The image is taken to represent Mary’s role in protecting the flock of her Son from the evil one. “Divine” is taken in the sense of “most excellent.”
This year’s procession began early with the traditional Divine Shepherdess Devotional Race. Approximately 44,000 runners ran the six-mile course, which went past the most iconic places in the city until reaching St. Rose Church, the starting point of the procession.
The image of the Virgin was processed more than four miles throughout the day, from St. Rose Church to the metropolitan cathedral of Barquisimeto, where the archbishop emeritus of Coro, Mariano Parra, celebrated the Mass for the reception of the image.
“It’s no coincidence that this procession has been held 166 times, and every [time] the number of people accompanying the Divine Shepherdess increases, thus becoming one of the largest manifestations [of Marian devotion] in the world,” Parra said in his homily.
The prelate said that God manifests to the Church in Venezuela — through the Divine Shepherdess — what his will is and invited all the faithful to make an effort to know and understand what God wants.
“Mary, under the invocation of the Divine Shepherdess, today asks us — as disciples of her Son — to learn from her: to live only for Christ and at his service. This is our reason for being,” he said.