{"id":5824,"date":"2026-06-23T09:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/our-lady-of-altagracia"},"modified":"2026-06-23T09:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:54:16","slug":"our-lady-of-altagracia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/it\/our-lady-of-altagracia","title":{"rendered":"Our Lady of Altagracia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"rr-om\">\n<style>\n.rr-om{max-width:880px;margin:0 auto;font-family:Inter,system-ui,sans-serif;color:#1E2A36}\n.rr-om h1{font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;color:#1F4E79;text-align:center;font-size:2.1rem;margin:.4rem 0 .2rem}\n.rr-om .rr-sub{text-align:center;color:#8A6D1D;font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;font-style:italic;font-size:1.15rem;margin:0 0 1.2rem}\n.rr-om .rr-lead{color:#344054;line-height:1.75;max-width:720px;margin:0 auto 1.2rem}\n.rr-om h2{font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;color:#1F4E79;font-size:1.45rem;border-bottom:2px solid #C9A227;padding-bottom:.35rem;margin:2.2rem 0 .9rem}\n.rr-om h3{font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;color:#1F4E79;font-size:1.1rem;margin:1.4rem 0 .5rem}\n.rr-om p{color:#344054;line-height:1.75}\n.rr-om .rr-card{background:#fff;border:1px solid #E6E1D8;border-radius:14px;box-shadow:0 4px 14px rgba(30,42,54,.06);padding:1.2rem 1.4rem;margin:0 0 1rem}\n.rr-om .rr-datos{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(240px,1fr));gap:10px;margin:.6rem 0}\n.rr-om .rr-dato{background:#F8F5EF;border:1px solid #E6E1D8;border-radius:10px;padding:.6rem .9rem;font-size:.95rem}\n.rr-om .rr-dato b{color:#1F4E79}\n.rr-om .rr-cita{background:#F8F5EF;border-left:3px solid #C9A227;padding:.8rem 1.1rem;border-radius:0 10px 10px 0;margin:1rem 0;font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;font-style:italic;color:#41506b}\n.rr-om .rr-cita .rr-quien{display:block;font-family:Inter,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-size:.8rem;color:#8A6D1D;margin-top:.4rem;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.04em}\n.rr-om .rr-nota{background:#F3E7BD66;border:1px solid #E6D9A8;border-radius:10px;padding:.6rem .9rem;color:#6B5512;font-size:.92rem;margin:.4rem 0 .9rem}\n.rr-om .rr-btns{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:10px;justify-content:center;margin:1.6rem 0}\n.rr-om .rr-btn{background:#1F4E79;color:#fff;border-radius:999px;padding:.6rem 1.2rem;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;font-size:.92rem}\n.rr-om .rr-btn:hover{background:#183B5C;color:#F3E7BD}\n.rr-om .rr-flor{background:linear-gradient(135deg,#1F4E79,#183B5C);border-radius:16px;padding:1.6rem 1.4rem;color:#fff;margin:2rem 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid #C9A22755}\n.rr-om .rr-flor h3{color:#F3E7BD;margin-top:0}\n.rr-om .rr-flor p{color:#E8EDF3}\n.rr-om .rr-flor a{display:inline-block;background:#C9A227;color:#1E2A36;border-radius:999px;padding:.7rem 1.5rem;text-decoration:none;font-weight:700;margin-top:.6rem}\n.rr-om .rr-fuentes{font-size:.88rem;color:#667085;border-top:1px solid #E6E1D8;padding-top:1rem;margin-top:2rem}\n@media(max-width:560px){.rr-om h1{font-size:1.7rem}}\n<\/style>\n\n<h1>Our Lady of Altagracia<\/h1>\n<p class=\"rr-sub\">Protectress of the Dominican people<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"rr-lead\">Our Lady of Altagracia is a Marian devotion known for being the protectress of the Dominican people. Brought from Extremadura at the beginning of the 16th century, she is venerated in a beautiful painting on cloth in the basilica-cathedral of Hig\u00fcey, in the province of La Altagracia. Her feast day, 21 January, is a public holiday in the Dominican Republic, and the faithful come to her shrine from all over Latin America. Her devotion also extends throughout the Dominican diaspora.