The residents of the town of Tiagua gathered last Wednesday to celebrate, with deep devotion and feeling, the feast of their patron saint, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, on a day when faith once again walked hand in hand with the most deeply rooted traditions of this beloved town in the municipality of Teguise.
At six in the afternoon, the small hermitage of Tiagua began to receive the faithful who came to participate in the celebration of the Solemn Eucharist. It is a temple of great historical value, founded in 1612 by Hernando Peraza Ayala, which preserves among its most unique elements a portal and other architectural details built with the characteristic red tuff stone, a peculiar material closely linked to this area of the island.
The Eucharist was presided over by the parish priest and resident of Tiagua, don Rafael Tejera Parrilla, who during the celebration was accompanied by a community of faithful who filled the permitted capacity. The songs were enlivened by some neighbors who, guitar in hand, provided the musical note and served as a guide for all those present to join in the singing, making the celebration a particularly participatory and close moment.
And if anything was evident during this festival, it was the commitment of the young people to the traditions of their town. The Festival Commission and the Board of Directors of the "El Molino" Socio-Cultural Center of Tiagua have demonstrated, once again, that youth has much to contribute when it comes to keeping customs alive and recovering those small traditions that, over the years, had become dormant.
Among these recoveries, the triumphal arch installed in front of the hermitage's facade, through which the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help would later pass, adorned with palms and flowers, stood out especially. It offered an image of great beauty and elegance and contributed to dressing the hermitage's surroundings for the festival.
After the Eucharist, one of the most anticipated moments of the afternoon arrived: the procession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help through the streets of Tiagua.
The procession was led by the Teguiband Music Band of Villa de Teguise, whose sounds announced the passage of the patron saint. Following the band, the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was carried on the shoulders by the residents themselves, who took turns during the route to accompany their patron saint on this very special day.
Behind the image walked the celebrating priest accompanied by the mayor of the Teguise City Council, Olivia Duque, the councilor for Festivals and Culture, Andoni Machín, and other members of the municipal corporation along with numerous residents of Tiagua.
During the procession, some of the most emotional moments of the day were experienced. At certain points along the route, the procession stopped before some elderly people who were eagerly awaiting the passage of the patron saint. These were moments charged with emotion; the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help stopped before them while their gazes, full of feeling, seemed to express much more than any word could say.
Because a procession is not just a route. It is also memory, encounter, and emotion. It is remembering those who were there, sharing with those who are here, and keeping alive a tradition that is part of the identity of an entire town.
Upon her return to the hermitage, the patron saint was received with special affection by her neighbors. There, the musical offering took place by the Folkloric Group La Gran Aldea de Teguise, which wanted to pay homage to Our Lady of Perpetual Help by offering the most representative of the songbook and traditional dances of Lanzarote.
The sounds of our traditional music provided the cultural closing to a celebration in which the island's roots were very present.
After the offering, the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help returned again inside her hermitage, embraced by the applause, the cheers, and the affection of her neighbors.
In this way, a day concluded in which devotion, faith, emotion, and tradition walked together through the streets of Tiagua, demonstrating that patron saint festivals continue to be much more than a celebration on the calendar; they are an essential part of the collective memory of towns.
Tiagua met its patron saint again. And it did so as it knows best; with its heart, with its traditions, and with the affection of an entire town united around Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
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