To Itatí by bicycle, tradition of faith and prayer in motion | THE TERRITORY news from Misiones

A personal and collective feat, an act of faith and hope, is undertaken every December on the eve of the eighth day by the pilgrims on bicycles to the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Itatí in Corrientes.

A walking path of thousands of promises on two wheels advances along the route under the sun or under the cover of dawn guided by the image of the dark-haired invocation of the mother of Jesus Christ at the head of the procession.

Revered for being historical and miraculous, the Virgin of Itatí summons the Catholic believers of the region and no one has been found who does not have an impossible prodigy of health or love or life generously granted by her.

Driven by their gifts, seeking their protection, fulfilling a promise, the bicyle-pilgrims set off in the hot dawn of Tuesday from the Posadeña roundabout to devoutly travel about 270 kilometers to the coastal basilica.

The journey is long, it has posts to recharge energy, eat and share and also to pray and sleep and return at dawn, since it is preferred not to travel at night and the forecast is to arrive at the destination this noon for the mass of reception of the pilgrim.

popular religiosity

The bicycle pilgrimage was consolidated as one of the biggest festivities of popular religiosity and is celebrating its 42nd anniversary.

The custom was inaugurated by a family that pedaled in the early 1980s for a favor received and, since then, in the run-up to summer and close to the holy date, more people have joined in maintaining the tradition.

“Cyclists from all over come to Posadas to go on a pilgrimage to Itatí, it is a festival of faith, and we all go together, it is not a competition or a race, the objective is to arrive carrying the image of the Virgin, we hope to arrive tomorrow at noon (for today)”, Marcelo Prochaska, one of the collaborators and referents of the event, told El Territorio.

The cyclists were excited and happy at the start of a new edition of the traditional procession.

“We are thousands of cyclists who are in a column, some left a little earlier, others join later, so I don’t know an exact number of participants. This is a pilgrimage of faith that is very alive and since we are in the border area, in addition to people from all over Misiones, there are pilgrims from Paraguay and Brazil”, he highlighted.

Shortly before dusk, the promisers gathered in the roundabout with their wheels ready and many carts with the replica of the Patroness of the Coast adorned with flowers, photos, letters. Also, the support vehicles that carry water and food and the security device were prepared.

The priest Francisco Javier Alegre, parish priest of Loreto in Santa Ana and bicipilgrim blessed the procession.

“My vocation was born from the pilgrimage to Itatí and because of the study I had not been there for a while and this time I have the possibility of pedaling back,” he said and about the fervor of the community for the “Queen of Paraná” he reflected: “This procession began more than four decades ago with 17 people with the Zurdel family and today we see how big it is, each one of us who is here has a request, a thank you, a special intention and the Virgin knows our hearts, she knows us and He gives us what we ask for, that is why faith is so great. This pilgrimage is a show of faith, of love for the Mother and for God”.

For the people and the work

Among the intentions that the pilgrims brought as offerings, they highlighted the wishes for peace and prosperity for families and for the entire town and that there is more work and that health and livelihood are not lacking.

Darío Fernández came from Buenos Aires to go out in a cycle-procession, “I come for the pilgrimage and I also take the opportunity to walk through Misiones, I am a cyclist forever but this is a great effort that we do motivated and sustained by faith,” he said.

Meanwhile, Vicenta Báez always travels with her husband Omar Sánchez, who on this occasion could not go because he had a recent accident, “this time it is my turn to go for both of us, he came to support me, we are all going moved by faith and with the hope that things will go better for all of us and that there will be unity and peace in the families”, the woman asked seconds before the announcement of the start of the bicicaravan with a roar of horns and applause.