Our Lady of Arabia

Patron of Apostolic Vicariate of North Arabia
Recognized by the Church

The devotion was born in Kuwait in the late 1940s, not in Saudi Arabia, when barefoot Carmelites from Iraq attended the growing foreign Catholic population linked to the oil industry. In Ahmadi, Kuwait, a Marian lithography was enthroned on May 1, 1948, and that same year the chapel was dedicated to the Virgin. The Catholics of Saudi Arabia, almost all migrant workers, depend on the Apostolic Vicariate of North Arabia, based in Awali (Bahrain), and have this advocation as spiritual patron of the entire peninsula.

Main data

Origin and history

The devotion was born in Kuwait in the late 1940s, not in Saudi Arabia, when barefoot Carmelites from Iraq attended the growing foreign Catholic population linked to the oil industry. In Ahmadi, Kuwait, a Marian lithography was enthroned on May 1, 1948, and that same year the chapel was dedicated to the Virgin. The Catholics of Saudi Arabia, almost all migrant workers, depend on the Apostolic Vicariate of North Arabia, based in Awali (Bahrain), and have this advocation as spiritual patron of the entire peninsula.

The image and the sanctuary

The image is inspired by the Virgin of Carmen; a statue carved in cedar of Lebanon was blessed by Pius XII in 1949. In Saudi Arabia there is no public Christian veneration or sanctuaries: the physical image is in Kuwait and Bahrain. For many Saudi faithful, Bahrain becomes by closeness rather than a discreet pilgrimage, crossing on the weekend to attend Mass and venerate the Virgin in the Cathedral of Awali.

Sponsorship and coronation

Pius XII declared her a patron of the Vicariate of Kuwait by decree Regnum Mariae (1957); her canonical coronation was held on 25 March 1960 under the mandate of John XXIII. On January 5, 2011, the Holy See proclaimed her as patron of the Apostolic Vicariate of North Arabia, which includes Saudi Arabia, and shortly after patron of the entire Arabian peninsula, which is thus spiritually under the mantle of Mary even though there is no visible ecclesial structure in the kingdom.

Party and devotion

His feast is held in mid-January, the Saturday after the Baptism of the Lord. In Saudi Arabia, where public worship is prohibited, the faithful live the faith in the privacy of the houses: they pray, they keep pictures of the Virgin and spiritually join the feast of the Vicariate, participating when they can in the mass of Bahrain or Kuwait. There are no verified concrete miracles attributed to this advocation in Saudi Arabia.

Link to the Rosary

The Catholics of Saudi Arabia pray the Rosary at home, often in small groups of Filipino, Indian and other countrymen, as a support of their faith in an environment where Christianity is minority and restricted. The Rosary, along with the Marian prints, is the most widespread and discreet form of this devotion. It is the main channel of union with Our Lady of Arabia.