José Luis Vañó Pont
La imagen de San Jorge, who was blessed 31 August 1940, la llevan en la retina todos los banyerenses y se puede afirmar que ninguno la desconoce. Pero lo que sí que ignoran una gran mayoría es que, desde hace muchos años, la citada imagen lleva en la coraza una pulsera, gift from a devoted banyerense, that now, without going into small details or family issues that contribute little to the main reason, Its history is summarized below..
In the first third of the 20th century, Banyeres was a population of unos 3.900 population, casi la mitad de ahora, and the industry already had its importance in the population, the trash can, more consolidated and in full expansion, y la textil iniciando su despegue que la convertiría, later, in the main activity of the town.
The protagonists of this story are, on the one hand, the pharmacist, whom we will call Joseph, that was native to another population, he was married with children, and the daughter of one of the most well-known families in the town, that she was single, whom we will call Maria and on the other hand, the mother of said lady, whom we will call Eulalia. names are fictitious.
Ambas familias residían en el carrer Nou y mantenían unas buenas relaciones vecinales.
Maria was interested in learning to play the piano, somewhat difficult thing in Banyeres pues, in those years, no abundaban las personas capacitadas para este menester.
Joseph the pharmacist, que sabía tocar el piano, upon learning of Maria's concerns, se ofreció para darle clases. El contacto diario motivó que la inicial amistad, slowly, se transformara en una relación más íntima.
After a while, one day in the morning, a car appeared parked in the Barranc Fondo, lo que causó cierta sorpresa en el vecindario pues eran pocos los vehículos que habían y circulaban por el pueblo. It was also seen by Eulalia from the terrace of her house, what caused you concern.
El coche se marchó de donde se encontraba aparcado, while as the day progressed, ambas familias, se dieron cuenta de la desaparición de José y María, causing them great consternation.
Soon the news spread that both had left Banyeres together., in the aforementioned vehicle, abandonando a sus respectivas familias.
Entonces no existía el divorcio, Nor were separations frequent, and even less so in small towns..
Time passed without any news of them.. The pharmacist's family went to live outside Banyeres.
Eulalia, muy dolorida por estos acontecimientos, He said that what his daughter had done was wrong., pero como madre le pedía continuamente al patrón San Jorge, de la que era muy devota, el tener noticias y saber en qué lugar se encontraba y cuál era el estado de salud de la misma.
Civil War broke out (1936-39) and the parish temple was turned into a market and the images burned. Una de las primeras en reponerse, the contest is over, fue la de San Jorge, depositándola encima de una mesa, pues carecía aún del retablo, en la capilla lateral donde siempre había estado su altar.
At the same time, in the forties of the 20th century, the local paper industry experienced a boom in exports of its products to Latin America, due, en parte, at the outbreak of World War II, provocando, entre otros desastres, la carencia de materias y de competencia.
For this reason, a paper manufacturer from Banyer was forced to travel to Argentina to promote and sell its products..
Arriving at the address indicated by the client that he was going to visit, se encuentra con distintas puertas en el rellano por lo que tiene dudas de a cuál llamar, deciding on one, trusting that it would be the right one, But when it opened, he was very surprised to see José and María appear, not expecting his visit..
A su regreso a Banyeres le faltó tiempo para acudir al domicilio de Eulalia, it was closed, the neighbors indicating that he was in the church where he directed his steps. Upon entering it, he saw her praying in front of the image of Saint George and once he was at her side, he told her: “he vist a la teua filla”.
Eulalia, who was praying with his arms crossed, she touched the bracelet she was wearing with her hand and exclaimed gratefully: “la pulsera per a Sant Jordi”.
Shortly after, it was enshrined under the cross that he wears on his breastplate., continuing there today.
Years later the protagonists of this story would return to Spain, settling in Alicante.
This is the reason why the image of Saint George wears a bracelet.
In the celebrations of the II Centenary of the arrival of the Relic of San Jorge to Banyeres de Mariola, the silver medal of the population was imposed on the reliquary.
In some towns, the images of the patron saints wear different jewels that have been donated to them by their devotees.. Since the Second Vatican Council, se ha intentado el frenar esta costumbre por lo que hoy en día, most of them, have been deposited in parish or diocesan museums.
For all these reasons, the board of the Brotherhood of San Jorge, tiene establecido desde hace ya unos años, el no aceptar las intenciones de algunos vecinos de la población en tal sentido y sí mantener la citada pulsera por su carácter excepcional recomendándoles a los devotos que tengan a bien obsequiar a nuestro patrón con objetos de diferente naturaleza que pueden hacerlo, pero que éstos quedarán expuestos en la Sede de la Cofradía.
Fuentes
Testimonio oral de distintas personas de nuestra población, algunas ya fallecidas.
