Our Lady of Guadalupe de Plateros, venerated in the Shrine of Plateros

Marian title of Fresnillo (Zacatecas)

La advocación de Our Lady of Guadalupe de Plateros is attached to the old mining town of Plateros, today community belonging to the municipality of Fresnillo, state of Zacatecas, Mexicoand to the important sanctuary of the Holy Child of Atocha. There is no record in the consulted sources of a specific and differentiated history of this Guadalupana image that allows for the precise reconstruction of its origin (date of arrival, author, provenance or first documentary mentions); therefore, many data remain as no constatados.

Main data

Origin and history

La advocación de Our Lady of Guadalupe de Plateros is attached to the old mining town of Plateros, today community belonging to the municipality of Fresnillo, state of Zacatecas, Mexicoand to the important sanctuary of the Holy Child of Atocha. There is no record in the consulted sources of a specific and differentiated history of this Guadalupana image that allows for the precise reconstruction of its origin (date of arrival, author, provenance or first documentary mentions); therefore, many data remain as no constatados.

La documented history of Plateros as a pilgrimage center is mainly linked to Lord of Plateros and, since the late 18th century, Child of Atochawhose fame as a sanctuary was consolidated with the construction of a second temple in 1789 to welcome the pilgrims. Within this devotional complex, the presence of a temple and sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe in Fresnillo-Plateros is today clearly attested, but the available sources do not allow to specify with rigour a historical "foundation" of the advocation of "Our Lady of Guadalupe of Plateros."

As regards traditions or legends on a specific Marian apparition in Plateros, an original miracle or a prodigious finding of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in that place, no constan in accessible and reliable ecclesial, historical or journalistic sources. What can be said with certainty is that the Guadalupana devotion in Plateros is inserted in the great spread of the Virgin of Guadalupe throughout Mexico, and that on December 12 it is celebrated there, as in the rest of the country, its liturgical feast.

> Note on the place: some confusing references speak of "Fresnillo, department of Zacatecas, Colombia," but the title described here clearly corresponds to Plateros, Fresnillo, state of Zacatecas, Mexicowhere the well-known sanctuary of the Holy Child of Atocha is located.

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The image and the sanctuary

The sources consulted confirm the existence of a Sanctuary / temple of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Fresnilloin the area of Plateros or pastoral linked to this core of pilgrimage. The place is quoted as "Sanctuary of the Virgin of Guadalupe" in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, with stable veneration and pastoral activities. However, no consta a detailed and reliable description of the image under the title "Our Lady of Guadalupe de Plateros": its material (oil, sculpture, relief, etc.), size, author, or specific iconographic features beyond the usual iconography of the Virgin of Guadalupe of Mexico (la Morenita del Tepeyac).

As regards sanctuary / templethe references describe the area of Plateros as an important religious complex, whose main center is the Sanctuary of the Holy Child of Atocha, third in inflow of pilgrims in Mexico after the Basilica of Guadalupe (Mexico City) and the shrine of San Juan de los Lagos. Within this reality, the "Sanctuary of the Virgin of Guadalupe" in Fresnillo as an active temple of Marian devotion, located on Avenida Pladios, in the central area of Fresnillo. It is not clear from the sources consulted that this temple of the Virgin of Guadalupe has the official title of minor basilica, National sanctuary or similar category; it must therefore be strictly stated that there is no special canonical recognition of this type beyond its reality as a sanctuary or parish / local temple.

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Sponsorship and coronation

The available sources do not indicate that "Our Lady of Guadalupe of Plateros" has been proclaimed official employer (by canonical decree) of the municipality of Fresnillo, of the corresponding diocese or of some specific civil entity. In pastoral and devotional practice, the Virgin of Guadalupe is widely venerated as Mother and Patron of Mexico, and this is reflected in the life of faith of Fresnillo and Plateros; but no consta a specific legal title of unique canonical patronage linked to this local advocation in the documents consulted.

On a canonical coronation (whether pontifical coronation or diocesan coronation with delegation of the Holy See), the verified sources do not record any acts of canonical coronation for "Our Lady of Guadalupe de Plateros." No secure data for the year, pontifical decree, or delegate's name are found. Therefore, according to accessible sources, it is appropriate to state: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

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Party and devotion

La main party of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico is celebrated the 12 December, and this date is lived with special intensity in all the temples and sanctuaries dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe, including those of Fresnillo and the surroundings of Plateros. Although the sources consulted do not offer a detailed program of Pladios for that date (solemn mass, morning, processions), it is reasonable to say, in the light of the general praxis in Mexico, that December 12 is also the culminating day of the Guadalupana devotion in the sanctuary or temple of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Fresnillo, with high participation of the faithful.

El great flow of pilgrims towards Plateros is mainly due to the Holy Child of Atocha, whose sanctuary is considered one of the most visited in the country, only behind the Basilica of Guadalupe and the Sanctuary of San Juan de los Lagos. This intense life of pilgrimage influences local Marian devotion: many pilgrims who visit the Child of Atocha and the Lord of Plateros also come to entrust themselves to the Virgin of Guadalupe in the corresponding temple of Fresnillo-Pladios. There are no official figures of influx specifically linked to the feast of December 12 at the Guadalupano shrine of Fresnillo, but the general context of pilgrimages suggests significant participation.

Las devotional expressions more common (according to Mexican tradition) include flower offerings, prayers to the image, promises, walking or caravan pilgrimages, Marian songs and, often, participation in the sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. However, the sources consulted do not describe unique or exclusive customs of "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Plateros" which distinguish it from other Guadalupan celebrations in the country.

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Link to the Rosary

The revised sources do not document a specific and own relationship between the advocation of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Plateros and the prayer of Rosary (for example, canonically erected in this sanctuary, miracles linked to this prayer, or particular festivals of the Rosary associated with the image). There is, therefore, no particular historical or legal link between this local advocation and rosarian devotion beyond what is common in Marian shrines.

However, the Mexican Marian Spirituality, el Rosary It occupies a central place as a biblical and Christological prayer that accompanies pilgrims in their ways of faith. In a pilgrimage center such as Plateros, where devotions converge to the Child of Atocha, the Lord of Plateros and the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Rosary becomes in fact one of the most common forms of preparation and thanksgiving: many pilgrimages pray to him during the journey, in vigil