Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

"The little Virgin hidden under the maguey plant"

Naucalpan (Mexico) (1520-1540)

At the top of a hill near Naucalpan, in the State of Mexico, Our Lady of Remedies has been venerated since the 16th century, affectionately and somewhat mischievously called "La Gachupina" because of her Spanish origin, in affectionate contrast with the dark-skinned Guadalupe.

The most frequently cited historical tradition recounts that the image, a small, three-dimensional sculpture of barely thirty centimeters tall, of late Gothic Spanish origin, was brought by one of Hernán Cortés's soldiers. During one of the most critical episodes of the Conquest, devotionally linked to the so-called Noche Triste (Night of Sorrows) of 1520, the soldier is said to have hidden the image for safekeeping. Tradition places this hiding place next to or under an agave plant in the Naucalpan area. Years later, as popular narratives repeat, the image was found at the foot of the plant, and there the devotion that would give rise to the sanctuary on the hilltop flourished.

It is important to distinguish between documented and legendary fact. The existence of the small Spanish image, clearly of 15th-16th century peninsular style and workmanship, is documented; the antiquity of its cult, already in the 16th century, and the development of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies are also documented. However, the soldier's exact name, the specific details of its discovery under the maguey plant, and the dialogues that embellish the story belong to pious tradition: historical criticism accepts the plausibility of a hiding place and subsequent discovery, but there is no notarized record or contemporary account describing the scene as recounted by devotion.

The devotion is rooted in traditional Spanish Marian piety, where the Rosary holds a central place, and in the sanctuary and parishes this prayer is a common practice, especially during novenas and patronal feasts. However, there is no record of a specifically Rosary-related founding event linked to this image; the connection with the Rosary stems from the general practice of the Church, not from a unique characteristic of Our Lady of Remedies.