Strict Standards: Declaration of McalendarControllerMCalendar::display() should be compatible with McalendarController::display($cachable = false, $urlparams = false) in /home/nrnvguvu78sn/public_html/components/com_mcalendar/controllers/mcalendar.php on line 0

Strict Standards: Only variables should be passed by reference in /home/nrnvguvu78sn/public_html/components/com_mcalendar/controllers/mcalendar.php on line 22

Strict Standards: Only variables should be passed by reference in /home/nrnvguvu78sn/public_html/components/com_mcalendar/controllers/mcalendar.php on line 23

Strict Standards: Only variables should be passed by reference in /home/nrnvguvu78sn/public_html/components/com_mcalendar/controllers/mcalendar.php on line 24

Strict Standards: Only variables should be passed by reference in /home/nrnvguvu78sn/public_html/components/com_mcalendar/controllers/mcalendar.php on line 25

Strict Standards: Only variables should be passed by reference in /home/nrnvguvu78sn/public_html/components/com_mcalendar/controllers/mcalendar.php on line 26

Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$name in /home/nrnvguvu78sn/public_html/components/com_mcalendar/models/shrines.php on line 17

Related Books

Virgen de Suyapa

Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$state in /home/nrnvguvu78sn/public_html/components/com_mcalendar/views/detail/tmpl/default.php on line 95
Suyapa, Honduras (1747)

Commemorated on February 3
Virgen de Suyapa
The Virgin of Suyapa (Spanish: Virgen de Suyapa) is an 18th-century statue (6 cm/2.3 in) of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The statue, also known as Our Lady of Suyapa (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Suyapa), is perhaps Honduras' most popular religious image, and the focus of an extensive pilgrimage. The statue is kept in the Basílica de Suyapa in Suyapa, a suburb of the capital Tegucigalpa, and toured through various other parts of the country each year in early February. Many thousands of people from all over Central America make pilgrimages to visit the statue on her name day, February 3rd, a commemoration of the day she was found. The statue has been stolen and then recovered on two occasions.
 
Our Lady of Suyapa is the Patroness of Honduras.

Discovery

There are several different versions of how the statue that is the Virgin of Suyapa was discovered. The version that has become standard is recounted below.
Many Hondurans believe the statue was miraculously discovered in late-January or early-February 1747 by a labourer, Alejandro Colindres. Colindres and an 8 year old boy had been sent by Colindres's mother to clear some corn fields on Piligüin mountain, northeast of Tegucigalpa. On the way back, they were overtaken by nightfall and decided to sleep outside. Colindres was awakened by a sharp pain in the side, and discovered that he was sleeping on something. Later versions of the story claim that without looking at it, Colindres threw it as far away as he could, only to find it underneath him as he lay down again. This detail is not present in early versions of the story. The next morning Colindres discovers that he's been sleeping on the tiny statue of a virgin which he took home with him and set up in his mother's house on the family altar. For the next 20 years it remained on the family's altar in their house. It was not until 1768 that the statue was credited with its first recognized miracle and began to attract public attention. By 1777, a chapel was constructed for the statue. 

Veneration

The statue of the Virgin remained in Colindres's mother's house for 20 years, until the first miracle was recorded in 1768. At that time the family began collecting funds to build a chapel, which was completed in 1777. Pope Pius XI declared her Patroness of Honduras under the title Our Lady of Suyapa, and selected February 3 as her feast day in 1925. In the 1950s a large Basilica was built next to the chapel. The statue of the Virgin spends most of her time in the chapel, but every year before the celebration of her festival, the statue is moved into the larger church to accommodate the crowds.
 
The statue of the Virgin of Suyapa has a group of lay caretakers, all male, known as the Orden de los Caballeros de Suyapa, founded in the 20th century. They are responsible for caring for the image, and the small chapel. They escort the statue whenever it leaves the chapel to travel around Honduras, as it often does every February.
 
The statue is considered to have miraculous powers. The swift ending of the Football War between Honduras and El Salvador is attributed to the statue. Many of the Honduran soldiers involved reported visions of the Virgin, which calmed their fears during the fighting. 

References

  1. ^ Article on the virgin
  2. Jump up^ Amid a Crisis, Hondurans Heap Large Hopes on a Tiny Religious Icon The New York Times (www.nytimes.com). Retrieved 2012-08-13.
  • Barceló Morey, Jose. 2000. La Inmaculada Concepción de María en Honduras: La Inmaculada Concepción de Suyapa, Patrona de Honduras. San Pedro Sula: Editorial/Librería Coello
  • Valladares B., Juan R. 1946. La Virgen de Suyapa (historia documentada). Tegucigalpa: Tallereres Tipo-Lito.

    External Links

 -----------------

The tiny image of Our Lady of the Conception of Suyapa was found by a humble young peasant on a Saturday in January 1747. Alejandro Colindres, and Lorenzo Martinez, an eight-year-old boy, were returning to the village of Suyapa, tired from working all day gathering corn. They were half way there when night fell as they reached the ravine. This seemed to them like a good place to spend the night and they lay down on the hard ground. Right away Alejandro felt that something, apparently a stone, was preventing his finding a comfortable position for his back. In the dark, he picked it up and threw it far away. Strangely enough, on lying down again he felt the same discomfort, but - intrigued- this time he did not throw it, instead he put it away in his knapsack. At day break he discovered that the mysterious object was a charming small image of Our Lady carved in cedar wood.

Our Lady of Suyapa measures only six and a half centimeters. It is a very old carving, probably the work done with devotion by an amateur artist. Her angelic looks reflect the nobility of the native race. It is a dark image with an oval face and shoulder length straight hair: her tiny hands are joined together in a prayerful attitude. The original painted color of her robe is light pink, which now can be seen slightly, covered by a dark cloak trimmed with golden stars and adorned with valuable jewels. The object of great veneration on the part of the Honduran people, the image rests on a solid silver sphere, and appears surrounded by a circle of silver rays, which evoke "the woman dressed by the sun" mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

In 1925, Pius XIIl declared Our Lady of Suyapa patroness of the Republic of Honduras, and February 3 was chosen as her feast day with proper Mass and office. The first shrine was blessed in 1780 and the first notable attested miracle, occurred in 1796. The present enormous church, with space for the

multitude of pilgrims who visit Suyapa, was visited by John Paul II in 1983. In the land of the poor, this sanctuary of Santa Maria de Suyapa is located in one of the humblest parts of the city.

Source: http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/engfour.html#els

 

 

Shrines

Basílica de Suyapa

Basílica de Suyapa (Suyapa, Honduras)

Basilica of Our Lady of Suyapa Patron or Notre Dame de Suyapa In the eighteenth century was found the image of the Virgin of Suyapa, by Alejandro Colindres, the first im...

More info

Resources

Additional information