OUR LADY OF CHIQUINQUIRÀ

Day 190: November 18

Our Lady of Chiquinquirà, Colombia

Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirà is the title by which Mary is venerated in many places in Latin America. The title is linked to the image preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirà, in the city and diocese of Chiquinquirá, which means "place of mists and swamps." It is located in a region more than 2000 meters above sea level.

The image, painted by Alonso de Narváez in 1560 on a cotton cloth woven according to the techniques used by the Indians between 1560 and 1562, is one of the oldest testimonies of Christian religious art in Colombia. It was painted on behalf of the Spanish Dominicans to encourage the faith of both Indians and settlers. This painting, initially placed in a chapel before being purchased by a private individual, remained without the image of the Virgin for some time. However, a few years later, the original drawing reappeared. And this was the first of a series of miracles.

Our Lady of Chiquinquirá is the patron saint of Colombia, of the Estado Zulia in Venezuela and of the city of Caraz which is located in the Peruvian diocese of Huaraz.

In 1560 the Spaniard Antonio de Santana received in commendation the territory around the city of Chiquinquirà; here he built several buildings for the colonial administration and also houses for the natives and slaves. As was customary, he also wanted to build a chapel for religious services. The Dominican Andrés Jadraque, who served in that encomienda, wanted to provide the chapel with a sacred image; for this reason he commissioned the Spanish painter Alonso Narváez, who lived in the city of Tunja, to paint Our Lady of the Rosary with St Anthony of Padua and St Andrew the Apostle.

In 1563 the sacred image, painted on cotton canvas woven according to Indian art, was placed in the chapel. The small building, with a thatched roof, deteriorated after a few years; even the canvas with the image of the Madonna was seriously damaged by the weather to which it was exposed so much. Between 1578 and 1585 the painting was abandoned, broke, lost its brilliance and the images were erased. In those seven years it was used for domestic work in the countryside, for example to dry wheat and corn. In 1585 it was given away to be used in a chapel occasionally used by the locals as a chapel.

On December 26, 1586, the prodigious event known as Renovación ("renewal") took place: María Ramos, a pious woman who had worked to make the chapel where the image was kept more dignified and welcoming, together with an Indian named Isabel and her son, witnessed the renewed splendor that the colors of the canvas found without human hands intervening for the restoration. The story goes that the woman picked up the table thinking that it would be useful for him to cover the jar of water she had in the corridor of her house. The next morning, as she was pouring coffee, she heard a few knocks as if someone was calling her. She went to see what was happening and was frightened and full of amazement to see that the table shone and that the image of Our Lady of Chiquinquirà appeared in her.

For this reason, the woman began to cry out: "Miracle! Miracle!"; and this is why the name of the current avenue near the lake, where the washerwoman's house stood, comes from there: the Avenue of the Miracle. Immediately afterwards, numerous people who heard the woman's screams rushed to witness the prodigy, thus transforming over time, the humble woman's house into a place of veneration of the Virgin by crowds of believers.

At the time of the Miracle, in the house of the humble washerwoman, the authorities of Maracaibo decided to organize a procession. The chronicle of the time tells that the Virgin was carried on the shoulders of two men elected by their Governor, when turning a corner, the Image became so heavy that it prevented them from continuing to move it. Finally, after many supplications to heaven and supplications to the Virgin, one of those present exclaimed: "Perhaps the Virgin does not want to go to the Mother Church and prefers that of St John of God."

According to popular tradition, these words were taken as a divine inspiration, as the procession changed its route to the church of St John of God and the humble people of Maracaibo. At that precise moment the Image recovered its normal weight.

On January 10, 1587 and September 12 of the same year, the ecclesiastical authorities, after a careful investigation, expressed themselves positively on the authenticity of the miracle. A bahareque (a classic building made of reeds, wood and straw) was built and soon became a pilgrimage destination. Considering the large influx of faithful who visited the site of the prodigious event, the archbishop of Bogotá, Luís Zapata de Cárdenas, ordered a church to be built on the site of the Renovación.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, to house the prodigious image, the current church was built in a different place from the original one of the miracle in order to cope with the disastrous earthquakes frequent in the area.

Meanwhile, devotion to the Virgin of Chiquinquirà conquered more and more people of all social classes. Simon Bolivar himself, who had also used the sanctuary's treasure to finance his Campaña Libertadora, went to Chiquinquirà several times to pray for the success of his enterprise.

In 1908 the provincial of the Dominicans Vicente María Cornejo and the prior of the sanctuary José Ángel Lambona, with the agreement of the Bishops' Conference that had met for the first time that year, asked the Holy See for the canonical coronation of the sacred image which took place on July 9, 1919 together with the proclamation of the Virgin of Chiquinquirà as Queen of Colombia.

On July 3, 1986, St John Paul II visited Chiquinquirà on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the Renovación. On that occasion, addressing Mary, he expressed himself as follows: "There are many places on earth from which the children of the People of God, born of the New Covenant, repeat to you incessantly the words of this Beatitude: 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb; why do I owe the Mother of my Lord come to me?" (Lk 1:42-43). And one of these places that you wanted to visit, like Elizabeth's house, is this: the Marian shrine of the People of God in the Colombian land. Here, in Chiquinquirà, you wished, O Mother, to establish your dwelling place forever. For four centuries your presence, vigilant and effective, has kept the messengers of the Gospel in these lands company uninterruptedly in order to bring forth in them, with the light and grace of your Son, the immense richness of Christian life. We can well repeat today, recalling the words spoken by my venerable Predecessor Pius XII, that "Colombia is a Marian garden, among whose shrines Our Lady of Chiquinquirà dominates, like the sun among the stars."

St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Glory to the Most Blessed Trinity in you, O Mary! Glory to you, O Mary, in the Blessed Trinity for your place in the Ascension, for your place in the cenacle, for the coming of the Holy Spirit on you, for your stay with the apostles, for your expectation of your passing, for your happy passing, for your resurrection, for your assumption, for your glorification and for your crowning as queen."

(Ascension, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, New Jersey, 1997, pp. 400-401)