Romareda High School, Augustinian Recollects, during the Day of Pillar, October 2022.

The “offering of flowers” is the act with the most participants in the morning festivities, whose purpose is to venerate the Virgin Mary our mother in her advocation of Pilar. The Romareda College joined this tradition one more year, which is considered Cultural and Intangible Heritage of Spain.

Once again, the Romareda College that the Augustinian Recollects run in Zaragoza, Spain, participated as a group in the traditional offering of flowers dedicated to “La Pilarica” as they normally affectionately call their patron saint, the Virgen del Pilar, in the city of Zaragoza. This year, as in the previous ones and prior to the pandemic situation, it was necessary to get up early, since the start was scheduled at 6:45 a.m.

Students, alumni, parents, teachers and Augustinian Recollect friars of the Romareda College got ready with great enthusiasm and devotion to offer their bouquets to the Virgin and ask for her intercession. About seventy people dressed in regional costumes gathered for the parade, which is the requirement to participate as a flower offerer.

The offering was led by the director of the Fray Roberto Sayalero school, accompanied by the Augustinian Recollects Héctor Molina and Sigifredo Udabe, who carried in his hands a banner with the institutional logo of the Order of Augustinian Recollects and the name of the School “Romareda”. Sigifredo, year after year, is responsible for encouraging the entire school community to participate in said act of fervor of the Virgen del Pilar.

The tour began near the Plaza España, a few meters from the Plaza del Pilar, but traveling a short stretch and reaching a square, which began to receive some devotees to deposit the bouquet in a pyramid of flowers, is an experience of unforgettable unity and faith.

Certainly, the good weather helped create a party and celebration atmosphere. Also, this offering had a massive participation breaking the record of participating groups, a total of 814, and about seven million flowers.

On the other hand, Ukraine was the guest country in the “offering”. Thus, the Zaragoza City Council has made an exception for the country invited to the “offering of flowers” to the Virgen del Pilar, since, normally, a Latin American country is invited. The Ukrainian flag remained raised in the floral assembly from the first hours of the feast of Our Lord of Pilar.

However, the festivities of the Virgin of Pilar were not limited to the day of the offering, because days before the festivities, the Infant students celebrated their offering of white and red carnations in the inner courtyard of their school building. Primary students did the same in the classroom corridors. They were told the legend of the apparition of the Virgin in Zaragoza and they prayed together in the College chapel.