This Friday, Carmen Delia Marrero's proclamation took place, marking the beginning of the festivities in honor of Our Lady of Las Nieves in the mountains of Teguise.
Carmen Delia is a woman committed to the educational and parish community who accepted the invitation of the parish priest of Teguise, Matías Gula, to proclaim the festivities "because from the first moment she has felt very loved by her neighbors, co-workers, and friends."
The herald, who could not share childhood experiences related to the Las Nieves festival as she was not born there, shared her reflections from the gratitude and love she feels towards the municipality in which she resides and which she also feels is her own, where two of her four children were born. Carmen Delia consulted the archives where many details are collected from the first construction of the hermitage, the appearance of the Virgin to little Luis Alonso when he was taking care of his cattle and guarding the crops in the Vega de Los Valles, and he begged with a clamorous voice that she "raise the house of the Most Holy Virgin of Las Nieves." Another very interesting fact that appears in the Teguise archives was when in the year 1725 the General Council of Lanzarote granted the appointment of "Patroness and mediating advocate between man and God, Most Holy Mary," a rank she currently holds.
In her proclamation, Carmen Delia spoke about the commitment of being laymen and laywomen of vocation, willing to meet, "as Christians who have to voluntarily go out to share and transmit the kingdom of God from the simple and ordinary things by the hand of Mary, mother of the church." The herald, a woman committed to helping everyone who needs it, made her proclamation a prayer that with all her love and affection dedicated to Our Lady of Las Nieves. During the reading of the proclamation, and making some stops, the soundtracks of the movie "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," "Life is Beautiful," and songs like "Si tú me dices ven" or "Mare Mía" were heard, performed by the young violinist Diego Fajardo.
At the end of the reading of the proclamation, Carmen Delia Marrero received a prolonged and sonorous applause from the public that gathered at the hermitage. Benjamín Díaz, butler of the hermitage, presented her with a bouquet of flowers, and Oswaldo Betancort, mayor of the Teguise city council, presented her with a wooden sculpture with an engraving of the Virgin.
The act ended with the performance of the Villa de Teguise Polyphonic Choir directed by Professor Nuvi Tavio, who performed a habanera followed by a song in Japanese, another in Basque, ending with Schubert's Ave Maria, thus putting the finishing touch to the beginning of the festivities in honor of Our Lady of Las Nieves.
