Our Lady of Yagma

Marian vocation of Yagma (Burkina Faso)

La local tradition places the origin of the sanctuary in 1967, when the construction of a Grotto of Lourdes on the hill of Yagma, about 13 km from Ouagadougou, driving a Marian prayer place in the area of Kadiogo, Burkina Faso. According to the information available, the first pilgrimage took place in 1968 and the grotto was left completed on 22 April 1969.

Main data

Origin and history

La local tradition places the origin of the sanctuary in 1967, when the construction of a Grotto of Lourdes on the hill of Yagma, about 13 km from Ouagadougou, driving a Marian prayer place in the area of Kadiogo, Burkina Faso. According to the information available, the first pilgrimage took place in 1968 and the grotto was left completed on 22 April 1969.

La documented history shows that Yagma was growing as a diocesan and national pilgrimage center in the context of the Catholic Church in Burkina Faso. In 1988, the Episcopal Conference of Burkina- Niger proclaimed the sanctuary as "National pilgrimage center". During his apostolic visit, John Paul II was in Yagma the 29 January 1990 and donated a statue of the Virgin, then installed in the newly blessed grotto 11 February, Our Lady of Lourdes's party.

The image and the sanctuary

The advocation is venerated in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Yagma, built around a Marian grunt in Lourdes style on a hill near Ouagadougou. The sources consulted do not accurately describe the material ni la detailed iconography of the primitive image; it does know that John Paul II donated a statue of the Virgin in 1990, later installed in the whole sanctuary.

As for the category of the place, the sources agree that Yagma is a Marian national sanctuary and a great pilgrimage center in Burkina Faso. In addition, a Catholic press source states that it was erected as lower basilica in 2013However, this information is not corroborated in the other sources gathered here and should therefore be left as a secondary data pending further verification.

Sponsorship and coronation

Yagma is particularly linked to the Church of Burkina Faso how Marian national sanctuary and pilgrimage center for the country. There is no formal patronage of a specific city or diocese other than that national function in the sources consulted.

No consta una documented canonical coronation from the image of Our Lady of Yagma in the verified sources for this tab.

Party and devotion

The great diocesan pilgrimage is celebrated first Sunday of Februarywith the participation of faithful from a wide region that even extends to Côte d'Ivoire. In addition, from 1996 the sanctuary hosts another great diocesan celebration August 15, solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

The devotion to Yagma is characterized by its strong dimension peregrina and for its value as a visible sign of the Catholic faith in a country of Muslim majority. The sources point out that the sanctuary brings together many faithful and has become a Marian reference point for Burkina Faso; however, no homogeneous official data on exact figures of influx in the sources consulted have been found.

Link to the Rosary

There is no specific institutional relationship between Our Lady of Yagma and a rosarian devotion of her own, at least in the verified sources for this sheet. Even so, as a Marian sanctuary of Lurdense inspiration, Yagma is fully within the Catholic spirituality in which the Rosary It naturally accompanies the contemplation of Christ with Mary, especially in context of pilgrimage, penance and community prayer.