The Parish of Santa María del Juncal in Irun will once again celebrate its traditional novena in honor of the city's patron saint, taking place from August 30 to September 7, as preparation for the main festivity on September 8. This year's novena will be special as it will be the last one led by the current parish priest, Fernando Jiménez, who will retire next October at the age of 81.
The masses will be held at 7:00 PM, with the exception of Sunday, August 30, and Sunday, September 6, which will be at 12:30 PM. The mass on September 7 will include the Salve by Eslava. Each day, the celebration will be presided over by a priest from one of the nine parishes in Irun, with the collaboration of a local choir.
On September 8, the feast day of the Virgen del Juncal, the mass schedule at the church of Santa María del Juncal will be extended, with services at 10:30 AM and 12:30 PM in the morning, and at 7:00 PM in the evening.
The parish reminds that the Novena del Juncal "is a novena deeply rooted in the religiosity of the Christians of Irun" and that in recent years it has been regaining much of its former splendor.
The work of 'Don Fernando' has been key to this revitalization. The religious community of Irun openly acknowledges his efforts in restoring the novena's prominence. Santiago Reyes, in his book 'Juncal de Amores', attributes this revival to Jiménez, highlighting his decision to involve all of Irun's parishes in the novena and his thematic structuring of the event. Jiménez became the parish priest of El Juncal in 2009, having previously served for nearly two decades at the Pentecostés parish in Belaskoenea.
