The Legend of Our Lady of Yayoçiarcosca
A Crichano[1] legend, from the Antillan by Ma. Asunción de Villapuente y Condé
One day, at the height of the dry season[2], a young shepherd named Içonçi[3] was tending his flock. It was a hot day and grass was so sparse on the lower slopes that he had taken them to the far side of Mt. Ocharacho[4] in search of pasturage. When night fell, he realized that his prize yearling ewe[5], who he always kept at his side when he laid down for the night, was nowhere to be seen. Distressed, he began to search the hillside for her.
He fell asleep from exhaustion shortly before dawn. When he awoke, he saw that the morning's rays had revealed a narrow entrance in the rock. A voice told him to go up to it. The entrance led to a broad, low cavern. He couldn't believe his eyes! In the golden light, he saw his ewe nursing a new-born lamb. She had shown no signs of being pregnant the day before, but there was nowhere else for the lambkin to have come from.
Suddenly, he heard a heavenly voice and a beautiful shining lady appeared in the centre of the cavern. She was majestically tall--at least two spans[6]--and clothed in snow-white raiment. She said, "I am the Mother of the Christ. You can't imagine what sorrow it causes me to know that good men like you, because they do not believe in my son the Christ, will not reach my heavenly kingdom." "But what can I do?" asked Içonçi. "Tell your kinsmen what you have seen and ask them to be baptised in the name of Christ Jesus."
Içonçi ran down the hill as fast as his little legs could carry him. Then he remembered the poor sheep he had left alone, and ran back up the hill to fetch them. When he returned to the village, he told all his neighbours about the vision and urged them to call a Christian to the town to baptise them all. But his neighbours were sceptical. "Show us the cave," they said, "that we may witness this prodigy."[7]
He took them to the cave, but there was nothing in it. They began to taunt him for telling tall tales. But, when they stepped outside, one of the villagers noticed the mother and child in the meadow. The lamb was already taking its first steps, even though it must've been born only that morning! The villagers were astonished. One of them took a vow not to speak for the rest of his life, that he might never again falsely accuse a kinsman of lying. For this reason, he was henceforth called Migábia[8] and became a monk[9]. Another noticed a light patch on the cave wall where the image of Our Lady had appeared to Içonçi and knelt down before it. It was then that she discovered the ewe's afterbirth. For this reason, the cave is now called Yayoçiarcosca[10].
The villagers returned home and sent out the call for baptism that very day. A priest was dispatched from the nearby church of St. Sabas[11] and baptised the inhabitants of the entire village. Curious villagers began to flock to the cave from all around the island and devotion to Our Lady of Yayoçiarcosca[12] spread to all the Ardigelduk[13]. This was the beginning of the semiannual pilgrimages[14]. The ewe surprised everyone by giving birth to a second calf in the spring, by which time her first-born was already as large as a yearling[15], and continued to give birth twice a year every year thereafter.
[1] Antillan Halfling; a corruption of cristiano "Christian"
[2] late August?
[3] "chatterbox"
[4] "little basket?". The common name is Mt. Lungaberga.
[5] Yes, there is an Antillan word for this. A more accurate translation is "female too young to bear young".
[6] i.e. 5 ft.
[7] Lambing season in Antilla is February or March.
[8] "the Tongueless"
[9] A folk origin for the vow of silence kept by some religious orders?
[10] "cave of the birthing" (cf. Yayocunça "Nativity"). There are some who claim that it had this name before the events described took place. Doubtless, this are the same unbelievers who would point out that the Crichanos worshipped a beautiful goddess who presided over fertility and birth long before the Christians came to Antilla.
[11] Other sources say the Church of St. John Kolobos.
[12] Sometimes belittlingly called Muastra Duamra di los Uamrichalos ("Our Lady of the Little People" ) by Antillanos.
[13] Halflings (lit. "half grown")
[14] The Blessing of the Young Ones in springtime (when people bring their lambs, kids, and children) and the anniversary of the apparition in summer.
