Youth, joy, friendship with Jesus and Mary, are some of the traits that describe Blessed Ceferino Namuncurá, who at only 19 years old sowed his seed of holiness in Argentine Patagonia, and who is attended by thousands of faithful this weekend to express your devotion on a new anniversary of your birth.
With the motto “Ceferino, attentive gaze, sensitive heart, supportive hands”, the Diocese of Viedma, in the Argentine province of Río Negro, celebrates this weekend the 54th pilgrimage to Chimpay, a town where one August 138 years ago the blessed of indigenous blood.
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This weekend, the number of close to 8,000 inhabitants of the town will be multiplied by the pilgrims who have already begun to arrive to be there on August 26, the day of the central celebration.
On Saturday, August 24, at 11:00 a.m. (local time), the pilgrims’ welcome Mass will be celebrated. At 3:00 p.m. there will be baptisms in the temple, and at 4:30 p.m., a Mass at the foot of the monument located in the park.
At 6:30 p.m. a prayer will be said to Mary Help of Christians with the young people in the hermitage; At 7:00 p.m. there will be Eucharistic Adoration in the temple. At 8:00 p.m. a prayer will be said by the fire in front of the church; and at 9:00 p.m. a musical moment by the young people.
On Sunday, August 25, the day will begin at 7:00 a.m. with a dawn prayer at the foot of the V Centennial Cross; At 8:30 a.m. the pilgrim’s Mass will be celebrated in the temple; and, at 9:00 a.m. the pilgrimage from the cross will begin. Pilgrims are suggested to bring headphones to follow Chimpay’s FM radio animation.
The central Mass on Sunday will be at 11:00 a.m. in Ceferiniano Park; At 1:00 p.m. there will be the blessing and missionary sending of the young people from the communities of the region; and, at 4:00 p.m., the pilgrims’ Mass will be celebrated.
On August 26, the day of the birth of Blessed Namuncurá, at 11:00 a.m. the Bishop of the Upper Valley of Río Negro, Mons. Alejandro Benna, will preside over the Thanksgiving Mass in the temple.
At 1:00 p.m. a basket lunch will be shared and in the afternoon, a snack. At 4:00 p.m. there will be a Mass for the blessed birthday, with the blessing and farewell of the pilgrims.
Who is Blessed Ceferino Namuncurá?
Ceferino was born on August 26, 1886 in Chimpay, province of Río Negro, and was the sixth son of chief Manuel Namuncurá, a famous Mapuche leader who fought against the forces of the Argentine Army, commanded by Julio Argentino Roca.
Moved by the need to study to be able to help his people, Ceferino arrived in Buenos Aires, and after a brief time at the Navy School, he entered the Salesian College, where he began his path to the priesthood.
In 1901, Ceferino began to have health problems and was transferred to Viedma. In April 1904, when Monsignor Cagliero was named archbishop, Ceferino traveled with him to Rome to see Pope Pius X, to whom Ceferino gave a guanaco wool poncho.
He died on May 11 of that same year, at the age of 18, due to irreversible tuberculosis.
His beatification was celebrated in Chimpay on November 11, 2007, presided over by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, then Secretary of State of the Vatican and sent by Benedict XVI for the beatification.
The miracle attributed to the intercession of the blessed Mapuche was the healing of a 24-year-old Argentine woman who had uterine cancer.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.