Our Lady of the Rosary of Santo Domingo, principal patron saint of the Republic of Guatemala and of the city, "Advocate against earthquakes", venerated in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary

Marian devotion of Guatemala City (Guatemala)

La advocación de Our Lady of the Rosary of Santo Domingo in Guatemala City is linked to the arrival of the Order of Preachers (Dominics) to the region in the 16th century, in the context of the evangelization of the former General Captains of Guatemala. In these years devotion to the Rosary throughout the Spanish-American area, and the Virgin of the Rosary was taking a central place in the popular piety of Guatemala. The Dominican image of the Rosary venerated today in the temple of Santo Domingo is traditionally dated in the 16th centurywithin this first evangelizing impulse (data that the local tradition maintains with firmness, but without fully accessible documentation).

Main data

Origin and history

La advocación de Our Lady of the Rosary of Santo Domingo in Guatemala City is linked to the arrival of the Order of Preachers (Dominics) to the region in the 16th century, in the context of the evangelization of the former General Captains of Guatemala. In these years devotion to the Rosary throughout the Spanish-American area, and the Virgin of the Rosary was taking a central place in the popular piety of Guatemala. The Dominican image of the Rosary venerated today in the temple of Santo Domingo is traditionally dated in the 16th centurywithin this first evangelizing impulse (data that the local tradition maintains with firmness, but without fully accessible documentation).

La tradition Guatemala presents Our Lady of the Rosary of Santo Domingo as ‘Aborigated against earthquakes’, a title born from the experience of the people in the face of the frequent earthquakes that have affected the city and of which special condoms and maternal interventions of the Virgin are attributed; processions and pleas are reported in the occasion of earthquakes over the centuries, although the details of many episodes are kept more in the popular memory than in systematic critical documentation. As for the documented history, is firmly attested that this advocation came to be considered head of the Republic of Guatemala and the city of Guatemalaand that his veneration was firmly rooted in the temple of Santo Domingo, today Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosaryin area 1 of the capital (information collected by studies on the expansion of the devotion of the Rosary in Guatemala).

The image and the sanctuary

The image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Santo Domingo (Guatemala City) es una dress up image of traditional Dominican style, most likely in polychrome wood (according to the typology of the colonial images of the region) and richly covered with embroidery blankets and dresses, which are renewed according to the liturgical time and the great festivities. There is no comprehensive technical description of the material and authorship in the sources consulted and should therefore be considered. no documentados These ends. Iconographically, it responds to the classic model of Our Lady of the Rosary, supporting the Child Jesus and presenting the rosary as a sign of intercession and invitation to prayer, according to the Dominican tradition of representing Mary as the Master of the Rosary.

The sanctuary where it is venerated is the temple of Santo Domingo, whose official name is Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, situado en la area 1 of Guatemala City. It is a historic temple of Dominican presence in the country and one of the main centres of Marian devotion of the nation, in which stands out the chapel and titular image of the Virgin of the Rosary, as well as an intense liturgical and devotional life linked to the Order of Preachers. The title of minor basilica in the presentation of the temple and the usual designation of the temple in the local Church; however, no more precise architectural details (style, exact date of construction of the current building) have been found in the sources consulted, so these data are considered no constatados In this file.

Sponsorship and coronation

Our Lady of the Rosary of Santo Domingo is recognized as head of the Republic of Guatemala y head of Guatemala City, according to the ecclesial and civil tradition of the country, in continuity with the historical arraigo of the rosarian devotion spread by the Dominicans since colonial times. This advocation is particularly associated with the sponsorship of the capital, where it also receives the popular title of ‘Aborigated against earthquakes’, linked to the experience of protection in the great earthquakes that have marked the history of the city.

As for the coronation, the image was canonically crowned in 1934; this data is firmly established in the ecclesial memory and in studies on the great coronated images of the region. However, in accessible sources consulted the name of the pontiff who formally authorized the coronation or of the pontifical delegate who presided over it has not been found with certaintytherefore, in order to comply with the criterion of rigour, it is only indicated: canonical coronation documented in 1934; the name of the pontiff / delegate responsible for the act is not recorded with safety in the sources consulted here..

Party and devotion

La main party of Our Lady of the Rosary, throughout the Church, the 7 October, memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Most Holy Rosary. This date is also the great solemnity of the Virgin of the Rosary of Santo Domingo in Guatemala City, around which liturgical, ninth and popular expressions of devotion are organized. During the month of October, considered month of the Rosarythe prayer of the Rosary, the internal processions and, according to local tradition, the public manifestations of faith around the image are intensified.

The devotion to this advocation is characterized by a strong popular participationespecially of co-fraternities, of the Rosary and of the faithful, particularly linked to the Dominican spirituality. The dimension of and protection from earthquakeswhich is expressed in special pleas and in the invocation of the Virgin as ‘Aborigated against earthquakes’. The sources consulted do not contain reliable numerical data on the annual influx of pilgrims, so that aspect is considered no documentadoHowever, studies of the Rosarian devotion in Guatemala point to this sanctuary as one of the most important Marian focal points in the country.

Link to the Rosary

By its very nature, the advocation of Our Lady of the Rosary of Santo Domingo is intrinsically linked to prayer of the Rosary, devotion that tradition links to Santo Domingo de Guzmán and the Order of Preachers, and that the Church celebrates liturgical each 7 October. Historically, the Dominicans have been great propagators of the Rosary, and in Guatemala they promoted the confaternities and pious practices that consolidated the centrality of the Rosary in the Christian life of the population.

In this particular advocation, the Rosary is not only an iconographic attribute, but a the way of contemplation of the mysteries of Christ with Marywhich structure the spiritual life of the faithful linked to the temple of Santo Domingo. The Virgin of the Rosary of the Guatemalan Basilica is thus a permanent sign of invitation to the perseverant prayer, to the meditation of the joyful, painful, glorious and luminous mysteries, and to the filial trust in the intercession of Mary, especially in times of trial such as earthquakes and other calamities, where the Rosary becomes an authentic "crown of supplications" raised by the believing people.