[15] Its gilded fleece is displayed to this day in a chapel near the site of the original cave.
One day, at the height of the dry season[2], a young shepherd named Içonçi[3] was tending his flock. It was a hot day and grass was so sparse on the lower slopes that he had taken them to the far side of Mt. Ocharacho[4] in search of pasturage. When night fell, he realized that his prize yearling ewe[5], who he always kept at his side when he laid down for the night, was nowhere to be seen. Distressed, he began to search the hillside for her.
He fell asleep from exhaustion shortly before dawn. When he awoke, he saw that the morning's rays had revealed a narrow entrance in the rock. A voice told him to go up to it. The entrance led to a broad, low cavern. He couldn't believe his eyes! In the golden light, he saw his ewe nursing a new-born lamb. She had shown no signs of being pregnant the day before, but there was nowhere else for the lambkin to have come from.
Suddenly, he heard a heavenly voice and a beautiful shining lady appeared in the centre of the cavern. She was majestically tall--at least two spans[6]--and clothed in snow-white raiment. She said, "I am the Mother of the Christ. You can't imagine what sorrow it causes me to know that good men like you, because they do not believe in my son the Christ, will not reach my heavenly kingdom." "But what can I do?" asked Içonçi. "Tell your kinsmen what you have seen and ask them to be baptised in the name of Christ Jesus."
Içonçi ran down the hill as fast as his little legs could carry him. Then he remembered the poor sheep he had left alone, and ran back up the hill to fetch them. When he returned to the village, he told all his neighbours about the vision and urged them to call a Christian to the town to baptise them all. But his neighbours were sceptical. "Show us the cave," they said, "that we may witness this prodigy."[7]
He took them to the cave, but there was nothing in it. They began to taunt him for telling tall tales. But, when they stepped outside, one of the villagers noticed the mother and child in the meadow. The lamb was already taking its first steps, even though it must've been born only that morning! The villagers were astonished. One of them took a vow not to speak for the rest of his life, that he might never again falsely accuse a kinsman of lying. For this reason, he was henceforth called Migábia[8] and became a monk[9]. Another noticed a light patch on the cave wall where the image of Our Lady had appeared to Içonçi and knelt down before it. It was then that she discovered the ewe's afterbirth. For this reason, the cave is now called Yayoçiarcosca[10].
The villagers returned home and sent out the call for baptism that very day. A priest was dispatched from the nearby church of St. Sabas[11] and baptised the inhabitants of the entire village. Curious villagers began to flock to the cave from all around the island and devotion to Our Lady of Yayoçiarcosca[12] spread to all the Ardigelduk[13]. This was the beginning of the semiannual pilgrimages[14]. The ewe surprised everyone by giving birth to a second calf in the spring, by which time her first-born was already as large as a yearling[15], and continued to give birth twice a year every year thereafter.
[1] Antillan Halfling; a corruption of cristiano "Christian"
[2] late August?
[3] "chatterbox"
[4] "little basket?". The common name is Mt. Lungaberga.
[5] Yes, there is an Antillan word for this. A more accurate translation is "female too young to bear young".
[6] i.e. 5 ft.
[7] Lambing season in Antilla is February or March.
[8] "the Tongueless"
[9] A folk origin for the vow of silence kept by some religious orders?
[10] "cave of the birthing" (cf. Yayocunça "Nativity"). There are some who claim that it had this name before the events described took place. Doubtless, this are the same unbelievers who would point out that the Crichanos worshipped a beautiful goddess who presided over fertility and birth long before the Christians came to Antilla.
[11] Other sources say the Church of St. John Kolobos.
[12] Sometimes belittlingly called Muastra Duamra di los Uamrichalos ("Our Lady of the Little People" ) by Antillanos.
[13] Halflings (lit. "half grown")
[14] The Blessing of the Young Ones in springtime (when people bring their lambs, kids, and children) and the anniversary of the apparition in summer.
[15] Its gilded fleece is displayed to this day in a chapel near the site of the original cave.