Our Lady of Suyapa

Patroness of Honduras

Our Lady of Suyapa, affectionately called «La Morenita» (the little dark one), is the most beloved Marian devotion in Honduras and the patroness of the country. She is venerated in the Basilica of Suyapa, in Tegucigalpa, in a tiny image of dark cedar measuring barely 6.5 centimetres. Each year the people of Honduras and pilgrims from all over Central America gather around her, finding in the smallness of this image a sign of the maternal closeness of Mary.

Wichtigste Fakten

Central devotion: Mary makes herself present in what is small and simple, and accompanies her people as a Mother who listens and consoles.

The image

The image of Our Lady of Suyapa is a carving of dark cedar wood about 6.5 centimetres tall, possibly the work of a beginning artist. It has an oval head, straight hair to shoulder length, and hands joined in an attitude of prayer. Today it is kept fastened to a gold frame adorned with rays of light and stars, and it is clothed in fine fabrics of silk and silver. Because of her dark complexion, the people affectionately call her «La Morenita.»

Tradition of the finding

The account of the finding of the image belongs to devout tradition and has variants. The most widespread version, accepted among the faithful, is the one given here; the earliest written narratives do not mention the name of the one who found it. The details about the patronage, the dates and the basilica are documented.

According to the best-known tradition, the finding took place at the end of January or the beginning of February 1747. A farm worker, Alejandro Colindres, was sent together with a boy of about eight to clear some cornfields on the mountain of Piliguín, to the northeast of Tegucigalpa. On their return, night overtook them and they decided to sleep in the open.

Colindres could not rest because he felt something beneath his side; in the dark he would push it away, but when he lay down again he would find it once more in the same spot. The next morning he discovered that it was the small image of a Virgin. He took it to the home of his mother, Isabel Colindres, in the village of Suyapa —today a district of the capital—, where a wooden altar was made for it and the family’s acquaintances came to pray.

Veneration and patronage

The image remained twenty-one years on the altar of the Colindres family. In 1768 the first miracle was attributed to it —the healing of Don José Zelaya Midence, who suffered from kidney stones— and the devotion of the people began to grow. With the offerings collected, a first chapel was built, completed in 1777.

In 1925 Pope Pius XI declared her Patroness of Honduras under the title of Our Lady of Suyapa and set 3 February as her feast. In the 1950s the great Basilica of Suyapa was built next to the chapel. The small image usually remains in the chapel and, each year for her feast, it is carried to the basilica in order to welcome the multitude of the devout who come to venerate her, from Honduras and from all over Central America.

The spiritual message of Suyapa

Devotion to La Morenita speaks today with simple words:

📿 Mary makes herself present in what is small. A tiny and humble image is enough to gather a whole people in prayer.
🤲 Mary accompanies the lowly. She chose to meet a farm worker, on the road and under the open sky.
🌎 Mary is the Mother of a people. Around her, Honduras and the brother peoples of Central America are united.
✝️ Mary always leads to her Son. She does not keep anything for herself: she brings her children to the encounter with Jesus.

Prayer to Our Lady of Suyapa

Pray also the Mariengebete and accompany your prayer with the Holy Rosary.