The festivities in honor of Our Lady of Las Nieves kicked off this Friday with the proclamation by Nieves Núñez Gil.
The Sanctuary in the Mountain of Teguise was filled with friends, neighbors, and family to listen to the speaker who, as presented by the parish priest of Teguise, is a native of the town of Guatiza, born into a humble family formed by Juan Núñez Figueroa and Nieves Gil Betancort, and from this union, seven children were born, with Nieves being the fourth of her siblings.
"Nieves is a collaborative woman in the Parish of the Holy Christ of the Waters of Guatiza, participating in the liturgy and always offering her unconditional help to the parish community," added the parish priest in his presentation, which was received with applause from the public.
Proclamation:
"Good afternoon to everyone present at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Las Nieves, thanks to Father Juan Manuel Molina (Padrecito as our great friend Pepe called him), for trusting me to give this proclamation. My name is Nieves, although everyone knows me as Nievitas, I have it because of an oversight by my father who, upon arriving at the registry, did not remember what name my mother had chosen and decided to name me Nieves like my mother, a fact he confessed when a few weeks had passed upon hearing that my mother continued to call me Nuria, the name she had chosen.
I come from a working family that, although not very practicing, always instilled in us good values from a young age, such as respecting and helping those in need without expecting anything in return, and as an exception, there is me, a practitioner and faithful to the community of the parish of the Holy Christ of the Waters of Guatiza, who, although we are few, have formed a family that fights for the conservation of the church and for the celebration of each of the festivities.
My first memories of the Virgen de Las Nieves were hearing my father asking her for favors for setbacks in the family, such as health and work. My mother always had her Virgencita in her heart, she visited her every August 5th with my father and when work and time allowed. Other beautiful memories are of the summer afternoons in the Unión de Guatiza society where we shared games and celebrated our parties. Youth, divine treasure.
On the eve of Las Nieves, we would meet at Cuatro Esquinas to leave early so that the heat wouldn't catch us! Like good Carneros, where one goes, they all go! Climbing the Santa Margarita cemetery was quite an achievement, but when we saw the little white path, we started to cheer up, that path that our families took daily to reach the mountain to work doing field work. I must admit that we went more out of novelty than devotion, but something did stick with us.
I remember a neighbor from the town of Los Valles who, upon seeing us arrive, offered us fresh water freshly drawn from the cistern to quench our thirst and a basin with water and soap to tidy ourselves up a bit so we could present ourselves decently before the Virgin.
We arrived at the Sanctuary mid-morning, and you couldn't even get in because of the number of people who came that day to visit her and pay their promises, some arrived barefoot, others on their knees, the surroundings of the Sanctuary were surrounded by stalls and typical sweet stands.
Sometimes we were lucky and returned to the town by car, but on many other occasions we had to walk back, the elders told us to drink water with sugar to combat the aches, but the first two or three days the pain didn't go away. Many years have passed and today I have our mother of Las Nieves as a reference, I thank her every night for the day lived and I ask for protection for all my loved ones and that they welcome those who are no longer with us. I end my proclamation by thanking those present and putting my hand on my heart, I hope that all those who come to beg her for a favor will be granted it, but knowing that she will be very busy, not everything can be granted, but we will not stop loving her for that. Long live the Virgen de Las Nieves!"
And so Nieves was reading her proclamation, simple but very emotional, which was interrupted by applause, a moment that the speaker took advantage of to release the accumulated nerves.
After the proclamation, the parish priest Juan Manuel Molina presented her with a painting with the image of the Virgen de Las Nieves as a souvenir from the parish community, and the mayoress of the Teguise City Council, Olivia Duque, presented her with a wooden sculpture of the Virgin.
Next, six young devotees of Our Lady of Las Nieves provided the musical note, offering the most traditional of the Canarian song, an isa, folías, and malagueñas with unpublished lyrics of their own creation alluding to the Virgin and which were highly applauded by the public who, standing, thanked them for their collaboration.
The final touch to the festive day was provided by the members of the Villa de Teguise Polyphonic Choir who, directed by Professor Nuvi Tavio, performed four compositions, Dona nobis pacen, Nada te turbe, Señora de la Montaña, and Dios te salve María, a performance that the very grateful public rewarded with their applause.
