Romana

On Saturday, November 18, the traditional festival of the “trobada” (finding) of the rose was held in Pallerols de Rialb (Lleida, Spain), organized by the Associació d’Amics del Camí de Pallerols de Rialb a Andorra (Association of Friends of the Path from Pallerols de Rialb to Andorra). About a hundred people participated, some coming from distant cities such as Barcelona and Madrid. Local authorities, in the person of the deputy mayor of the barony of Rialb, Dolors Caelles, were also present.

The program of events opened with the projection of a documentary on the passage through the Pyrenees by the founder of Opus Dei in 1937 and the circumstances in which St. Josemaría, by God’s will, found in Pallerols the wooden rose from the old altarpiece that confirmed his decision to go to Andorra. Then there was an opportunity to visit to the nearby church and the house where St. Josemaría and his companions spent the night of November 21-22, 1937. After the procession with the image of Our Lady, accompanied by the singing of the “goigs” (joys) of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pallerols, Father Xavier Pont, a priest of Opus Dei, the parish priest of the nearby town of Ponts, Father Pere Jesús Morales, and a third priest, Father Bonifaci Fortuny, concelebrated the Holy Mass, which was offered for the deceased of Pallerols and for the members and friends of the Associació d’Amics del Camí who have died in 2023: Martí Bentanachs (Fenollet), Rosa Capell (Confós), Father Lluís Raventós (Raimat), Jaume Muntané (Andorra) and Paco Coll (Andorra). Then the Virolai, a traditional Marian hymn, was sung and a visit was made to the cemetery, where again prayers were said for the deceased of Pallerols. The chamber choir of Girona enlivened the procession and the Mass with their songs.

After a family lunch, in the afternoon people prayed the rosary and a relic of St. Josemaría was venerated.