Our Lady of the Angels

Marian Advocation of Los Angeles (Biobío)

On the advocation of Our Lady of Angels in the City of Los Angeles (Biobío Department, Colombia) A specific, detailed and documented history is not available in accessible sources. It does not appear in the usual lists of Colombian Marian shrines or in the most cited repertories of local advocacy, and most of the references to "Our Lady of Angels" refer to Spain, Costa Rica, Mexico, Chile and other places.

Main data

Origin and history

On the advocation of Our Lady of Angels in the City of Los Angeles (Biobío Department, Colombia) A specific, detailed and documented history is not available in accessible sources. It does not appear in the usual lists of Colombian Marian shrines or in the most cited repertories of local advocacy, and most of the references to "Our Lady of Angels" refer to Spain, Costa Rica, Mexico, Chile and other places.

En la documented history of the universal advocation, "Our Lady (or Virgin) of the Angels" is closely linked to Franciscan spirituality and to the small temple of the Porciuncula in Assisi (Italy), where the indulgence of the "Forgiveness of Assisi," whose liturgical celebration was established August 2, Day of the Dedication of Santa Maria de los Angeles. This date became the universal day of Our Lady of Angels. In Latin America, the advocation was strongly spread in colonial times, being patron of various cities and dioceses, such as Getafe (Spain), the diocese of Tulancingo (Mexico) and Costa Rica, which officially recognized it as a national patron in 1824.

As for the TRADITION / LEYENDA linked to August 2, one of the most popular narrations is the apparition of a small image of the Virgin to a simple woman (paradigmatic case: Juana Pereira in Cartago, Costa Rica, in 1635), whose repeated finding was interpreted as a sign of choice of the place of worship. This legendary plot of a humble image, found by a faithful single, favours the identification of the people with Mary as a close and protective Mother; however, it does not contain a local legend of Los Angeles (Biobío, Colombia) sufficiently documented in the sources consulted.

The image and the sanctuary

The available sources do not describe a concrete and documented image of Our Lady of the Angels as patron of the city of Los Angeles (Biobío, Colombia). It does not contain the type of size (lump sculpture, relief, dress image or picture), or material (wood, plaster, etc.), or a local iconography of its own (for example, mixed features, size, popular title), as is the case in other sanctuaries of the same title, in particular the "Negrita" of Cartago (Costa Rica).

It also does not include, with the information currently available, the existence of a officially recognized Marian sanctuary (national or diocesan sanctuary, or minor basilica) under this title in Los Angeles (Biobío, Colombia). There is no mention of a specific diocesan basilica or sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Angels in that municipality in the general repertories of patrons collected by Wikipedia or in notes on the advocation at the Spanish-American level. For this reason, for the moment, no consta with certainty the official name of the main temple where it is given veneration as a local historical patron, beyond the likely existence of a parish or chapel under this advocation, which would require direct verification in diocesan sources.

Sponsorship and coronation

According to the "Virgin of Angels" patronage lists on a universal scale, the the city of Los Angeles in Chile, founded as "Santa María de Los Angeles," which has this advocation as a patron and retains even a monument to its image at the entrance of the city. In those repertories, however, the Los Angeles City of the Department of Biobío in Colombia as a civil or ecclesiastical entity with officially recognized patronage under this title. Therefore, for the specific case requested, does not contain a canonically defined and documented patronage in the reference sources consulted.

In relation to a possible canonical coronation, the universal sources on the advocation of Our Lady of Angels point to pontifical or canonical coronations elsewhere (for example, the pontifical coronation of the Virgin of Angels in Costa Rica granted by Pius XI in 1926). However, there is no record, in the resources consulted, of a canonical coronation of an image of Our Lady of Angels in Los Angeles (Biobío, Colombia). It should therefore be stated that: does not contain a documented canonical coronation for this advocation in that particular place.

Party and devotion

At the level of the universal Church and the Franciscan tradition, the liturgical feast of Our Lady of Angels se celebra el August 2and the indulgence granted in the Porciuncula. This date has been widely spread throughout the world and is also the central date of devotion in several shrines, including that of the Patroness of Costa Rica in Cartago, where a massive national pilgrimage takes place every 2 August.

As regards Los Angeles (Biobío, Colombia)There are no sufficient public data on mass pilgrimages, romaneries or other specific and stable devotional expressions linked to that date, beyond the likely parish celebration of Our Lady of Angels's memory on August 2, in harmony with the general calendar of the Church. No figures are available for the flow, description of processions, novies or other local practices that can be confirmed in verifiable sources. Therefore, any specific tradition of that city (procession through the streets, night prayers, own offerings, etc.) is within the scope of the no documentado in accessible sources and would require direct research in diocesan or parish pastoral.

Link to the Rosary

The sources consulted on the advocation of Our Lady of Angels focus on the indulgence of August 2, the Franciscan origin and the patronings, but do not indicate a specific, own and documented link with the Rosary prayer in the specific case of Los Angeles (Biobío, Colombia). There is no mention, for example, of a Rosary fellowship officially linked to the local sanctuary, nor of a unique tradition of Rosario de aurora or Rosario de torchas at that feast, which can be affirmed with certainty.

However, from a general Marian perspective, devotion to Our Lady of the Angels is naturally integrated into the spirituality of the Rosary. The title highlights Mary as a Mother associated with angels, that is, to the mystery of the Incarnation, divine protection and heavenly liturgy. The Rosary contemplates the mysteries of Christ's life with Maryin communion with the praise of the angels (for example, the proclamation of the angel Gabriel in the first joyful mystery) and with the liturgy of heaven that proclaims to the Risen Christ. In the face of an image of Our Lady of the Angels, the Rosary helps to contemplate Mary as Queen of the Angels and a protective Mother, mediator of grace and guide on the way to the heavenly homeland, even though this link is of a spiritual character and does not reflect as a historical-documentary feature of the advocation in Los Angeles (Biobío, Colombia).