
The Dominican Roman Catholic Church is inviting Our Lady of Altagracia devotees to participate in the Altagracia Jubilee Year closing event. The Dominican Episcopal Conference (CED) that gathers the bishops said the event to celebrate the centennial of the canonical coronation of Our Lady of Altagracia will be held on Monday, 15 August 2022 at the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium starting at 8am.
During a press conference, Monsignor José Dolores Grullón Estrella, president of the National Organizing Commission of the Centennial, said the original image of the Virgin of Altagracia will be present for the ceremony at the stadium. The image resides at the Basilica La Altagracia in Higüey.
The event at the stadium will end with a solemn mass presided over by the special envoy of Pope Francis, Mons. Edgar Peña Parra, Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, with the participation of Dominican bishops, international guests and priests of the country.
Julio César Castaños Guzmán, former president of the Central Electoral Board and member of the National Organizing Commission of the Centennial, informed that before this meeting, a patriotic act will be held at the Puerta del Conde with the participation of governmental, legislative and municipal authorities. Likewise, a special prayer event is scheduled at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Altagracia in the Colonial City, a temple built in 1922 to commemorate the coronation.
The Catholic bishops call for businesses and government to allow the participation of their dependents in the closing of the Altagracia Jubilee Year at the Olympic Stadium. The event seeks to gather the faithful from all the dioceses in the country. Monday, 15 August 2022 was declared by the President of the Republic Luis Abinader as “Day of Popular Rejoicing,” but is a working day.
The bishops said that on Sunday, 14 August, the procession of the picture of the Virgin of Altagracia to Santo Domingo will begin. The image has not been shown for more than 70 years, since 1944. A first stop will be made at the Monument Fray Antonio de Montesinos, where it will be received by the Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Monsignor Francisco Ozoria Acosta and other bishops. The procession will then continue to the Santo Domingo Cathedral, where a serenade-vigil will be held until 6am morning.
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Hoy
27 July 2022