Our Lady of the Thirty-Three

                                         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_of_the_Thirty-Three

Our Lady of the Thirty-Three (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de los Treinta y Tres) is a title of the Virgin Mary in Uruguay.V
Virgen De Los Treinta Y Tres—The small image of the Virgin of the Thirty-Three is a wood carving originating in the missions that the Jesuits had in Paraguay during the eighteenth century. Around 1779 the image was placed in the chapel in the village of Pintado, and later it moved with the entire village to what is now the city of Florida. The image was crowned canonically in 1961 and during the following year was proclaimed officially "Patroness of Uruguay."
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/shrines/uruguaynp.html

The Cathedral of Florida is the shrine where this image is venerated. Ever since the country's independence, there have been pilgrimages to it, for instance, in times of pests. The first National Pilgrimage was in 1908. A very important pilgrimage was carried out by bishop Miguel Paternain in 1945, covering almost one half of the whole country.

A yearly pilgrimage is held every second Sunday of November.^[2]

The Cathedral Basilica of Florida,Uruguay, the National Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Thirty-Three .

Florida (Spanish pronunciation: [floˈɾiða]) is the capital of Florida Department of Uruguay. Having a population of over 33,000, it is home to almost half of the inhabitants of the department.

The oath of the Thirty-Three Orientals by Uruguayan painter Juan Manuel Blanes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay

Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in the southeastern region of South America. It is bordered by Argentina to its west and Brazil to its north and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to the south and southeast. Wikipedia

The Treinta y Tres Orientales (English: thirty-three orientals or thirty-three easterners) was a militant revolutionary group led by Juan Antonio Lavalleja against the Empire of Brazil. Their actions culminated in the foundation of modern Uruguay. They became famous by the name of the Treinta y Tres Orientales when, in 1825, they began an insurrection for the independence of Oriental Province, a historical territory encompassing modern Uruguay and part of modern Brazilian Rio Grande do Sul State, from Brazilian control.

 April 15, 1825, Lavalleja and his men took ship from San Isidro, a Buenos Aires neighborhood on the banks of the Río de la Plata at the northwest outskirts of the city. They advanced carefully among the isles of the Paraná Delta, evading the vigil of the Brazilian flotilla. After nightfall they crossed theRío Uruguay in two boats and disembarked at Agraciada Beach in the dawn of April 19. There they planted what would become known as the Bandera de los Treinta y Tres Orientales (Flag of the Thirty-Three Easterners), a flag of blue, white, and red horizontal bars. These colors had been traditional since the times of Artigas, not only in Oriental Province but also in others of the Río de la Plata region.http://www.youngdayschool.edu.uy/webliceo/april191825.html

                                           
                                           http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/engseven.html
The small image of the Virgin of the Thirty Three is a wood carving originating in the missions that the Jesuits had in Paraguay in mid eighteenth century. The image was made in one of the Guarani workshops that flourished in these famous missions.
Around 1779 the image was placed in the chapel that the Jesuits looked after in the village of Pintado and later, when the entire village moved to what is now the city of Florida, the residents took with them the beloved image before which their ancestors had prayed.
On April 19, 1825, thirty-three orientals, Uruguayan patriots, landed on the beaches of the Agraciada to commence the liberation of their country. When they reached Florida, they went to the small church and placed the future of the new nation at the feet of the Virgin. National Independence is proclaimed on August 25, and the members of the Constitutional Court having signed the Act of Independence, presented themselves again before the image and placed their nascent country under her protection.

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/engseven.html