“The lareneses (people from the state of Lara) venerate her with special devotion, giving her hats and dresses of precious fabrics as presents, some of these tailored by famous designers, such that some people comment that there is no woman in Venezuela with a more luxurious dress than that of the Divine Shepherdess of Barquisimeto.”

“In 1736, the priest of Santa Rosa commissioned a famous sculptor to make a statue of the Immaculate Conception. By mistake however, instead of the Immaculate statue, one of the Divine Shepherdess arrived. The priest wanted to return it but as hard as they tried, they could not lift it out of the box where they placed it. From that moment on it was considered that it was a sign that the Lady wanted to stay with them.”

“On the very 14^th of January, at the end of the procession, the Lady entered the church, the priest asked the multitude to pray and ask the Divine Shepherdess to end the plague(…)”

“The statue went on to visit all the other temples in the city (this is now done in 2 months), and at the end of the tour, father Macario Yepez fell sick of cholera, and his death marked the end of the epidemic.”

“At four in the morning of January 14^th, from the Obelisk a group of trotters comes out, to witness the start of the religious rites with masses that begin at five and end at eleven, in order to later participate in the majestic procession, one of the most attended in the world, towards the Cathedral.”