The patroness of Colombia, Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, will have jewels and ornaments restored
Gaudium Presss English Edition
Newsdesk (19/01/2022 19:30, Gaudium Press) The Colombian Episcopal Conference announced that a solemn act to return the jewels of the image of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá will take place in July.
On July 9th, 2021, the feast day of the Virgin of Chiquinquirá, an unknown person stole the jewels adorning the image. Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá is the patron saint of Colombia and a well-known devotion also in Venezuela. After several months of investigation, the police managed to find the stolen jewelry.
Solemn act of restitution
A solemn act of restitution of the jewels is planned for the next feast of the patroness, July 9th, a date that also commemorates the centennial of the coronation of the image as Queen and Patroness of Colombia.
“This act of restitution of her jewels will be a reliving of that July 9th, 1919, when under the government of Marco Fidel Suarez, in the Plaza de Bolivar of the city of Bogotá and before the eyes of the Colombian people, the sacred image was crowned,” stated the Episcopal Conference of Colombia.
The rector of the shrine, Father Carlos Mario Alzate Montes, hopes that the ceremony will be an occasion for the Colombian people to thank the Virgin Mary for her protection and help.
The Dominicans, who are in charge of the shrine, explained that the jewels have been completely restored and that they are carrying out a study to guarantee the safety of the image and the preservation of the canvas and colours.
History of the Virgin of Chiquinquirá
In fact, the image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, which dates back to 1560, is on a cotton canvas made by the indigenous people of the time. The Spanish painter Alonso de Narvaez was commissioned to paint an image of Our Lady of the Rosary flanked by St. Anthony of Padua and St. Andrew.
For years the canvas remained in the chapel of the Dominicans in Bogotá, but the light and humidity of the place deteriorated the fabric and the image practically disappeared. It was then that the image was moved to an oratory in Chiquinquirá.
One day, an indigenous boy noticed that the inside of the chapel was shining brightly; when he entered the enclosure he saw that the brightness came from the miraculous image. The constant supplications of Maria Ramos, responsible for the oratory, were answered: the image was restored.
Pope Pius VII proclaimed the Virgin of Chiquinquirá as patroness of Colombia in 1829. In 1909, the image was canonically crowned by a decree of St. Pius X. (FM)
With information from ACI Prensa
(Photo of the National Marian Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá)
