{"id":5817,"date":"2026-06-23T09:01:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/our-lady-of-suyapa"},"modified":"2026-06-23T09:01:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:01:30","slug":"our-lady-of-suyapa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/de\/our-lady-of-suyapa","title":{"rendered":"Our Lady of Suyapa"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"rr-om\">\n<style>\n.rr-om{max-width:880px;margin:0 auto;font-family:Inter,system-ui,sans-serif;color:#1E2A36}\n.rr-om h1{font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;color:#1F4E79;text-align:center;font-size:2.1rem;margin:.4rem 0 .2rem}\n.rr-om .rr-sub{text-align:center;color:#8A6D1D;font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;font-style:italic;font-size:1.15rem;margin:0 0 1.2rem}\n.rr-om .rr-lead{color:#344054;line-height:1.75;max-width:720px;margin:0 auto 1.2rem}\n.rr-om h2{font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;color:#1F4E79;font-size:1.45rem;border-bottom:2px solid #C9A227;padding-bottom:.35rem;margin:2.2rem 0 .9rem}\n.rr-om h3{font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;color:#1F4E79;font-size:1.1rem;margin:1.4rem 0 .5rem}\n.rr-om p{color:#344054;line-height:1.75}\n.rr-om .rr-card{background:#fff;border:1px solid #E6E1D8;border-radius:14px;box-shadow:0 4px 14px rgba(30,42,54,.06);padding:1.2rem 1.4rem;margin:0 0 1rem}\n.rr-om .rr-datos{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(240px,1fr));gap:10px;margin:.6rem 0}\n.rr-om .rr-dato{background:#F8F5EF;border:1px solid #E6E1D8;border-radius:10px;padding:.6rem .9rem;font-size:.95rem}\n.rr-om .rr-dato b{color:#1F4E79}\n.rr-om .rr-cita{background:#F8F5EF;border-left:3px solid #C9A227;padding:.8rem 1.1rem;border-radius:0 10px 10px 0;margin:1rem 0;font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;font-style:italic;color:#41506b}\n.rr-om .rr-cita .rr-quien{display:block;font-family:Inter,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-size:.8rem;color:#8A6D1D;margin-top:.4rem;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.04em}\n.rr-om .rr-nota{background:#F3E7BD66;border:1px solid #E6D9A8;border-radius:10px;padding:.6rem .9rem;color:#6B5512;font-size:.92rem;margin:.4rem 0 .9rem}\n.rr-om .rr-btns{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:10px;justify-content:center;margin:1.6rem 0}\n.rr-om .rr-btn{background:#1F4E79;color:#fff;border-radius:999px;padding:.6rem 1.2rem;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;font-size:.92rem}\n.rr-om .rr-btn:hover{background:#183B5C;color:#F3E7BD}\n.rr-om .rr-flor{background:linear-gradient(135deg,#1F4E79,#183B5C);border-radius:16px;padding:1.6rem 1.4rem;color:#fff;margin:2rem 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid #C9A22755}\n.rr-om .rr-flor h3{color:#F3E7BD;margin-top:0}\n.rr-om .rr-flor p{color:#E8EDF3}\n.rr-om .rr-flor a{display:inline-block;background:#C9A227;color:#1E2A36;border-radius:999px;padding:.7rem 1.5rem;text-decoration:none;font-weight:700;margin-top:.6rem}\n.rr-om .rr-fuentes{font-size:.88rem;color:#667085;border-top:1px solid #E6E1D8;padding-top:1rem;margin-top:2rem}\n@media(max-width:560px){.rr-om h1{font-size:1.7rem}}\n<\/style>\n\n<h1>Our Lady of Suyapa<\/h1>\n<p class=\"rr-sub\">Patroness of Honduras<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"rr-lead\">Our Lady of Suyapa, affectionately called \u00abLa Morenita\u00bb (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.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"rr-fig\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ca-virgen-de-suyapa.jpg\" alt=\"Stained-glass window of the Basilica of Our Lady of Suyapa (Tegucigalpa)\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>Stained-glass window of the Basilica of Our Lady of Suyapa (Tegucigalpa). Photo: Luis Alfredo Romero \u00b7 CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<h2>Key facts<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rr-datos\">\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Feast:<\/b> 3 February<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Place:<\/b> Basilica of Suyapa, Tegucigalpa (Honduras)<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Patroness of:<\/b> Honduras<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Image:<\/b> dark cedar carving, 6.5 cm, in an attitude of prayer<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Popular name:<\/b> \u00abLa Morenita\u00bb<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Patronage:<\/b> declared by Pius XI in 1925<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Central devotion:<\/strong> Mary makes herself present in what is small and simple, and accompanies her people as a Mother who listens and consoles.