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GUIDE
THE ESPLANADE
From the car or coach parks you reach the esplanade through
the entrance gates which are on each side of the Information
Office.
Holy Mass and other liturgical ceremonies can be celebrated
in the esplanade when the number of people attending is too
large for the church of the Shrine. The altar for these out-door
acts of worship is on a rostrum beside the church porch. To
the left of this altar there is a bronze statue of Our Lady
of Torreciudad, larger than the original one which is now set
in the reredos, the sculptured altarpiece in the church.
Once through the entrance gates and in the esplanade you can
get to the Shrine from the main concourse (with steps up to
the church) or by the way that goes above the galleries at the
side. This second way avoids uneven ground and climbing of steps.
The buildings adjacent to the Shrine are those of the Social
Training Centre and are used for various cultual and educational
activities.
THE SHRINE
The Shrine is the centre of all that goes on in Torreciudad.
The church, opened for public worship on 7 july 1975, was built
by members of Opus Dei carrying the wishers of their Founder,
the Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, to
honour Our Lady and be a means of spiritual renewal through
the Sacrament of Penance. The Opus Dei Prelature is responsible
for the spiritual care of the Shrine and of the Social Training
Centre. The building is the work of the architect Heliodoro
Dols.
In the great altarpiece, set in a niche above the choir stalls,
is the original Romanesque carved statue of Our Lady of Torreciudad,
Queen of the Angels. Around the statue there are eight sculptured
groups representing some of the main events in Our Lady´s
life: her Betrothal to St. Joseph, the Annunciation, the Visitation,
the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Flight into Egypt, the Workshop
at Nazareth, the Crucifixion of Our Lord, and the Coronation
of Our Lady in Heaven. This altarpiece is the work of the sculptor
Juan Mayné. It was carved in alabaster in José
Miret´s workshop. The polychrome artist was Emilio Juliá.
THE CRYPT OF THE CONFESSIONALS
This is located below the Shrine and entered by the last of
the porticoes of the gallery on the north side. A curved ramp
leads directly into the Crypt from the church door. There are
three chapels in the Crypt, dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto,
Our Lady of the Pilar, and Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The regular times for Confessions can be seen on the notice-board
on the way in. Priest are also available to hear Confessions
outside these set times, whenever the church is open.
In the entrance porch of the chapels there are booklets for
the use of those preparing for Confession. Confessions are heard
in any of the major European languages.
In the Chapel of Our Lady of the Pilar there is a confesional
for the deaf or hard of hearing.
ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
Following an old Aragonese custom the tabernacle is seen through
a window in the upper part of the altarpiece, below the scene
of the Coronation of Our Lady.
At the left hand side of the nave, in the Blessed Sacrament
Chapel, an image of Christ , cast in bronce, is the work of
the Italian sculptor Pasquale Sciancalepore.
PAYING HOMAGE TO OUR LADY´S STATUE
There is a door, on the lower right side of the sanctuary, and
on going through this it is possible to kiss a Medallion at
the back of the niche holding Our Lady´s statue. The Medallion
is connected to the base of the statue. This is the original,
very old statue that used to be carried through nearby villages
to keep the devotion to Our Lady alive among the faithful and
collect alms for the upkeep of the Shrine as it then was. Offerings
for the present Shrine can be left in the boxes beside the Medallion.
THE HERMITAGE
This is 400 yards from de Shrine. It can be reached from the
esplanade by way of the gallery on the south side (on the left-hand
side of the esplanade if you are facing the church). It is a
very old building, restored in 1969 by the Torreciudad trust,
and the statue of Our Lady used to be there before it was moved
to the new Shrine. In the altarpiece of the Hermitage chapel
there is a painting showing the statue of Our Lady of Torreciudad
as it was before the restoration work was done on it.
THE WAY OF THE CROSS
This pious Christian devotion can be practised in the church
of the Shrine or in the Hermitage as there are Stations of the
Cross in both places.
In addition a Way of the Cross has been set up outside the Shrine.
The fourteen Stations are represented in pictures made of ceremic
tiles and the Way climbs up from the path leading to the Hermitage
and ends at a point on a level with the esplanade of the Shrine.
THE ROSARY WAY
The prayerful recital of the Rosary has always been one of the
traditional devotions when following the old custom of visiting
shrines of Our Lady.
Saying the Rosary and contemplating the Mysteries usually takes
place in Torreciudad while walking along the Rosary Way where
the fifteen Mysteries are depicted in ceramic tiles.
The Jouful Mysteries take up the first section of the north
gallery ( on the right hand side of the esplanade if you are
facing the church). The Sorrowful Mysteries are in the gallery
by the entrance to the Crypt where the confessionals are, and
the Glorious Mysteries in the porticoes on the south side (on
the left hand side of the esplanade if you are facing the church).
On Saturdays, Sundays and feast days in May and October -and
on other special days- the Rosary es recited walking to the
Shrine from the wayside Cross less than a mile along the road
leading to Torreciudad.
THE JOYS AND SORROWS OF ST. JOSEPH
Along the path that goes down to the Hermitage from the esplanade
there are fourteen pictures in ceramic tiles representing the
Seven Joys and Seven Sorrows of the holy Patriarch.
The prayers for the "Seven Sundays of St. Joseph"
found in some prayerbooks are very suitable for this devotion
but pilgrims simply say prayers they find appropriate.
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