Last Sunday in February

Nuestra Señora Purísima de las 40 Horas, Limache, Valparaiso, Quillota, Chile

The story goes that in 1831, fishermen found a chest floating in the sea; inside was a beautiful statue of the Virgin in a white robe and dark blue mantle. Devotion remained private for many years, but eventually grew to the point that the statue was moved to the parish Church of Santa Cruz. Depending on the source, the Immaculata of Limache became known as the Virgin of the 40 Hours after saving some sailors from a 40-hour storm, or because the statue was found after a 40-hour storm or during the Forty Hours' Devotion of eucharistic adoration at the church; or simply because such a devotion was held starting on the Friday before her fiesta. Now, a nine-day novena precedes the fiesta in February, which of course is summertime in Chile. On Sunday, the image processes through the city, passing the penitentiary, whose inmates shout a greeting. (Information and picture from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Chile, "Nuestra Señora Purísima de las Cuarenta Horas - Limache," Santuarios, www.iglesia.cl.)   

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