Our Lady of the Nativity of Joyabaj, the municipal patron of Joyabaj

Marian vocation of Joyabaj (Quiché)

No common sources (parish or diocesan website, ecclesial press, Marian repertory and general encyclopedia) have been found. of the Nativity of Joyabaj, in the department of Quiché. It is also not clear that there is an officially recognized Marian sanctuary with this title in Joyabaj in the online consulting documentation. In several sources on sanctuaries and temples entitled "Nuestra Señora de la Natividad" from Colombia and other countries (Ecuador, Spain, etc.) there is no reference to a specific acvocation of Joyabaj.

Main data

Origin and history

No common sources (parish or diocesan website, ecclesial press, Marian repertory and general encyclopedia) have been found. of the Nativity of Joyabaj, in the department of Quiché. It is also not clear that there is an officially recognized Marian sanctuary with this title in Joyabaj in the online consulting documentation. In several sources on sanctuaries and temples entitled "Nuestra Señora de la Natividad" from Colombia and other countries (Ecuador, Spain, etc.) there is no reference to a specific acvocation of Joyabaj.

In addition, Joyabaj is known in the literature as a municipality of the department of Quiché, Guatemala, not from Colombia; the references to Joyabaj with his patron party and the dance of the Flying palo This municipality of Guatemala is in the form of cultural and ethnographic guides, not a Colombian town. Since the consultation expressly asks not to confuse this advocation with other homonymous and, at the same time, places it in "Quiché, Colombia," the available information is insufficient and contradictory to rigorously rebuild a documented history of the origin of Marian devotion under this title in that particular place.

A falta de givens veribles, no consta a documented historical narrative (date of erection of the parish, first records of the image, founders, etc.) nor a traditional local account clearly identified and published by ecclesial or academic sources on "Our Lady of the Nativity of Joyabaj" in the sense and location indicated.

The image and the sanctuary

The sources consulted on churches and temples of "Nuestra Señora de la Natividad" in Colombia describe, for example, the Temple of Our Lady of Nativity de Buesaco (Nariño) as a representative work of colonial architecture, with volcanic stone façade and bell tower, but with no relation to Joyabaj or Quiché. This information cannot be applied simply to the requested invocation, because it is another temple and another region.

En consecuencia, no consta with certainty:

- The type of image venerated in Joyabaj under this title (round package size, picture, relief, etc.). - The material (wood, plaster, canvas, etc.) and the artistic style. - Concrete iconographic traits (Mary's position, the presence of the Child, symbols, etc.). - The official name of the temple as a Marian sanctuary recognized (by the diocese, the Episcopal Conference or the Holy See), or if it has a specific legal title (diocesan sanctuary, national sanctuary, minor basilica, etc.).

It can only be affirmed in a generic way, based on the liturgical tradition of Nativity of Marythat images under this title often represent the Virgin Girl, Saint Anne and St. Joaquin, or Mary already young with attributes of her birth and purity. This indication, however, is of a general nature and does not describe a specific image of Joyabaj, as there is no verifiable data on this.

Sponsorship and coronation

The documents consulted do not appear, for the advocation of Our Lady of the Nativity of Joyabaj (Quiché, Colombia), a formal declaration of patronage issued by ecclesiastical authority (bula, diocesan decree or official act) to make it possible to state with certainty that the image is a municipal, diocesan or other district patron. There are well-documented examples of patronings under the title of Nativity in other places (such as the Virgin of the Nativity of Chilla, patron of the province of El Oro in Ecuador by bull of Paul VI), but these are different advocations, which cannot be moved to Joyabaj without evidence.

With regard to a possible canonical coronation (by decree of the Holy See or of the Bishop with permission), there is no clear reference or date in the sources consulted, nor the name of the Pontiff or delegate for a coronation of "Our Lady of the Nativity of Joyabaj" in Quiché. Therefore, following the requested criterion:

– Coronación canónica: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

La litigation fiesta universal de la Nativity of the Virgin Mary se celebra el September 8, a memory established in the West since the VI-VII centuries and collected in the current Roman calendar. It is reasonable to assume that, where a Marian advocation is venerated under this title, the main feast is held on the same day, but in the specific case of Joyabaj no direct documentary confirmation has been found describing the calendar of the parish or municipality.

The cultural and ethnographic references about Joyabaj (Quiché, Guatemala) point to the celebration of the patron party with traditional dances, including the Flying palo, associated with the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin, but these data belong to the Guatemalan, non-Colombian context. Given the risk of geographical confusion, it is not methodologically correct to attribute these practices to "Joyabaj, Quiché, Colombia."

Therefore, as for pilgrimages, inflow of faithful, processions, novies, co-fradies, promises or popular traditions specific to this advocation in Joyabaj (Quiché, Colombia), no consta verifiable online information from parish, diocese or Catholic press to describe them in detail and rigor.

Link to the Rosary

Not found in the sources consulted explicit or officially established relationship between the advocation of Our Lady of the Nativity of Joyabaj and some particular practice of Rosary (for example, the co-fraternity of the Rosary itself, special indulgences linked to the image, parish prayer campaigns of the Rosary specifically associated with this advocation, etc.). At this point, therefore, no consta a specific legal or devotional link with the Rosary.

However, from a general Marian perspective, every advocation that celebrates the the birth of Mary is naturally integrated into the spirituality of the Rosary:

– En los joyful mysteries, el primer misterio (la Anunciación) y el segundo (la Visitación) contemplan a María como la joven que ha crecido en la gracia de Dios desde su concepción y nacimiento; celebrar su Natividad ayuda a profundizar en estos misterios, meditando cómo Dios prepara la historia de la salvación desde la infancia de la Virgen. – El rezo del Rosario, al recorrer los misterios de la vida de Cristo “con los ojos y el corazón de María”, permite considerar también el lugar único de la Virgen en la historia, cuyo nacimiento anuncia ya la cercanía del Mesías. La devoción a la Natividad de María invita a agradecer el don de su vida y a renovar la confianza filial en su protección materna.

So, though no conste a particular formal link between this advocation and the Rosary, the Marian piety of the Church encourages the contemplation of the Nativity of Our Lady is usually accompanied by the prayer of the Rosary, as a school of meditation of the mysteries of Christ with his Mother.