Virgin of the Chorrito, venerated in the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Chorrito in a natural grotto with spring

Marian Advocation of Hidalgo (Tamaulipas)

La advocación de la Virgin of the Chorrito is attached to the village of El Chorrito, in the municipality of Hidalgo, state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, at the foot of the Sierra Madre Oriental. This devotion was born in relation to a small spring and a waterfall close to a natural grotto, which named the place and the sanctuary. According to the oldest local records cited in divulgative materials, the Marian cult on this site has been documented at least since 1939.

Main data

Origin and history

La advocación de la Virgin of the Chorrito is attached to the village of El Chorrito, in the municipality of Hidalgo, state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, at the foot of the Sierra Madre Oriental. This devotion was born in relation to a small spring and a waterfall close to a natural grotto, which named the place and the sanctuary. According to the oldest local records cited in divulgative materials, the Marian cult on this site has been documented at least since 1939.

Tradition and legend. The popular tradition collected in local testimonies states that, near a small cave next to the waterfall, the water of the spring was "sculpting" in a natural way a figure similar to the Virgin of Guadalupe on the stone. From this supposed image of miraculous origin would have emerged the name of Virgin of the Chorritoin reference to the water jet that sprouts from the spring. This explanation falls within the scope of the devotional legend and does not record as a historically proven fact.

Documented history. What does appear constantly in official news and tourist sources is that the site of El Chorrito has been consolidated, throughout the 20th and early 21st century, as one of the most important religious sanctuaries in northeastern Mexico and southern Texas, with a massive influx of pilgrims, especially at certain Marian parties. The civil authority of Tamaulipas now presents El Chorrito as "the main destination of religious tourism in northeastern Mexico and the southern United States." Many favors and healing miracles attributed to the intercession of the Virgin are mentioned, but no official critical catalogue of miracles is available; these are testimonies of popular piety.

The image and the sanctuary

Devotion focuses on two complementary realities:

1. The primitive image linked to the grotto and the spring. Local sources point out that the origin of the cult is in the natural (grotto) cavity from which the water sprout that, according to tradition, would have shaped an image similar to the Virgin of Guadalupe on the rock. Behind the present temple the caves from where the water sprang, presented as the place that gave origin to the Virgin of the Chorrito. The technical description of this first image (material, exact size, author, date) is not clear in the sources consulted, and it must be said that does not contain a complete and documented iconographic description de la imagen original.

2. The monumental imagen Marian reciente. On top of the El Chorrito area, a monumental sculpture of the Virgin of Mercy, identified in the official state communication as part of the same devotional complex of El Chorrito. This image, of approximately 32 meters high, is presented as the largest in Latin America in its kind and is intended to consolidate the sanctuary as a great religious and tourist reference. The audiovisual sources show the Virgin standing, with a welcoming attitude and wide mantle, but do not offer a detailed technical iconographic sheet (author, exact materials, complete iconography), so such data are not accurately recorded.

As for the temple, the sources call it in general Sanctuary of the Virgin of El Chorrito or simply Sanctuary of El Chorrito. It is located in the village of El Chorrito, about 25 km from the municipal head of Hidalgo and about 100 km north of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. It is described as a very visited Catholic enclosure, with access to the interior of the temple and the area of the grotto and the spring. It is not recorded in the consulted sources that the temple has received the title of minor basilica nor explicit recognition as National sanctuary; in the ecclesial field it is a sanctuary of great regional importance, but the precise canonical category (diocesan, etc.) is not documented in accessible sources.

Sponsorship and coronation

Official and tourist sources present the Virgin of El Chorrito as great pilgrimage center of the state of Tamaulipas and from northeastern Mexico, with strong irradiation to the south of the United States. However, no ecclesial documentation has been found to formally declare the Virgin of the Chorrito the main patron of the municipality of Hidalgo, the corresponding diocese or the state of Tamaulipas. Therefore, in strict terms of canon law, does not contain an officially proclaimed patronage beyond the popular devotion that recognizes her as a protector of the place and of the pilgrims.

As for the canonical coronation, the sources consulted (Wikipedia, state materials, press and institutional networks) refer to the importance of the sanctuary and the opening of the monumental image, but do not mention any decree of canonical coronation by the Holy See or the diocesan authority. Therefore, with the rigour requested: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

Official information indicates that the opening and solemn blessing of the monumental image of the Virgin of Mercy in El Chorrito was set for the 12 December, coinciding with the solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and this date is presented as a key moment to consolidate the sanctuary as the main religious destination of northeastern Mexico. This indicates a strong connection of local devotion to the Guadalupan tradition, although it is not technically specified if the 12 December is also the own party of the Virgin of the Chorrito, beyond its coincidence with the festive Guadalupana. In available sources does not explicitly contain a specific and differentiated liturgical date for the Virgin of the Chorrito.

As for devotional practice, El Chorrito is described as one of the most visited shrines in the region, with a large influx of faithful who come on pilgrimage to ask for favors, to thank miracles, to drink or to touch the water of the spring and to visit the grotto associated with the origin of devotion. The pilgrimages come from both parts of Tamaulipas and from neighbouring states and southern Texas. Many people attribute healing and other favors to the intercession of the Virgin of Chorrito, which feeds the fame of a miraculous place. Numeric inflow details (exact numbers of pilgrims per year) are not accurately recorded in the sources consulted, although the State authorities emphasize their role as "the main destination of religious tourism" regional.

Link to the Rosary

The documentation available on the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Chorrito highlights above all the relationship with the spring, the grotto and the monumental Marian sculpture, as well as the Guadalupana devotion and the pilgrimage, but no consta a specific reference to officially organised own practices around the rezo of the Holy Rosary (for example, co-fradies of the Rosary, days of the Rosary, etc.) in the sources consulted.

However, in the context of the Marian shrines of Mexico, the Rosary usually occupies a central place in popular piety: it is prayed in the pilgrimages, in preparation for the Eucharist, in the vigil and in the visits to the image. It is reasonable to think - although this already belongs to the common pastoral practice and not to a specific documented fact - that many pilgrims to El Chorrito accompany their visit with the prayer of the Rosary, contemplating in their mysteries the life of Christ in the hand of Mary. This way, the Rosari