Our Lady of Chiquinquirá

Marian devotion of New York (New York)

En su historical origin, this advocation goes back to the miraculous canvas of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá Revered in the city of Chiquinquirá (Boyacá, Colombia), emerged in the late 16th century and now guarded in the Basilica--National Sanctuary of that city. The Virgin of Chiquinquirá was proclaimed Patrona de Colombia by Pope Pius VII in 1829 and later canonically crowned in 1919, consolidating itself as a centre of national and international pilgrimages.

Main data

Origin and history

En su historical origin, this advocation goes back to the miraculous canvas of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá Revered in the city of Chiquinquirá (Boyacá, Colombia), emerged in the late 16th century and now guarded in the Basilica--National Sanctuary of that city. The Virgin of Chiquinquirá was proclaimed Patrona de Colombia by Pope Pius VII in 1829 and later canonically crowned in 1919, consolidating itself as a centre of national and international pilgrimages.

En Venezuelathe same advocation - popularly called “La Chinita”- is linked to the Zulian tradition of the apparition of a tablet with the Marian image in Maracaibo, devotion today linked to the Basilica of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá and recognized as patron of the State of Zulia and of the city of Maracaibo, with the main feast 18 November. This date has become the festive point of reference for the Zulians of the diaspora.

In the context of New York, United States, devotion to Chinita comes by the emigration of Colombians and Zulians, who organize liturgical celebrations, masses and cultural acts to honor the Virgin, maintaining the devotional dates and accents of their places of origin. It does not contain, in the sources consulted, a official foundation of sanctuary nor a specific ecclesiastical decree that erects a formal Chinita sanctuary for these communities in New York; it is rather a Community regional policy, inserted in local parishes. [not recorded]

The image and the sanctuary

En su canonical form, the Virgen de Chiquinquirá is a painted canvas (oil on cloth) in which the Virgin of the Rosary and the Child Jesus appear, Santo Domingo de Guzmán and San Antonio de Padua, venerated in the Basilica- National Marian Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá in Colombia. In Maracaibo (Venezuela), the image of the Chinita is venerated in a painted table, currently guarded in the Basilica of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá of that city.

En New YorkColombian and Zulian communities generally use replica-type images (pictures, pictures or process images) inspired by one or other model (the Colombian canvas or the marabine tablet). The celebrations are held in local parishes of Latin rite (c) the presence of a minor basilica, national sanctuary or officially erected diocesan sanctuary under this title in New York City. [not recorded]

The "sanctuary" of Chinita in New York must therefore be understood, rather than as a legal-canonical title, as the parish and community space where the faithful gather to honor her, especially on November 18.

Sponsorship and coronation

At the universal level of the Church:

– La Virgen de Chiquinquirá es Patrona de Colombia, title given by the Pope Pío VII en 1829. – Es también State of Zulia and the city of Maracaibo in Venezuela, where it is venerated as the Chinita.

These of the dimensions of patronazgo –Colombian national y regional zuliano- they are the ones that the communities of migrants in New York take on as spiritually their own, considering them the patron of their hearts and their life in the diaspora.

With regard to New York (department / state, city and diocese), no consta in the sources consulted a official decree to declare her a civil or ecclesiastical patron of a particular diocese, city or community in the United States; her patronage is lived in a way devotional and Community, in the legally declared. [states]

As for the canonical coronation:

– El lienzo de Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Chiquinquirá fue canonically crowned in 1919, en el contexto de su proclamación como Reina y Patrona de Colombia, con intervención de la autoridad pontificia (decreto firmado por el papa Pío X y ejecutado pocos años después). – No consta una coronación canónica específica de una imagen de la Chinita en Nueva York. – Por ello, para la imagen venerada por colombianos y zulianos en Nueva York, does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

La main party of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá is celebrated:

– El 9 July en Colombia, como fiesta litúrgica nacional de la Patrona. – El 18 November in the Zulia (Venezuela), around the Chinita, with many pilgrims to the Basilica of Maracaibo and abundant popular demonstrations.

Las comunidades zulianas in the diaspora (including New York) tend to keep the celebration of the 18 Novemberwith solemn mass, procession, typical music (especially zulian cock) and cultural acts expressing the Marabine identity. Some communities Colombian They also participate in this date, although in their country of origin the main solemnity is July 9.

In New York, according to testimonies and community publications, the Mass in honor of the Virgin of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá - China, bringing together Colombian and Venezuelan faithful and shaping themselves as a meeting point of the diaspora. There are no official figures of influx, but devotion is reflected in the organization of special, ninth and cultural groups linked to the Zulia and Colombia.

Link to the Rosary

The advocation is officially called Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, indicating an intrinsic link with the Holy Rosary: the original iconography highlights Mary as Virgin of the Rosary and her cult, both in Colombia and Venezuela, has traditionally been linked to this Marian prayer.

In the national sanctuary of Chiquinquirá, Colombia, they are highlighted, especially in the Octobercelebrations in honor of the Virgin of the Rosary, with community prayers of the Rosary and pilgrimages that highlight this rosarian character of the advocation. In the Zulia, although the most visible popular expression is the patron parties of November 18, the reference to the Rosary is part of the official identity of the advocation.

Para los Colombians and Zulians in New Yorkthe Rosary is a privileged means of:

– Mantener viva la memory of the sanctuaries of origin (Chiquinquirá en Colombia, Maracaibo en Venezuela). – Presentar a la Virgen las necesidades propias de la vida migrante: familia, trabajo, integración, paz en los países de origen. – Vivir, en clave mariana, la comunión entre dos pueblos que comparten la misma Madre bajo la misma advocación.

No consta una unique practice of the Rosary exclusive of the Chinese community in New York, other than the general tradition of the Church; however, the same name d