Chiesa Nostra Signora di Valme

What is the meaning of the term Valme?

Invocation that sums up confidence in Mary because anything is possible

Facing an expression that belongs to the late Latin of the 13th century, modern man may be a little bewildered to hear the word Valme. What is it? A locality? A name?

Valme, as is well known, - Pope John Paul II explained in the homily he gave in the parish on the occasion of his pastoral visit on 15 December 1996 - is an invocation in the Spanish language that dates back to the 13th century, when King San Fernando, in difficulty in his attempt to reconquer Seville, asked the Heavenly Mother for help: Valimi Signora, Help me Signora! Since then, many faithful in Spain and other parts of the world continue to repeat Valimi, help me Mary, and be our support.
We too turn this morning with confidence to the Blessed Virgin, entrusting to her the plans and hopes of your parish community.

The year is 1247. King Saint Ferdinand observes outside his royal tent the mighty fortifications of the city of Seville and the fatigue of his troops, exhausted by drought and summer heat. Returning his gaze to the interior of his tent, it falls on the statue of Our Lady that he always devoutly carried with him; moved, he drops to his knees and from the depths of his heart comes the invocation: Valme, Madame, Valme! And he promises: If you assist me, in this place I will erect a chapel and at your feet I will deposit as an offering the banner conquered from the enemies of our faith.

Leaving the tent full of confidence, he exclaimed: If God wills it, the water will be there. And he commanded his lieutenant to thrust his staff into the earth. From the earth sprang forth water in abundance, the army quenched its thirst, refreshed itself and achieved victory.
Having reconquered the city, the Holy King fulfilled his promise, building what we know as the Real Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Valme, in which the polychrome wooden statue of Our Lady of Valme is venerated, in the Gothic-Fernandine style, known as the Virgin of the Váleme or Valme, in memory of the Monarch's supplication.
Very early on, Dos Hermanas professed a special veneration for her, especially from the 18th century onwards. Due to a plague epidemic in the city, the Virgin was taken on pilgrimage from her sanctuary to the neighbouring town; according to the chronicle of the time, as she passed through the streets, people were miraculously cured.
It was on this occasion that the people took her as their protector and transported her permanently from the shrine to the local parish of St. Mary Magdalene, where she still stands today in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Parish of Our Lady of Valme, like the other parishes entrusted to The Work of the Church, wants to offer everyone the profound experience of the mystery of the Church in the knowledge of God and His loving plans for us, and to form the great family of God's children to be ONE with the Pope and the Bishops, in communion of spiritual and material goods.

During the inauguration of the parish on 28 February 1982, Cardinal Vicar Ugo Poletti addressed Mother Trinidad and the members of L'Opera with affectionate words, thanking them for the zeal they show in serving the Church. After reviewing history, speaking of King St Ferdinand, he said that, like him in those moments, we all need in the hard trials of life the water that flows from divine Mercy. The parish erected today can consider itself a daughter of the Work of the Church and, placing itself under the protection of the Holy Mother, will know how to employ all its spiritual energies for a clearer and more meaningful presence of Christians in the world.

Let it not be thought that the title of Our Lady of Valme only came to Rome in 1982, when this new parish community was dedicated to Her, because already in 1866 the Spanish Sanctuary of Our Lady of Valme was united, in a sort of twinning, to Santa Maria Maggiore by a bond that provided for the communication of the same graces, indulgences, privileges and apostolic indulgences that the Liberian Basilica would have enjoyed by concession of the Supreme Pontiffs.
But the fullness of the bond was reached when the title of Our Lady was assigned, by concession of the Holy Father, in attention to the sentiments linking the Virgin of Valme to the Foundress of L'Opera.

Just a few months after the inauguration of the permanent site (23 March 1996), Pope John Paul II paid a pastoral visit. There was a joyful, boisterous welcome from children, young people and all the faithful. In his homily during the Eucharistic Celebration and in the various meetings, the Holy Father emphasised: I know your commitment to place Holy Mass and Eucharistic adoration at the centre of all parish life, as well as the care you have for liturgical celebrations and the devotion to Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, which animates you. I know with how much faith you cultivate cordial adherence to the Successor of Peter, to your Pastors. You have expressed a great love for the Church, for her beauty. I wish you to maintain this love for the Church and this joy that comes from love: be witnesses of the Church in society so that the people of our time may form part of the People of God.
Mother Trinidad has been a member of the parish community for several years, and with her presence and prayer, we have felt protected, guided and well liked. Even the Holy Father, during his visit, wanted to come in person to meet her and bless her in her bed of pain. These are sufferings that she offers for the Universal Church and for all of us.