Marian devotion
Our Lady of Covadonga
La Santina de la Cueva
Our Lady of Covadonga, popularly known as La SantinaIt is an image of the Virgin Mary who is to be venerated in the Holy Cave of Covadonga, in the council of Cangas de Onís, in the Principality of Asturias. On the top of that grotto open to the mountain, the Mother has for centuries welcomed the pilgrims who go up to seek their protection. He is Patrona of the Principality of Asturias and one of the great Marian pilgrimage centers of Spain.
Main data
Central message: in the cave of the mountain, the Virgin is a refuge and mother of the people who come up to meet her. He shares the patronage of Asturias with the martyr Santa Eulalia of Merida, and is also patron of Oviedo and his diocese.
Tradition and history: a necessary distinction
There are two plans around Covadonga that should not be confused.
The tradition says the Virgin helped the Christians capitalized by don Pelayo, causing a detachment of rocks in the call batalla de Covadonga who decimated the opposite army. That victory is legendariamente considered the beginning of the Reconquest and the origin of the Kingdom of Asturias. It is a venerable account of popular piety, not a fact that history documents in that form.
La documented historyInstead, he testifies to a Marian sanctuary consolidated in the Holy Cave, with stems, donations, canonical coronation and pilgrimages. The devotion to Santina, real and verifiable, does not depend on the legendary details of the battle, but on the love of a people who go up to the mountain to meet their Mother.
History of the sanctuary
The Cave and the tradition of Pelayo
The heart of Covadonga is the Santa Cueva, an open grotto on the rock where the Virgin is venerated. To it is associated, by tradition, the figure of Don Pelayo and the origin of the Kingdom of Asturias. The account of the help of the Virgin and of the detachment of rocks belongs, as has been said, to the realm of the foundational legend; the historical is the cave turned into a holy place and goal of pilgrims over the centuries.
The image of Santina
In the 12th century two twin images of the Virgin of Covadonga were carved. In 1777 a fire completely destroyed the interior of the Holy Cave and the size there venerated was burned. The present image was donated to the sanctuary by the Cathedral of Oviedo in 1778; it is a polychrome size whose appearance is due to a remodeling of 1874. The Virgin holds the Child Jesus in her left hand and a gold rose on the right. To protect it from the wind, temperature and moisture of the cave, what is now exposed for veneration is a Replica exacta 1970; the original heel if it keeps watch.
The sanctuary and the basilica
The current image was first in the chapel of the Collegiate of San Fernando and, since 1820, in the Cueva itself, where a small chapel was set up for his custody. Over time, Covadonga's whole grew with its basilica and dependencies, to become one of the great Marian shrines of Spain.
The canonical coronation
The Virgin of Covadonga was canonically crowned in 1918, coinciding with the twelfth centenary of the historic battle. It was one of the first Marian images of Spain to receive this coronation, along with the Virgin of Montserrat, the Virgin of Candelaria, the Virgin of Guadalupe (Cáceres) and the Virgin of the Unprotected, among others.
Patrona de Asturias
La Santina es Patron of the Principality of Asturias since 1968, patronage he shares with the martyr Santa Eulalia de Merida (1639). She has also been the patron of Oviedo and his diocese since 1630. Her hymn sings it as "the Queen of our mountain."
Covadonga today
Covadonga remains a living pilgrimage center. 21 and 22 August 1989 St. John Paul II visited the sanctuaryHe prayed and celebrated Mass in the Holy Cave. Every year, around 8 September, thousands of pilgrims go up to the mountain to honor the Santina; there are also numerous replicas of the image, inside and outside Asturias.
Spiritual message from Covadonga
The devotion to Santina continues to speak with simplicity today:
⛰️ Mary is a refuge in height. Whoever goes up to the mountain does not seek a trophy, but a Mother who awaits him on the rock.
📿 The people's faith is stronger than the legend. What Covadonga holds is not the detail of a battle, but centuries of confident prayer.
🌿 The Cave teaches how to seek amparo. Asturias all looks at Santina as an open house for those who need comfort.
✝️ Mary always takes the Son. In his left hand he holds the Child Jesus: he never stays for himself, always leads to God.
Prayer to Our Lady of Covadonga
St. John Paul II, a pilgrim in the Holy Cave on August 21, 1989, began his prayer to the Santina:
I went up to the mountain, I came to your Cave,
Virgin Mary, to venerate your image,
‘Santina de Covadonga’.
With your children from Asturias and Spain
I want to proclaim your glories today and join your song:
You are the Servant of the Lord, our Mother and Queen!
As a pilgrim who longs to strengthen his hope,
I come to this sanctuary, witness to so much faith and love in history,
safe home, under your shelter, among the mountains,
where you put your house and without ever giving away your Son's gifts.
To You, who are sweet and hopeful of those who implore you,
I ask you for the gift of hope that illuminates the future,
the perennial joy of faith,
the radiant ardor of charity.
Amen.
The initial fragment of the prayer of John Paul II (text in vatican.va), as reflected in our page of Marian prayers.
A flower for the Virgin
It offers a simple prayer to the Virgin of Covadonga. Pray a Hail Mary for Asturias and for those who seek refuge in the Mother.
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