Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá
| Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá | |
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| Patroness of Colombia, La Chinita | |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Major shrine | Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, Colombia Basílica of Maracaibo, Venezuela |
| Feast | 9 July, November 18 |
| Attributes | Blessed Virgin Mary standing on a crescent moon, blue cloak, white veil, Infant Jesus, bird, rosary, scepter, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Andrew |
| Patronage | Colombia, Chiquinquirá, Maracaibo, Zulia, Caraz, Venezuelan National Guard |
Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá or the Virgin of Chiquinquirá is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the northern Andean region of South America. She is the patron saint of Colombia, the Venezuelan state of Zulia, and the town of Caraz in Peru. The image is painted on a cotton support, is kept in the Basílica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Chiquinquirá, where thousands of pilgrims arrive not only for the Feast Day on July 9, but also every Sunday, when they celebrate masses and processions.
On 9 January 1910, Pope Saint Pius X authorised the Canonical Coronation to the image, which was further approved by Pope Benedict XV for 9 July 1919. On July 3, 1986, Pope John Paul II visited the sanctuary and prayed for peace in Colombia at the feet of the Virgin Mary's image. The title given to the Virgin is from the city of Chiquinquirá, where the first of the Virgin's miraculous manifestations occurred, and where the original image from the sixteenth century is kept.
A later image of the Virgin of Chiquinquirá, painted on wood, can be found at the Basílica of Maracaibo, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where it is also called La Chinita. Every November 18, the city celebrates the traditional Feast of La Chinita with masses and processions in honor of the Virgin.
Pursuant to a commission received from Antonio de Santana, who had received in 1560 an encomienda of the Indians of Suta, a Spanish painter named Alonso de Narváez painted a portrait of the Virgin of the Rosary on a homespun piece of cotton woven by the Indians. Painting in tempera, he used mineral and organic pigments taken from the soil and from herb and flower juices of the region.
In 1562 the portrait was placed in a chapel with a roof that leaked, and in time the humidity, air and sun, had so damaged the painting that it was impossible to recognize the subject. In 1577 the damaged painting was moved to Chiquinquirá and left abandoned in a room that had formerly been a family oratory. Eight years later, Maria Ramos, a pious woman from Seville in Spain, cleaned and refurbished the modest chapel and placed in it the faded canvas that had once borne Mary's image. Tradition has it that a miraculous restoration of the painting occurred on Friday, December 26, 1586 which gradually closed the scratches and holes in the cloth, overlaying them with color and light. The image stood out again, having recovered its colors and brightness.
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Wikipedia