Our Lady of Carmen venerated in the National Sanctuary of Carmen in Bogotá

Fire Corps Pattern

La Church / National Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora del Carmen de Bogotá is a Catholic temple dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title of Carmen, located in the district La Candelaria, in the historic center of the city. It is part of the monumental environment near the Primada Cathedral of Colombia.

Main data

Origin and history

La Church / National Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora del Carmen de Bogotá is a Catholic temple dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title of Carmen, located in the district La Candelaria, in the historic center of the city. It is part of the monumental environment near the Primada Cathedral of Colombia.

Documented history. The construction of the temple corresponds to the first decades of the 20th century, in a neo-Gothic style with strong Italian Neo-Medieval inspiration, and was directed by the Salesian architect Giovanni Buscaglione; various sources point out as the completion date of the temple in the year 1938. The Salesian presence is today attested by the very work "Our Lady of Carmen Sanctuary" of the Salesians of Bogotá, which presents the place as "Our Lady of Carmen National Church." The temple has been recognized as National Sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin of Carmen, as pastoral and religious and cultural materials that present it with this title testify.

Tradition / legend. A strong devotional tradition associated with the protection of drivers, traders, sailors and military and police forces has been consolidated around the Virgin of Carmen in Colombia. In recordings of a pastoral nature made in the temple itself it is recalled that, "by the history of this sanctuary," the faithful have established the custom of going there to the Virgin as patron of merchants, drivers, sailors and the military and police forces. It is a pious tradition rooted, but not a particular canonical patronage of the sanctuary over these groups.

The image and the sanctuary

The accessible sources describe the temple as a space in which the Virgin of Carmen is venerated in an outstanding way; however, is not in easily verifiable official sources (archdiocesan page, Salesian file or diocesan documents) a detailed and precise description of the headline image (size type, material, dimensions). In the graphic materials an image of Virgin of Carmen with the Child Jesus and the Scapularfollowing the common Carmelite iconography, but in the absence of a formal technical description, no con seguridad the material or specific artistic characteristics documented.

El official name of the temple es “Nuestra Señora del Carmen National Church, "as presented by both the fact sheet of the Salesians of Bogotá and the historical-artistic descriptions. It is located in the Career 5 # 8-36, in the town of La Candelaria, historical area of Bogotá. It's a temple. neogótico very unique for its brick and stone facade with colored stripes, slender tower and rich interior ornamentation, considered a "religious jewel" of the city. The sources consulted and the pastoral denomination identify it as National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Carmenbut no consta which has been raised to the title of minor basilica by papal decree.

Sponsorship and coronation

In Colombia, the Virgin of Carmen is recognized as patron and queen of the Colombian Armed Forces, the National Police, the Marine Infantry and the Air Forceas well as the patron of the Fire Corps; Colombian transporters have also adopted her as patron. This patronage is of character and professional rights, linked to the apvocation of Carmen throughout the country, and not exclusively to the sanctuary of Bogotá.

As for a specific official patronage of the National Sanctuary of Carmen de Bogotá about the city, the archdiocese or some particular sector, no consta in the sources consulted a formal declaration beyond its function as a Marian national sanctuary. The temple channels and visibilizes the national devotion to the Virgin of Carmen, especially of the transporters and uniformed bodies, but this condition comes from the general invocation, not from a decree of the sanctuary itself.

On the canonical coronation of the image venerated in this sanctuary, in the revised sources (Salesian file, archdiocesan information, Marian repertory and Colombian Catholic press) does not contain a documented canonical coronation with date indication, pontifical decree or pontifical delegate.

Party and devotion

La main party of the Virgin of Carmen is celebrated the 16 July, the day when tradition recalls the apparition of the Virgin to St. Simon Stock and the delivery of the scapular, a date assumed by the universal Church for this advocation. The archdiocese of Bogotá presents this date as the solemnity of the Virgin of Carmen, patron of many institutions and professions in Colombia.

Around al National Sanctuary of Carmen de Bogotáthe feast of July 16 brings together an intense participation of faithful: transporters, security bodies and numerous private devotees come with their vehicles, uniforms and banners to ask for protection and to give thanks, following the Colombian tradition of blessing of vehicles and of thanksgiving for the favors received. Various audiovisual and pastoral materials show the sanctuary as a reference centre for these celebrations, though no official flow figures in the sources consulted.

Throughout the year, the sanctuary is presented as a place that "invites reflection and prayer," with masses, confessions and pastoral activities specific to an urban sanctuary, at the service of devotees who come daily to the historical centre of Bogotá. Devotion is expressed through the prayer of the scapular, participation in the Eucharist, the veneration of the image and the personal and family consecration to the Virgin of Carmen, in continuity with the Carmelite spirituality extended in the country.

Link to the Rosary

In the specific sources on the National Sanctuary of Carmen de Bogotá there is no explicit reference to a unique practice of Rosary that distinguishes it from other Marian shrines (for example, a historical fellowship of the Rosary proper to this temple or a documented local tradition). Therefore, no consta a particular differentiated relationship, beyond the common practice of the Rosary in parish life and in ordinary Marian devotion.

From the theological and spiritual point of view, the advocation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is deeply linked to the Carmelite spiritualityfocused on contemplative prayer, union with Christ and the inner life inspired by Mary. The RosaryAs a meditation of the mysteries of the life of Christ in the company of the Virgin, it naturally fits this spiritual horizon: it helps to contemplate, together with Mary, the mysteries of Christ, and sustains the daily prayer life of the faithful, just as the use of the scapular of Carmen recalls the Mother's protection of the Virgin and the call to evangelical fidelity.

In the context of the National Sanctuary of Carmen de Bogotá, the Rosary can be understood as a "Marian prayer school" who accompanies devotion to the scapular and the Virgin of Carmen: those who approach the sanctuary to entrust their life, their work or their service to society find in the prayer of the Rosary a simple and profound way to remain spiritually "on Mount Carmel," that is, in the attitude of contemplation and filial trust in the Mother of God.