<\/p>\n\n<h2>The image<\/h2>\n<p>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 \u00abLa Morenita.\u00bb<\/p>\n\n<h2>Tradition of the finding<\/h2>\n<p class=\"rr-nota\">The account of the finding of the image belongs to <strong>devout tradition<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n<p>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 Piligu\u00edn, to the northeast of Tegucigalpa. On their return, night overtook them and they decided to sleep in the open.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u2014today a district of the capital\u2014, where a wooden altar was made for it and the family&#8217;s acquaintances came to pray.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Veneration and patronage<\/h2>\n<p>The image remained twenty-one years on the altar of the Colindres family. In 1768 the first miracle was attributed to it \u2014the healing of Don Jos\u00e9 Zelaya Midence, who suffered from kidney stones\u2014 and the devotion of the people began to grow. With the offerings collected, a first chapel was built, completed in 1777.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n<h2>The spiritual message of Suyapa<\/h2>\n<p>Devotion to La Morenita speaks today with simple words:<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcff <strong>Mary makes herself present in what is small.<\/strong> A tiny and humble image is enough to gather a whole people in prayer.<br>\n\ud83e\udd32 <strong>Mary accompanies the lowly.<\/strong> She chose to meet a farm worker, on the road and under the open sky.<br>\n\ud83c\udf0e <strong>Mary is the Mother of a people.<\/strong> Around her, Honduras and the brother peoples of Central America are united.<br>\n\u271d\ufe0f <strong>Mary always leads to her Son.<\/strong> She does not keep anything for herself: she brings her children to the encounter with Jesus.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Prayer to Our Lady of Suyapa<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rr-card\">\n<p>Our Lady of Suyapa, beloved Morenita,<br>\nMother and Patroness of Honduras:<br>\nlook with tenderness upon your children who come to you.<br>\nYou, who chose to make yourself little among the little ones,<br>\nwelcome our sorrows, our labours and our hopes,<br>\nand lead us by the hand to your Son Jesus.<br>\nAmen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Pray also the <a href=\"\/en\/marian-prayers\/\">Marian prayers<\/a> and accompany your prayer with the <a href=\"\/en\/how-to-pray-the-rosary\/\">Holy Rosary<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"rr-flor\">\n<h3>\ud83c\udf39 A flower for the Virgin<\/h3>\n<p>Offer a simple prayer to Our Lady of Suyapa. Pray a Hail Mary for Honduras and for all of Central America.<\/p>\n<a href=\"\/en\/marian-prayers\/\">Pray a Hail Mary<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"rr-btns\">\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/en\/marian-prayers\/\">\ud83d\ude4f Marian prayers<\/a>\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/en\/marian-calendar\/\">\ud83d\udcc5 Marian calendar<\/a>\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/en\/how-to-pray-the-rosary\/\">\ud83d\udcff Pray the Rosary<\/a>\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/en\/pray-the-rosary\/\">\ud83c\udf39 More devotions<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"rr-fuentes\">\n<strong>Sources:<\/strong> \u00abNuestra Se\u00f1ora de Suyapa,\u00bb Spanish Wikipedia (version consulted in 2026) \u00b7 details on the finding, the patronage declared by Pius XI (1925), the dates and the Basilica of Suyapa drawn from that article. The account of the finding is presented as devout tradition, with variants, distinguished from the documented details about the patronage and the shrine.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our Lady of Suyapa Patroness of Honduras Our Lady of Suyapa, affectionately called \u00abLa Morenita\u00bb (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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Our Lady of Suyapa - Reza el Rosario","description":"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 H"},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5817","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5817\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}