian

Patrona de Toledo

The Virgin of the Sagrarian is the patron of Toledo and one of the most venerated Marian images of Spain. It is named after the Sagrarian of the Primate Cathedral, the place where, from ancient times, the most precious treasures of the temple and, above all, the Eucharistic presence are guarded.

The name and image

The title "of the Sagrarian" comes from the space of the cathedral where the image has been venerated since ancient times: the sacred, intended to keep the most sacred of the temple. The current effigy is a Romanesque size of the 13th century, made of walnut wood, which represents Mary sitting (sedent) with the Child in her lap. The image is silver-plated and dressed in a curved mantle of pearls.

Patrona de Toledo

The Toledans soon chose the Virgin of the Sagrarian as their patron. By the year 1300 an image of alabaster, the Virgin White, donated by Archbishop Gonzalo Pétrez, came to the chorus of the cathedral; but the city had already made his own to the Virgin of the Sagrarian, who always kept the first place in the heart of Toledo.

The party and the Octave

The celebrations begin each 7 August with a liturgical celebration in the chapel of the Sagrarian, in which the veil that protects the Virgin is discovered and painted. The days of the Octavario (7-14 August) and the August 15, solemnity of the Assumption, with the Eucharist presided over by the primate archbishop. It is one of the most befitting dates of the Toledan religious calendar.

Spiritual message

The Virgin of the Sagrarian unites Mary with the Eucharist in her own name: the Mother who keeps and presents her Son, present in the sacred of the altar. Toledo, the first place in Spain, finds in it a sign of fidelity to the faith received and transmitted for centuries.

Prayer to Our Lady of the Sagrarian