IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF COPACABANA

Day 265: February 1

Immaculate Conception of Copacabana, Bolivia



Among the passengers of a ship lost in a storm near Rio de Janeiro, were some Brazilian pilgrims who returned from a visit to the shrine of the Virgin of Copacabana in Bolivia. They invoked the Virgin to intercede for them and they were disembarked safely on the Brazilian coast. In gratitude, they named the spot Copacabana — and it has since become one of the world's favorite resorts in Brazil.

In Bolivia, however, a wonderful story of faith and love is being enchanted. Enclosed by beautiful sloping mountains overlooking the azure Lake Titicaca, lies the small cove called Sepa-cabana or Copacabana. The name means "the one who looks at the precious stone", because in the distance, extends the majestic ice necklace of the Andes Cordillera. In this place, at the time of the Inca Empire, lived good Indians whose only task was to prepare for the journeys of the faithful to the Island of the Sun, a few miles on the lake. Copacabana, as a result, became the center of many Incan activities, as the Incas were fanatical in their visits to the island's sanctuary.

The missionaries who arrived with the Spanish conquistadors naturally planted the cross in all the great Inca centers and a church was built in Copacabana. It was dedicated to St Anne. However, the Mother of the Blessed Virgin seemed to disapprove of this honor, because the city soon fell into disrepute and the crops were poor. Many Indians drifted away to the point that only a few souls remained. Those who remained, believed that if the city was dedicated to some other saint, the city could prosper; but agreement about the new patron could never be reached.

In the year 1581, a young Indian boy, Francisco Yupanbi, longed for his city to be dedicated to Our Lady. In secret, he began to build a statue of the Virgin and Child to present to the village. For more than a year he worked day and night. When he called the townspeople to see the result, they laughed at him with contempt, because Francisco knew nothing about art, and his statue proved it. Undaunted, but burning with the desire to complete the task, the young man went to visit all the big cities of Bolivia to study under the masters who were decorating churches and monasteries.

Finally, after months of disappointments and successes, his labor of love ended, Our Lady of Copacabana – a Virgin with all the traits of her own race, in her arms a newborn baby no different from the thousands of Indian children Francisco had known so well. He called his teachers and other artists and they were stunned; he had created a true work of art; but for him it was a labor of love, representing his "Little Mother", the Virgin who could save his hometown of Copacabana. He hastened with his precious piece of art to his home; but when he arrived, he was greeted by a delegation of citizens, who had come to chase him and his silly piece of plaster away.

But the Virgin, Our Lady of Copacabana, smiled at Francisco; when the box was opened, the hostile attitude changed; when they saw the love that had been captured in the face of Our Lady, they welcomed Francisco and his dear piece of art for the city. There were soon many miracles attributed to devotion to the new statue of Our Lady of Copacabana. The warmth of love engulfed Copacabana and soon a church was built for the Mother and her child. Jewels of distant devotees poured into the sanctuary to adorn Our Lady of Copacabana; distant pilgrims came day after day.

Francisco later entered a monastery where he died a peaceful death. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the patron saint of Bolivia, and the shrine of Our Lady of Copacabana is one of the oldest shrines in the Americas.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Not only are you exempt from any sin, but you are full, overflowing, with grace and virtue, integrity and knowledge and with all the gifts of original holiness; you are capable of suffering and death only to be more like Jesus."

(Justin Russolillo, Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, Newark, 1996, p. 156)

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