Our Lady of Chiquinquirá

Patroness of Colombia

Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá is one of the best-loved Marian devotions in America. Queen and patroness of Colombia, she is venerated in an ancient cotton canvas painted around 1562, which is kept in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, in Boyacá. Her name recalls the town where the first of her miraculous manifestations took place, and her devotion has spread throughout the country over the centuries.

Wichtigste Fakten

The miraculous renewal of the canvas (1586) and the wondrous events surrounding it belong to tradition, gathered by the chronicles. We distinguish them from the documented facts about the painting, the basilica and the patronages. The Maracaibo (Venezuela) devotion, with its own tradition and its feast on 18 November, is described separately.

History and tradition of Chiquinquirá

The canvas and its decay

In the 16th century, the Dominican friars were evangelizing the central region of present-day Colombia. Around 1560, the encomendero Antón de Santana was to build a chapel in Suta, and Friar Andrés Jadraque saw the need to provide it with a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary, a devotion promoted by the Dominican Order. For this they turned to the Spanish painter Alonso de Narváez, who lived in Tunja. By around 1562 the painting —made on indigenous cotton, measuring about 125 by 111 centimetres— was already in the chapel, with Our Lady of the Rosary accompanied by Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Andrew the Apostle.

The canvas remained there for more than a decade. Around 1574, the chapel’s thatched roof let in the damp and the image was practically erased. In such poor condition, it was taken to the town of Chiquinquirá and abandoned in a room that rarely served as an oratory; tradition relates that it was even used to dry grain in the sun.

The miraculous renewal (tradition)

The historical chronicle —written the year after the events— relates that in 1586 María Ramos, a local woman, knowing that this canvas had held the image of the Virgin, repaired the old oratory and gave it the best place in the chapel. Daily she prayed, asking Our Lady of the Rosary to make herself manifest. On 26 December 1586, as María was leaving the oratory, an indigenous woman named Isabel and her small son called out to her:

When she turned her gaze to the painting, the image —which had been unrecognizable— was shining and had been restored to its original colours and brightness; the holes and tears in the cloth had vanished. From then on the devotion to «Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá» began. The shrine was entrusted to the Dominicans, who built a convent beside it to keep the image.

The basilica and the devotion

After a strong earthquake in 1785, the friars decided to build a new basilica in another part of the town and to move the image there, which was done around 1823 despite the protests of the townspeople. Popular devotion was expressed in great pilgrimages and processions, and in historical events involving viceroys, bishops and politicians; Simón Bolívar himself went on several occasions to pray before the painting for the success of his campaign.

Patroness of Colombia

The government of Marco Fidel Suárez decided in 1919 to consecrate Colombia to the Virgin of Chiquinquirá as its Queen and Patroness. On 9 July 1919, President Suárez crowned the Virgin of Chiquinquirá as Queen of Colombia in a ceremony held in the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá, in the presence of the apostolic nuncio and several bishops. On occasion the image has been carried with great solemnity to Bogotá to pray for the end of wars, disasters or epidemics; the most recent transfer of this kind was in 2017, on the occasion of Pope Francis’s visit to Colombia. Earlier, Saint John Paul II had prayed for the peace of Colombia at the feet of the Virgin in her basilica, in July 1986.

La Chinita of Maracaibo (Venezuela)

In Venezuela, Our Lady of Chiquinquirá —»la Chinita»— is venerated under the same name as patroness of Maracaibo and of Zulia state, whose feast is celebrated on 18 November. Zulian tradition relates that at dawn on 18 November 1709, a woman who was washing clothes in the lake of Maracaibo gathered up a small board that was floating; when she cleaned it at her home the marks of a religious image appeared, and shortly afterward flashes of light came forth from it. It should be made clear that this Zulian devotion is much later (18th century) than the Colombian one (16th century): they share a name and iconography because the devotion gradually spread beyond the Andean region where the first miracle occurred.

The spiritual message of Chiquinquirá

The devotion to Chiquinquirá speaks to us today in simple words:

📿 Mary renews what seemed lost. The tradition of the restored canvas is a sign of hope: nothing is so worn that God cannot renew it.
🙏 Mary hears humble prayer. She made herself manifest to a simple woman who prayed with perseverance before a forgotten image.
🇨🇴 Mary accompanies her people. Queen and patroness of Colombia, she sustains the faith and hope of the Colombian people.
✝️ Mary always leads to her Son. The Child Jesus in the painting reminds us that the Mother never keeps anything for herself, but leads us to Him.

Prayer to Our Lady of Chiquinquirá

Pray also the Holy Rosary and the Mariengebete, turning to Mary as the devotees of Chiquinquirá have always done.