Every year on May 13, in Cucuta (Colombia), the faithful go on pilgrimage to the monument of Our Lady of Fatima in San Miguel. This neighborhood has housed it since December 1949.
This year, due to the mandatory confinement decreed by the Government, the faithful were unable to keep this tradition to express their Marian devotion. For this reason, the Diocese of Cucuta decided to walk the streets carrying the statue of the Blessed Virgin on a caravan to visit her children.
The Diocese of Cucuta and its communications center had the support of the Cucuta Volunteer Fire Department and the Cucuta Metropolitan Police (MECUC), members of which accompanied the procession through the streets of the city center and surrounding neighborhoods, lighting homes and businesses with the spirit of Fatima.
During the tour, people prayed the Holy Rosary, heard in every corner thanks to loudspeakers. The event was broadcast live “on the official channels and social networks of the local Church of Cucuta.”
Many homes displayed the Marian flag on their facades, and “families lit candles to greet the Virgin … and join in prayer,” said the Diocese of Cucuta.
The Monument to Our Lady of Fatima in Cucuta
Father Guillermo Santamaría, the pastor of San Antonio de Padua, built the monument in the mid-20th century. “The statue arrived from Bogota on December 3, 1949, and was inaugurated on December 18,” said Luis Fernando Niño López, doctor of history and arts from the University of Granada (Spain), according to the Diocese of Cucuta.
«The statue of the Virgin, 3 meters tall, rests on a globe resembling the world. The structure consists of a concrete column 10 meters high. Two years ago, it was remodeled for the use of all cucuteños and the well-being of its neighbors,” he added.