The image, created by Antonio Bernal, has undergone cleaning and repair of minor damages at the Córdoba workshop of Carmen Bernal. It now presides over the parish of the Divine Shepherdess, where its festival is celebrated this Saturday.
The Virgin of the Sweet Name is back in the parish of the Divine Shepherdess and Saint Teresa of Jesus in Málaga, after being away for just over a month for conservation and restoration work. The image, the Marian titular of the Palm Sunday brotherhood, returned to worship this Friday, the eve of its liturgical festival, as reported by Diario Sur.
The work was carried out at the workshop that Antonio Bernal has in Córdoba, where his daughter, sculptor and restorer Carmen Bernal Humanes, executed the restoration. The choice of restorer had a personal component: she has known the work since childhood, as her father is the author of the carving.
The elder brother of the corporation, Carlos Galiana, explained that the intervention was fundamentally conservative. “Basically, the image was cleaned because it had some darker stains from the candle smoke. Additionally, minor damages were fixed, for example, in the hair, from the pins,” he told Diario Sur.
The Dolorosa has been withdrawn from worship since 20 July, when it was transferred to Córdoba. The work was approved at the extraordinary meeting of brothers held on 18 June and authorised by ecclesiastical authority. The brotherhood justified the intervention by the need to ensure the proper conservation of one of the most recent processional images of Holy Week in Málaga.
Before the general public could once again view the image, the brothers experienced a moment of prayer at its feet, inside the temple. It was the first encounter with the Virgin of the Sweet Name after the restoration work. “I felt a tremendous emotion upon seeing her, because it has been a month without her being here. And the second thing I felt was great satisfaction, due to the magnificent work that Carmen and Antonio Bernal have done. The Virgin has arrived in Málaga wonderfully,” Galiana confessed.
The image now presides over the main altar, adorned with a white mantilla, with a clear forehead, several jewels on the bodice, a halo of stars above her head, and a crescent moon at her feet, flanked by two candlesticks made of silver with white wax.
The carving was created by Antonio Bernal Redondo and blessed on 18 September 2005. It is life-sized, measuring 1.65 meters in height and features marked realism, distancing itself from sacred idealisation. The sculpture displays an expression of contained pain, with eyes painted on the wood from which six crystal tears flow, three on each cheek, and the hair carved and styled back from the central part, held with a golden ribbon.
This Saturday, 12 September, the effigy will be venerated from 10 to 13 hours and from 18 to 20 hours. At 18:30 hours, there will be a presentation of children to the Virgin, passing them under her mantle, and at 20 hours, a holy mass will be officiated. The solemn triduum in her honour will take place from 17 to 19 September, at 20 hours, and the main function of the institute will be celebrated on Sunday 20 September, at 12:30 hours. The Eucharists will be officiated by the parish priest of the Divine Shepherdess and spiritual director of the corporation, Rafael Pérez Pallarés.
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