The current Governing Board of the Brotherhood took office on June 29, 2019, the feast of St. Peter, patron saint of Almonte. Its composition is as follows:
The Elder Brother and the Camarista also appear.
"To serve our brothers and sisters of El Rocío and to fulfill the mission entrusted to us in honor and glory of Santa María del Rocío, are objectives that have presided over our government's actions since June 14".
Santiago Padilla - President of the Brotherhood Matriz
I am very pleased to greet you on behalf of the governing board of our Matriz Brotherhood on the occasion of your visit to our newly updated website, which aims to be a vehicle of communication and approach that we offer to this reality of faith that is El Rocío and devotion to the Blessed Virgin, our patron saint, Queen of the Marshes and Patroness of Almonte, and the Divine Shepherd in her hands.
This new website offers, in addition to a new design and updated content, two new spaces of great interest: The Digital Museum of El Rocío, a window to this unique space of the Casa de la Virgen; and El Rocío and Doñana, a proposal to act in the awareness and conservation of Doñana and the environment, following the guidelines set by Pope Francis in his encyclical, LAUDATO SI. This project has been sponsored by the Atlantic Cooper Foundation.
And, in the meantime, we remain committed to expand the boundaries of devotion to rociera, following the trail that our elders and the previous governing boards of our brotherhood, both in its Pentecost Pilgrimage, annual peak moment of the rociera experience, in which we have to continue to face with serenity the great challenges posed in so many orders, as in the rest of those 365 days of the year, in which there are possibilities to continue growing in a sustained and orderly manner.
And determined to strengthen charity as an expression of a brotherhood that is inclined to the weakest, improving efficiency as much as possible; and to promote research and knowledge of the history of the rociera, without neglecting the formation of the brothers; and the attention to young people, as an essential bet for the future.
We are facing a new era, after the Covid 19 pandemic, with the firm determination to strengthen, as far as possible, the channels of participation, co-responsibility and coordination with all the agents that, in one way or another, intervene in its development.
A brotherhood, in short, of all and for all, with long lights, with profitable purposes, adding wills and noble endeavors, in which we are mere temporary servants of its channels of development and government. And in which love of God, reflected in this blessed image of the Virgin, and love of neighbor must prevail above all else.
This is the Brotherhood that we want to continue building, fraternally united to our brotherhoods and rocieras associations with the help of all.
I ask the Blessed Virgin of El Rocío, our patroness, to bless you and your family abundantly. May she intercede and guide us always, amen.
