Navarra is already preparing for one of its most deeply rooted expressions of public faith: the Javieradas, which in 2026 will once again gather thousands of pilgrims around Javier Castle, the birthplace of Saint Francis Xavier, patron saint of the region and universal model of missionary zeal.
The Archdiocese of Pamplona and Tudela has confirmed the official dates for the pilgrimages, which this year will be celebrated under the motto “Invited to faith”, in an ecclesial context that urgently calls for witness, conversion, and perseverance.
Two central dates in the month of March
From the official pilgrimage website, they report that the First Javierada will take place on Sunday, March 8, beginning with the traditional Way of the Cross from Sangüesa at 8:00 a.m., followed by Holy Mass at 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary’s esplanade.
The Second Javierada will be celebrated on Saturday, March 14, with an afternoon schedule that facilitates family participation: Way of the Cross at 3:00 p.m. and Eucharist at 5:00 p.m.
Ending, both pilgrimages, before the basilica that guards the memory of the Navarrese saint.
Pilgrimage: penance, prayer, and witness
The Javieradas are not a cultural event or a folkloric gathering. They are, above all, a pilgrimage, marked by physical effort, prayer, and participation in the sacraments. Walking to Javier means putting the body at the service of faith, in a countercultural gesture in a comfortable and secularized society.
Over the years, this tradition has kept alive the awareness that faith is also transmitted through visible, shared, and communal signs, far from anonymity and private withdrawal.
Other pilgrimages around Saint Francis Xavier
In addition to the two main Javieradas, the calendar includes other dates that enrich spiritual preparation. On March 4, the monastic Javierada will be celebrated, coinciding with the start of the Novena of Grace. On March 12, the priestly Javierada of the Ribera will take place, at the end of that novena.
The school Javierada, scheduled for May 15, also offers an opportunity to transmit faith to new generations, bringing them closer to the figure of a saint who made his life a radical surrender to Christ.
A tradition born from the faith of the people
The Javieradas did not arise from fashion or cultural interest, but from a deep devotion to the Navarrese saint and the people’s response to the call of the Gospel embodied in Francis Xavier. Their roots date back to the late 19th century, when, in thanksgiving for the end of a cholera epidemic that ravaged Navarra, the faithful promised to pilgrimage to Javier Castle, the birthplace of the patron saint of missions, to honor the Lord through the intercession of his saint.
This act of faith—turned into a regular pilgrimage—preceded the first official Javierada, celebrated on March 10, 1940, led by the Brotherhood of Volunteer Knights of the Cross and blessed by Bishop Marcelino Olaechea, who the following year institutionalized the call on the second Sunday of March.
Over the years, the pilgrimage grew, adopted the name Javierada—which evokes abundance around Javier—and evolves to this day as a popular and ecclesial expression of faith, convened by the archbishop and lived as a communal gesture of penance, prayer, and witness during the Novena of Grace before the saint’s castle.