Back in 1664, a small hermitage was built in the village of Yaiza, under the patronage of the Virgen del Rosario, when the village had approximately forty inhabitants. The original altar is still preserved, presided over by a large painting dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. For the construction of the hermitage, Don Domingo Viera donated six and a half fanegas of land in the Fenauso valley. The hermitage later underwent a major transformation, becoming a temple of considerable dimensions, and it is still preserved today, now dedicated to Our Lady of Los Remedios. The aforementioned transformation or new construction was completed in 1695, but the inhabitants of Yaiza continued to attend mass on Sundays at the parish of the Illustrious Villa de Teguise. Don Domingo Viera was the grandfather of Doña Gregoria Gopar Viera, widow of Don Manuel Curbelo, who paid all the expenses.
At that time, since the Civil Registry did not exist, the parishes took care of all the documents of the population: birth certificates, baptisms, weddings, burials, etc. It was not surprising that other documents that served as property deeds, a kind of escritura, were jointly registered in the baptismal certificates. All these documents, given the small population of the village, continued to be made in the parish of the Villa de Teguise. For this reason, the inhabitants requested the bishop to assign a priest to settle and live in Yaiza, a request to which the bishop of the diocese acceded, thus founding the parish of Yaiza in 1728, facilitating with this measure that the life of the villagers was more bearable. The Reverend Don Andrés Lorenzo Curbelo Perdomo, a native of Maso, a town that was buried under the lava of the eruptions of 1730 to 1736, was appointed parish priest. Don Andrés, later, was the only chronicler who narrated everything that happened in the aforementioned eruptions.
In 1728 the invocation of Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios was decided by the desire of the neighbors, presiding since then the main altar of the temple, located in the central nave. It is said that the image of the Virgen de los Remedios was donated by Don Domingo de León Cabrera, mayordomo of the church, who bought the image with the money sent to him by his wife for the rescue, since Don Domingo had been held captive in Algiers for ten years. As with the help of the parents of La Merced he was rescued without having to make any payment, Don Domingo, in gratitude, bought the aforementioned image, for which he paid forty duros of the time, the same amount that his wife had received for the sale of her horse.
Since then, in the parish of Yaiza and under the patronage of La Virgen de Los Remedios, different experiences have been happening, all in honor of La Señora.
I can mention some that have remained in the small history, in the memories of the people of the town, as well as many traditions. One of the ones I like to mention and that until the seventies of the last century was preserved was, for
example, the fact of wearing a new dress for that special day, a custom of strict compliance, especially in children, but especially in young women. I hear the beautiful story of Doña Candelaria Armas Rodríguez, wife of Don Enrique González, who appreciated, and had a lot of affection, for a young woman, because she had her in her house. As time passed, the young woman would become her daughter-in-law, the turns that life takes. As I was saying, on a certain occasion, on the eve of Los Remedios, she took her to Arrecife with the intention of buying her fabric to make her a dress, because in those times, buying a ready-made dress was not possible, there were no shops that worked clothes ready to wear. They went through the few shops that existed at that time and did not find fabric to the liking of the lady. The young woman told Doña Candelaria that it was not necessary to buy any fabric. But the lady replied, "How is it not necessary? A young woman cannot be left without wearing a new dress on such an important day as the festivity of Los Remedios." So they returned to Yaiza and Doña Candelaria took out some bedspreads that she had saved and made her a beautiful dress, which was the admiration of all the people in the procession. It must also be said that not everyone could wear a new dress, even if it was only once a year, because the economy of many families could not afford it. But anyway everyone went to mass in their best clothes.
The devotion of La Virgen de los Remedios does not attract as many pilgrims as other
devotions on the island, but nevertheless the faith, respect and love of the parishioners of Yaiza municipality towards their patron saint is infinite. Even today, as in the past, neighbors who for economic circumstances had to go to live on other islands or even to Arrecife, came and come on September 8 to honor the image of the Virgen de los Remedios. I remember the case of the brothers Ángel and Mateo Eugenio Quintero, who lived in Arrecife, did not fail to attend the mass that solemn day, dressed in jacket and tie, excited with tears in their eyes, to carry the throne and take it out in procession. Perhaps, in addition to being moved by faith, because they had blind hope in that motto, written in Latin "Hic omnia remedia" that warns us that there, in the temple, everything has a remedy.
It was customary and tradition that once the mass and the procession were finished, all the relatives who came from outside, celebrated in the houses of the respective families the festive meal: a good stew or a tasty fish, cooked in the homemade wood oven. Generally this special lunch was accompanied with homemade bread, kneaded by hand and cooked in a wood oven. They reserved, especially in the humblest homes, a basket of picones figs, as an exquisite delicacy that served as dessert or conduto, word with which they usually referred to the dessert, delighted the whole family.
I want to emphasize that in those times the day of the festivity of Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios, the most important thing, I would say that the only important thing, was the moment of the mass. Less importance was given by the neighbors to the events that were celebrated in the afternoon on the occasion of the festivity. The first thing was the Virgin, the acts we would say pagans were in the background, although the neighbors participated gladly, because life was very hard and the party allowed, even if only for a few moments, to forget fatigues and sorrows. The festivity of Remedios propitiated a little fun and pleasant moments of celebration with friends and family.
I want to finish these memories with a poem recited in the late fifties by a girl from the school of Yaiza, Blanca Rosa Níz Díaz (unfortunately we do not know its authorship). It was customary at that time that, for specific events, such as the arrival of an important person, boys and girls recited a poem that they learned by heart. The text that I transcribe left a special memory in this chronicler, I still retain in my memory, to see the emotion reflected in the faces of the people, there present in the act, hearing, an orphan recite such beautiful and beautiful poetry. And, what better than to leave it as a final touch for this work dedicated to Nuestra Señora de los Remedios.
The orphan's flower
If everyone calls you mother
and when they say it they boast
when their flowers offer you
throbbing with pleasure,
with how much greater reason
I can call you that,
since she already died
the one who gave me being.
Yes, she died
my dear little mother.
She died, the poor thing,
penetrated with pain.
I, like a ship fought
by the winds and the waves,
I am crossing sad and alone
of life the wide sea.
Only you, Blessed Virgin,
you can give me great consolation,
be my mother from heaven,
since I lost her as a child.
I in return promise you,
to be pious and obedient
and like you, pure innocent
resigned in suffering.
Admit the poor offering
that the orphan offers you,
I know you deserve much more,
but I have no more.
It is a branch of hawthorn
with its piercing darts,
symbolize my pains,
is hymn of my orphanage.
Esteban R. Rodríguez Eugenio, Official Chronicler of the municipality of the Historic City of Yaiza.