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Key facts<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rr-datos\">\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Feast:<\/b> 21 January<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Place:<\/b> Hig\u00fcey, province of La Altagracia (Dominican Republic)<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Origin:<\/b> Extremadura, Spain (Garrovillas and Siruela)<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Image:<\/b> painting on cloth, around the 16th century (about 33.5 \u00d7 45 cm)<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>National feast:<\/b> decreed in 1924; apostolic brief of Pius XI (1927)<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Coronations:<\/b> 1922 (in the name of Pius XI) and 1992 (John Paul II)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Central message:<\/strong> in an image of the birth of Jesus, Mary teaches the Dominican people silent adoration before the Child, and makes herself \u00abAltagracia\u00bb \u2014high grace\u2014 for the humble who call upon her.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Tradition and history: a necessary distinction<\/h2>\n<p>Around Altagracia two levels coexist that should not be confused.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rr-nota\"><strong>Dominican popular tradition<\/strong> tells that a cattle merchant from Hig\u00fcey, at the request of his youngest daughter, searched in vain for an image of the Virgin of Altagracia that no one knew; on the return journey, an elderly traveller who asked for lodging carried with him, in a roll, the painting that had been sought, and the next morning he disappeared without a trace. In Extremadura, the medieval tradition of Garrovillas speaks of a little shepherdess who saw upon a rock a Lady with a rosary and who, on digging beneath the rock, found the image. These are venerable accounts of popular piety, which should be received as such and not presented as documented facts.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>documented history<\/strong> indicates that the image was brought to Hispaniola at the beginning of the 16th century by the brothers <strong>Alonso and Antonio de Trejo<\/strong>, natives of Plasencia with family in Garrovillas de Alcon\u00e9tar, who placed it for veneration in the church of Hig\u00fcey. So it was recorded by the canon Luis Jer\u00f3nimo de Alcocer in his <em>Relaci\u00f3n Sumaria de la Isla Espa\u00f1ola<\/em> (1650). Bishop Ram\u00f3n Benito de la Rosa himself noted that this is the version \u00abthat seems most logical.\u00bb<\/p>\n\n<h2>Origin and arrival in Hispaniola<\/h2>\n<p>The devotion has its origin in Extremadura, where it is venerated in two towns, each with its own chapel and tradition: Garrovillas de Alcon\u00e9tar (C\u00e1ceres) and Siruela (Badajoz). At the beginning of the 16th century, the Trejo brothers, among the first Christian settlers of the island, brought with them the image of their devotion and enthroned it in Hig\u00fcey, where they lived.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rr-cita\">\u00abThe miraculous image of Our Lady of Altagracia is in the town of Hig\u00fcey\u2026 it is recorded that it was brought to this island by two noblemen, natives of Plasencia in Extremadura, named Alonso and Antonio de Trejo, who were among the first Christian settlers of this island.\u00bb\n<span class=\"rr-quien\">Luis Jer\u00f3nimo de Alcocer, Relaci\u00f3n Sumaria de la Isla Espa\u00f1ola (1650)<\/span><\/div>\n\n<h2>The feast of 21 January<\/h2>\n<p>The pilgrimage to Altagracia dates back to the colonial period. Some historians link the date of 21 January with the <strong>Battle of Sabana Real<\/strong> (1691), in which the Creole troops defeated the French; the victory was attributed to the intercession of the Virgin, to whom a vow had been made to celebrate a great feast in her honour. The vow was fulfilled in 1692. A document of Archbishop Friar Isidoro Rodr\u00edguez Lorenzo confirmed the date:<\/p>\n<div class=\"rr-cita\">\u00abWe command the parish priest of the aforementioned town of Hig\u00fcey that henceforth he by no means or pretext permit the feasts of Our Lady of Altagracia to begin before or after the said 21 January\u2026 appointing it from now on forever.