marian anniversaries     june

June 8

Nuestra Señora de la Calle, Palencia, Palencia, Castille and León, Spain

Early one morning, before dawn, a baker firing up his oven had trouble getting a certain piece of wood to burn. Twice he pulled it out whole, and the third time he threw it in the street in disgust. Then he heard a sweet voice: "Since you threw me into the street in anger, I will be the Virgin of the Street one day." The log was glowing in the mist. The baker went inside and woke his wife and daughter, who came out to see the piece of wood. On its charred end they found an image of the Virgin and Child. 

So goes the legend of Our Lady of the Street, patron of Palencia. Another story explains her title more prosaically: the first chapel to house the image had another Madonna on its façade, which received devotion from passersby on the street. In any case, the Virgin of Palencia was originally titled Our Lady of the Candles, and her fiesta is still celebrated on Candlemas, February 2. Her informal title is La Morenilla, Little Dark One. 

The venerated 16" statue, dating from the 1400s, moved in 1769 to a church built in the 1500s by the Jesuits, who were expelled from Spain in 1767. Still known as the Church of the Society of Jesus (Iglesia de la Compañía), it has served ever since as the shrine of Our Lady of the Street. 

In 1947, Pope Pius XII issued a brief confirming the Virgin of the Street as Patron of Palencia and authorizing her Confraternity. On June 8, 1952, the Papal Nuncio crowned the statue at a solemn ceremony attended by the bishop, mayor, and a host of bands, dancers, confraternity members, students, officials, religious, and clergy.

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