The story
La Purisima Nicaragua in Nicaragua
La Purisima is Nicaragua's national Marian devotion honoring the Immaculate Conception, the country's patroness, culminating on December 8. The tradition begins with altar preparation from November 28, includes the December 7 house-to-house Griteria as its most public expression, and closes with the solemn feast day itself the following morning.
La Purisima, the affectionate Nicaraguan name for devotion to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, stands as one of the country's defining national religious traditions, celebrated with a warmth and scale that Nicaraguans themselves describe as central to their sense of identity.