The Virgin of Itacuá and the navigators

Incarnation · Itapúa · Paraguay · Patron of rivers

The neighborhood and the river

Itacuá is a district of Encarnación, the second city of Paraguay, on the banks of the Paraná River. The name comes from the Guaraní: lita (stone) and baby (hole / grunt). The neighborhood is next to the Paraná, one of the most important rivers in South America.

The apparition and the image

The devotion to the Virgin of Itacuá has its origin in a local tradition that tells that the image of the Virgin was found in the Parana River by fishermen. In trying to take her to the church, the image returned to the site of the find repeatedly. The faithful interpreted this as a sign that the Virgin wanted to stay by the river, by the sailors and fishermen.

This pattern - an image found in the water that does not want to move from its place - is recurrent in Latin American popular mariology (also happens with Aparecida, Copacabana and others). It reflects the conviction that the Virgin chooses her devotees, not the contrary.

Pattern of rivers and sailors

The Virgin of Itacuá became the patron of the navigators of the Parana. The barges on the river - full of goods between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay - carried on board images or medals of the Virgin of Itacuá. In the river processions of August, the image is taken and carried in procession by the river between songs and saved.

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