Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

"The Little Mother of Otuzco, gateway to the city"

Otuzco, La Libertad (Peru) (c. 1674)

In the mountains of La Libertad, about seventy-five kilometers from Trujillo, lies Otuzco, and atop its sanctuary lives the Virgin of the Gate, an invocation of the Immaculate Conception whom the faithful affectionately call "the Little Mother of Otuzco." Her story is born of both fear and trust.

Around 1674, fear spread through Trujillo and the surrounding towns: a fleet of Dutch pirates had sacked Guayaquil and Zaña, and the worst was expected. In Otuzco, the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception was already venerated in a hermitage. As an act of faith, the townspeople placed her image above the city gate and, for three days, prayed for protection. The pirates did not land or attack Trujillo or its surroundings, and the people considered it a miracle. From then on, they called her the Virgin of the Gate.

The threat of Dutch pirates on the northern coast of Peru is historically documented, as is the ancient devotion of Otuzco to the Immaculate Conception. The pirates' failure to land is seen as a grace from the Virgin; there are no military records explaining why, so the miraculous element belongs to the people's interpretation of faith, which the Church has adopted in the form of worship.

The devotion has been honored by Popes: Pius XII named her "Queen of Universal Peace" in 1942; Saint John Paul II called her "Queen of World Peace" in 1985; and Pope Francis, in Trujillo, called her "Mother of Mercy and Hope" in 2018. Every December 15th, after the image is lowered by pulleys to the nave, thousands of pilgrims climb the steep streets on their knees, amidst carpets of flowers and a shower of petals. Regarding prayer, sources say that the people "prayed for three days"; it is not known whether the Rosary was prayed exclusively, although today the Rosary is prayed intensely during the novena and on the feast day.