This festivity is the object of great devotion that ranges from pilgrims who carry a cross on their shoulders to others who arrive there with just their backpacks. With them they bring musical instruments and their songs attenuate the walk of the journey to the Land of the Captive. In this town, every October, the people meet in religious communion to go to meet their saint. The festival lasts from October 1 to 15, although the central date is the 13th. The pilgrimage brings together thousands of visitors from all over the world, mainly from Lima, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Tumbes, and the neighboring countries of Ecuador and Colombia. . The devotees wear habits of various colors; they carry banners and musical instruments.

 

Many of them carry crosses along the way, others advance on their knees, while the musicians cheer the faithful and make the bustle towards the sanctuary more bearable. There, Christ awaits them with his golden crown, his purple robe and his hands tied. There is a legend behind that gesture.

 

La Virgen de las Mercedes 

 

festivities of the virgin of the mercedes

On September 24 in the Iglesia de la Merced a festive Eucharist is celebrated, nine days before the novena is prayed and at the end there is a great procession in his honor. On September 24, the central day of the festival, the image is honored by the Armed Forces. Every year a ceremony is scheduled that begins with a mass on the esplanade of the Basilíca, before thousands of parishioners, who from very early on stand in long lines to touch the image and pray before it.

 

During those days, the province of Paita, not only is filled with parishioners but also with merchants who come from other parts of Piura, to trade with sweets, typical foods, and clothes that give an air of joy to this party; as well as with the sale of candles and spirits that give religious mysticism to the holiday. If this spring you want to leave Piura, visit Paita.