The Divina Pastora (Divine Shepherdess), a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus and a sheep, is one of the most important religious icons of Venezuela. It is the local representation of the Virgin and the patron saint of the city and of the Venezuelan National Militia.
Each January 14, the statue is carried by 6 to 10 men and women, accompanied by a procession of more than 2 million people, some barefoot and carrying crosses, from the Church of Santa Rosa, in the village of Santa Rosa near the city, to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Barquisimeto. During the next couple of months, on Her return trip, She stops at other churches in Barquisimeto, arriving back to Santa Rosa in time for Palm Sunday. According to the history books, this tradition comes from Seville, Spain. A Capuchin friar, Isidore of Seville, had a dream in which he saw an image of the Divina Pastora. Days later, he gave to the artist Miguel Alonso de Tovar, a detailed description of his vision, so that he could paint it. The painting of the virgin with pastoral hat, covered by a blue mantle, holding a boy in her left hand and a lamb in her right one, was called "Divina Pastora de Almas". Later, the sculptor Francisco Antonio Gijón, made a life-sized sculpture of the Divina Pastora, which was carried in its first procession in 1705.
The devotion to the Divina Pastora in Venezuela, dates from 1736, when the parish priest of the town of Santa Rosa commissioned a sculptor to make a statue of the Immaculate Conception. Unexpectedly, the figure that was delivered was of the Divina Pastora. The priest wanted to return it, but the packing crate could not be lifted. The whole town took this as a sign that the statue wanted to remain in Santa Rosa. In 1855 the status of the Divina Pastora as the patron saint of the Venezuelan state of Lara was further established, when a cholera epidemic occurred, striking a great number of families in Barquisimeto. Desperate, they implored the Divina Pastora for help. It is said that Father Jose Macario Yépez, parish priest of the La Concepción church of Barquisimeto, offered himself before the Virgin, to be the last victim of the disease. Some accounts say that the priest died six months later and that the epidemic then left the city; others indicate that his supplications stopped the epidemic immediately.
The January 14th procession commemorates this event. It is a festive occasion, with countless street vendors selling anything from food to liquor and small religious figurines along the route that snakes through the city. Every year the Virgin is dressed differently by a local fashion designer and Her gown is donated by devotees paying penance.
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