Our Lady of Zapopan

"La Generala," Queen of Jalisco

A small Franciscan image venerated in Zapopan since the 16th century, known as "The Peacekeeper." Every 12 October, millions of faithful accompany her in one of Mexico's most massive Marian romaneries.

Origin and history

The image of Our Lady of the Expectation of Zapopan is a small size of indigenous style (about 34 cm), taken by Franciscan missionaries to the New Galicia in the 16th century. The tradition links her to Fra Antonio de Segovia, OFM, and from very soon she was held as a protector in the face of attacks, droughts and calamities.

In the 17th and 18th centuries his fame was consolidated as a miraculous and pacifying image, from which his popular titles of "La Pacificadora" and "La Generala" came. He was declared patron of Guadalajara and Jalisco, and the Holy See granted his canonical coronation in 1921. Every 12 October, the Romeria de Zapopan accompanies the image on its return from the cathedral of Guadalajara to its basilica.