Our Lady of the Mercedes del Santo Cerro, co-patron of the Dominican Republic and patron of the Armed Forces, venerated in the National Sanctuary of the Santo Cerro

Marian Advocation of La Vega (La Vega)

La advocación de Our Lady of the Mercedes of the Holy Cerro is linked to the early history of evangelization on the island of La Española and to the subsequent Catholic identity of the Dominican Republic, where the Virgin of the Mercedes is recognized as national employer. Merchant devotion came to the Dominican territory in the 16th century, by the hands of the Spanish conquerors and missionaries, and was eventually welcomed as a protector of the Dominican people, especially in times of conflict and war.

Main data

Origin and history

La advocación de Our Lady of the Mercedes of the Holy Cerro is linked to the early history of evangelization on the island of La Española and to the subsequent Catholic identity of the Dominican Republic, where the Virgin of the Mercedes is recognized as national employer. Merchant devotion came to the Dominican territory in the 16th century, by the hands of the Spanish conquerors and missionaries, and was eventually welcomed as a protector of the Dominican people, especially in times of conflict and war.

According to the tradition In popular piety, the Holy Cerro would be the place where Cristóbal Colón ordered to plant a cross during the first stage of the conquest and where a decisive battle was fought between the Spanish and the indigenous, under the protection of the Virgin of the Mercedes. In this legendary line, the Virgin is presented as a special defender of the nascent Christianity on the island. However, these accounts belong to the Pious tradition and cannot be documented with historical precision in all its circumstances.

In the plan of the documented history, the Santo Cerro, in the province of La Vega (Dominican Republic), is recognized by the Church as a long-standing place of Marian devotion and has been officially erected as National Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Mercedes, national pilgrimage centre. Various Dominican ecclesial and civil sources reiterate that the Virgin of the Mercedes is patron of the Dominican Republic and that he is given special veneration in this sanctuary of La Vega.

It is not known that there is a specific advocation of "Our Lady of the Mercedes of the Holy Cerro" officially linked to Colombia in the city or department of La Vega: the available data place this advocation and its sanctuary as a reality of La Vega, Dominican Republicwithout documentary support for an official transfer of this title as a Colombian patronage.

The image and the sanctuary

The venerated image in the Holy Cerro is a Marian image of the Virgin of the Mercedes, of a traditional type: Mary is presented as Mother of Mercy, with a clear and mantle habit - following the merchant style -, carrying the Child Jesus in arms in many of his representations and with attributes specific to this advocation (crown and sometimes scapular or chains as a sign of spiritual liberation). The available open sources do not describe in technical detail the material (wood, polychrome size, etc.), so that is not certain to the exact naturalese from the original square ni su author.

The place of worship is the National Sanctuary Our Lady of the Mercedes, Santo Cerro, La Vega, recognized as one of the country's main Marian centres. It is a sanctuary located on the top of the hill, with a temple of simple architecture, of a single ship and main chapel where the image of the Virgin is venerated; various testimonies describe it as a chapel "simple and without many pretensions, but very well cared for." The sanctuary has open spaces for the reception of pilgrims and panoramic views over the La Vega valley.

In pastoral practice and public communication (including the official account of the sanctuary), the usual title is "Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes National Sanctuary, Santo Cerro, La Vega, Dominican Republic". It does not know that the temple has the title of minor basilica; its name is recognized as National sanctuary.

Sponsorship and coronation

The Virgin of the Mercedes, in the form venerated in the Holy Cerro, is patron of the Dominican Republic, according to the ecclesial tradition and the constant use collected by various sources. In addition, he is recognized as of Dominicans and is particularly invoked by State institutions, including Dominican Armed Forceswho maintain a relationship of particular devotion to this advocation. In the official communication of Dominican public bodies, the Day of Our Lady of Mercedes is presented explicitly as a celebration of the national patron, with frequent references to the Holy Cerro de La Vega as the center of this devotion.

On a canonical coronationthe sources consulted do not provide a clear, unambiguous and documented data about the date, the pontifical decree or the delegate who made it for the image of the Holy Cerro. Accordingly, following the criterion of historical rigour, it should be indicated: does not contain a documented canonical coronation for this image in safely accessible sources.

Party and devotion

La main party of Our Lady of the Mercedes is celebrated the September 24, the traditional date of this charitable advocation and thus also noted in various parishes and communities under this title. In the Dominican Republic, this day is of great religious and cultural importance: there are solemn Eucharist, processions and acts of veneration both in the Holy Hill and throughout the country.

El Santo Cerro de La Vega then becomes a privileged destination of national pilgrimagewith a great influx of faithful who come to implore the protection of the Virgin, thank you for favors and renew your Marian consecration. Tourist sources and testimonies of travelers describe the sanctuary as a place of intense popular devotion, visited not only at the main feast but also throughout the year, with extensive schedules for the reception of pilgrims.

Among the features of devotion are:

– La invocación de la Virgen de las Mercedes como of the Dominican people y de sus instituciones, especialmente las Fuerzas Armadas. – La presencia constante de promises, vows and thanksgiving, signo de la confianza del pueblo en su intercesión. – La fuerte integración de la fiesta del 24 de septiembre en la religious and cultural identity Dominican, with liturgical celebrations, civic acts and popular expressions of piety.

No specific, reliable and documented data have been found on an official organization of the feast of this advocation in a town called La Vega, in Colombia; therefore, for rigour purposes, the main reference remains the celebration in La Vega, Dominican Republic.

Link to the Rosary

The sources consulted do not contain a specific tradition which uniquely links the advocation of Our Lady of the Mercedes of the Holy Cerro to a special or own practice of Rosary (for example, a particular title of the Rosary, a rosarian brotherhood linked canonically to the sanctuary, etc.). There is not enough data available to affirm a differentiated or exclusive form of prayer of the Rosary associated only with this sanctuary.

However, by the very nature of this Marian devotion and its condition of National sanctuary the Rosary occupies a central place in the daily mercy of the pilgrimsin the vigil, novies and preparations for the feast of 24 September. The Virgin of the Mercedes, as Mother of Mercy and protector of the people, is seen in the joyful, painful, luminous and glorious mysteries as the one that accompanies Christ and the Church on the path of redemption; the Rosary thus becomes a privileged means of:

– Meditar la participación de María en la historia de la salvación. – Presentar, por su intercesión, las necesidades del pueblo dominicano, de sus gobernantes y de las Fuerzas Armadas. – Unir la tradicional confianza en la Virgen de las Mercedes con la oración contemplativa propia del Rosario, que ordena el corazón al seguimiento de Cristo.

In this way, even if there is no "own form" of the Rosary of the Mercedes of the Holy Cerro documented, the Rosary is naturally integrated in the spiritual life of this sanctuary and of those who come to Our Lady of the Mercedes as madre