Virgin of the Valley

Eastern Venezuelan and Fishermen's Patron · Margarita (Nueva Sparta)

In the Valley of the Holy Spirit, on the island of Margarita, the Virgin of the Valley, patron of the Venezuelan East and of the sailors and fishermen, is venerated, which every 8 September fills with promises its basilica.

Origin and history

The tradition refers that the image was first in Cubagua, next to Nueva Cádiz; after the hurricane that swept that city to 1541-1542, it was moved to Margarita, being linked to the Valley of the Holy Spirit, where its cult was consolidated. It is one of the most entrenched Marian devotions in eastern Venezuela, especially among fishermen and sailors, who attribute countless favors to it and offer it exvotes.

He was approved as patron of the Venezuelan East by Benedict XV in 1921, at the request of Bishop Sixto Sosa Díaz, and received the canonical coronation at the beginning of the 20th century. His feast, on 8 September, brings together crowds in the Minor Basilica of the Valley, in one of the country's largest Marian celebrations.

The exact date of canonical coronation (1910 / 1911) has discrepancies in the sources.