Our Lady of the Topo of Tunja

Marian Advocation of Tunja (Boyacá)

La devoción a Our Lady of the Topo of Tunja is linked to the local tradition of the call Miracle of the mole, also identified as Virgin of the Miracle o Our Lady of the Miracle of the Mope. According to the tradition collected by devotional sources, the original image would have appeared the August 24, 1628 in the ancient convent of the conceptionists of Tunja, when two religious saw a glow and, behind it, the image of the Virgin printed on a canvas.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Our Lady of the Topo of Tunja is linked to the local tradition of the call Miracle of the mole, also identified as Virgin of the Miracle o Our Lady of the Miracle of the Mope. According to the tradition collected by devotional sources, the original image would have appeared the August 24, 1628 in the ancient convent of the conceptionists of Tunja, when two religious saw a glow and, behind it, the image of the Virgin printed on a canvas.

The documentation available in the sources consulted confirms the existence of an old and deep-rooted veneration in Tunja, but does not allow for the same precise reconstruction of all the initial details of the prodigious origin. It is clear that the image was the subject of special veneration in the field of Topin Tunja, and in time received a strong devotional implantation in the city and in the diocese.

The image and the sanctuary

The venerated image is a miraculous Marian image asociada a un Table or canvas; the sources consulted describe it as an image "printed on a canvas curtain" or as "painting" of the Virgin of the Miracle. The revised sources do not contain a fully secure technical description of specific iconographic material, measures or attributes, so that such data should remain as no consta.

Se venera en la Church of Our Lady of the Miracle of the Topoin Tunja, Boyacá, in the direction Carrera 15 No. 17 – 99. The encyclopedic source consulted presents it as one of the "14 great Hispanic churches of Tunja" and places its construction in the 18th century. It is not in the sources provided that it has the title of a minor basilica; it is identified, rather, as an iglesian - sanctuary of strong local devotion.

Sponsorship and coronation

The sources consulted attribute to this title the patronage on the Archdiocese of Tunja, la Diócesis de Tunja, la city of Tunja y la Colombian Air Force. A replica is also mentioned in the Cathedral of Bogotá and a historical relationship with the Curia of Bogotá, but the main patronage clearly documented in the revised sources is that of Tunja and his particular Church.

With regard to coronation, the data verified in the available information is that it was canonically crowned by pontifical bull on August 30, 1924. [user prompt] The name of the Pontiff or of the celebrating delegate is not recorded in the sources consulted, so these details should be left as no consta.

Party and devotion

The main party is held first Sunday junio. In the tradition of the sanctuary and devotional sources, a solemn celebration is held on that day with the procession of the image, the participation of civil and ecclesiastical authorities and, in some years, aerial exhibitions associated with the patronage of the Colombian Air Force.

The sources consulted emphasize that devotion retains a strong popular presence in Tunja and that the feast attracts many faithful. The historical memory of the title of “Milagro del Topo”which remains the center of local piety and religious identity of the sanctuary.

Link to the Rosary

In the revised sources there is no specific institutional association of this advocation with a Rosary fellowship or with particular rosarian practices. However, like all long-tradition Colombian Marian devotion, the cult of Our Lady of the Topo is well understood within the spirituality of the Rosary, which contemplates the mysteries of Christ with Mary and sustains contemplative prayer, the memory of the favors received and the filial trust in the intercession of the Virgin.