Our Lady of the Rosary of Las Lajas

The Virgin who appeared on the rock

Above the gorge of the Guáitara River, in southern Colombia, rises the sanctuary of Las Lajas. Its image, according to tradition, was not painted by any human hand, but appeared imprinted upon the rock. Its official title joins it to the Holy Rosary.

Podrijetlo i povijest

The devotion dates back to 1754. According to tradition, the native woman María Mueses de Quiñónez was crossing the place of Las Lajas with her deaf-mute daughter, Rosa; in the midst of a storm, the child spoke for the first time, pointing to a Lady with the Child who had appeared on the rock. After Rosa’s death, the mother implored the Virgin and the child came back to life; on returning, the community found the image imprinted on the crag.

From the 18th century the place became a destination for pilgrimage. Over the canyon of the Guáitara, near the border with Ecuador, the present neo-Gothic sanctuary was raised. The miraculous character of the image and the countless votive offerings established Las Lajas as one of the great Marian sanctuaries of America. The Holy See decreed its canonical coronation in 1951, solemnly celebrated in 1952, and the church was elevated to a minor basilica in 1954.