June 9, 2009

Conferences

SAN FERMÍN CYCLE

The Royal Congregation of San Fermín de los Navarros, yesterday and today

D. Fernando Aizpún Viñes
Vice-prefect of the Royal Congregation of San Fermín de los Navarros of Madrid.

The Royal Congregation of San Fermín de los Navarros, constituted by a group of illustrious Navarrese on the day of San Fermín in 1683 has constituted, now for more than 325 years, uninterruptedly, an embassy, a piece of Navarre in Madrid, a center of reference letter for the Navarrese in the capital, and a association that has vigorously fulfilled the purposes for which it was created: To serve as a bond of union for the Navarros in Madrid, united by their common devotion to the co-patrons of Navarre San Fermin and San Francisco de Javier, and to develop at the same time a mission statement of mutual protection, charity and attendance to the Navarros in need of the solidarity of their more fortunate countrymen.

The Royal Congregation is a public association of the faithful in accordance with the Canon Law which also enjoys full civil juridical personality and is registered in the corresponding Register of religious entities of the Ministry of Justice.

It is not therefore a merely civil private association , nor a Foundation, nor a N.G.O., nor a social, gastronomic, cultural, recreational Club. It remains a complex and rich institution, for its history, for its activities, for those of its members, at the service of Navarre, of the Navarrese in Madrid, of the Church in Madrid. Finally, it is proud to financially support the pastoral and welfare work of Navarrese missionaries in India, Togo, Peru, Congo, countries where these Navarrese ambassadors allow us to fulfill more effectively the mandate of our Constitutions to help our neighbors and the most needy Navarrese people. 

It owns the temple erected in Paseo Eduardo Dato in Madrid in honor of San Fermín de los Navarros, which has been ceded to the Franciscan Order so that Franciscans, mostly from Navarre, attend to the worship of the temple and also govern and provide service to the parish of San Fermín de los Navarros, erected around this temple prior to agreement celebrated between the Royal Congregation and the Archbishopric of Madrid.

King Juan Carlos is Prefect for life of the Royal Congregation, since he has always been the King of Spain since King Carlos II. All the Kings sign their "asentamiento" as Congregants and Prefects for Life. The Book of these Settlements is one of the jewels of the documentary patrimony of the Royal Congregation that has been put at the disposal of all the Navarrese and of the scholars of its history by means of cession for digitalization to the file General of Navarre.

From its long and glorious history stands out the splendor of what Caro Baroja called "the Navarre Hour of the XVIII century", a period in which "Madrid was dominated by Navarrese, and more properly, natives of Baztan" (Marqués del Saltillo). As Professor Pérez Sarrión recalls, "Between 1684 and 1814, the Congregation of San Fermín was much more important for what it represented, the powerful Navarre community, than what it apparently was, one more of the many pious Madrid associations of those times."

The history of the Royal Congregation is the history of these Navarrese who triumphed in the Hispanic Monarchy of the 18th century, such as Juan de Goyeneche, treasurer and lender of kings, publisher of the Gazeta de Madrid, founder of the town of Nuevo Baztán, that experiment of the ambitious pre-Enlightenment man from Arizcun.

The Royal Congregation also received the support and appreciation of the Diputación Foral, with which the Alto board of trustees agreed in 1941. It has a rich artistic heritage, although unfortunately valuable carvings were lost when the Church was razed during the Civil War. The statue known as El Niño del Dolor, a penitent Nazarene child, attributed to Alonso Cano, is probably the most valuable work and undoubtedly the most loved by the Congregants.

The Royal Congregation of today organizes solemn acts of worship on the days of San Fermin and San Francisco Javier, a Javierada of Navarrese in Madrid to Nuevo Baztan in March, excursions to centers of historical interest for Navarre and continues to be the thriving Congregation of Navarrese in Madrid that being faithful to its history is open to new ways of understanding, in the Navarra and Madrid of the XXI century, its mission statement of service to Navarre and the Navarrese in Madrid and in the world.
 

"San Fermín" by José Ximénez Donoso
Royal Congregation of San Fermín de los Navarros, XVII Century. 

Poster of the festivities held on the occasion of the transfer of the Royal Congregation to the chapel of Prado de San Jerónimo.
of the Royal Congregation to the chapel of the Prado de San Jerónimo. 1746