\u00bb\n<span class=\"rr-quien\">Friar Isidoro Rodr\u00edguez Lorenzo, Archbishop of Santo Domingo<\/span><\/div>\n<p>In 1924 the Congress of the Dominican Republic decreed the celebration as a national feast on 21 January, and on 31 October 1927 Pope <strong>Pius XI<\/strong> declared it a feast of the Church by apostolic brief.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Canonical coronations<\/h2>\n<p>In the 20th century the image was crowned twice. The first, on <strong>15 August 1922<\/strong> at the Puerta del Conde, in the name of the newly elected Pope Pius XI, represented by Bishop Sebasti\u00e3o Leite de Vasconcellos. The second, during the visit of Saint <strong>John Paul II<\/strong>: after blessing the basilica-cathedral in 1979, he personally crowned the image on 12 October 1992 with a diadem of gilded silver. On 15 August 2022, Pope <strong>Francis<\/strong> sent a Golden Rose to close the centenary of the canonical coronation.<\/p>\n\n<h2>The image and its iconography<\/h2>\n<p>The image is a painting on cloth measuring about 33.5 \u00d7 45 cm, attributed to an unknown Spanish artist of the early 16th century, set in a frame of gold, enamel and precious stones, a masterpiece of 18th-century Dominican goldsmithing. It depicts the scene of the Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, with the Virgin in an attitude of adoration, her hands joined in an arch and her face serene, her eyes lowered in meditation. On her breast stands out a white ray in the form of a triangle \u2014an expression of the virginal birth\u2014 and she is surrounded by twelve stars that evoke the Twelve Apostles, together with the great star of Bethlehem. The restoration work was carried out in Spain in 1978, after centuries of exposure to candle smoke.<\/p>\n\n<h2>The spiritual message of Altagracia<\/h2>\n<p>Devotion to Our Lady of Altagracia still speaks to us today with simplicity:<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udf1f <strong>Mary teaches us to adore the Child.<\/strong> Her image is not one of power, but of silent contemplation before the manger.<br>\n\ud83c\udf0a <strong>From Spain to America, one and the same faith.<\/strong> The devotion crossed the sea in the hearts of two brothers who would not leave their Mother behind.<br>\n\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddf4 <strong>Mary protects a whole people.<\/strong> The \u00abhigh grace\u00bb draws near to the humble who call upon her.<br>\n\u271d\ufe0f <strong>Mary always leads to her Son.<\/strong> Everything in the image looks toward the Child asleep on the straw.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Prayer to Our Lady of Altagracia<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rr-card\">\n<p>Our Lady of Altagracia,<br>\nMother who adores the newborn Child:<br>\nlook with kindness upon all of us who come to you,<br>\nand teach us, as you taught the Dominican people,<br>\nto contemplate in silence the mystery of your Son.<br>\nProtect the Dominican Republic and all of America,<br>\nand obtain for us the high grace of living close to God.<br>\nAmen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"rr-nota\">A sober Marian prayer, gathered in our section of <a href=\"\/en\/marian-prayers\/\">Marian prayers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"rr-flor\">\n<h3>\ud83c\udf39 A flower for the Virgin<\/h3>\n<p>Offer a simple prayer to Our Lady of Altagracia. Pray a Hail Mary for the Dominican Republic and for all of America.<\/p>\n<a href=\"\/en\/marian-prayers\/\">Pray a Hail Mary<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"rr-btns\">\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/en\/marian-prayers\/\">\ud83d\ude4f Marian prayers<\/a>\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/en\/marian-calendar\/\">\ud83d\udcc5 Marian calendar<\/a>\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/en\/how-to-pray-the-rosary\/\">\ud83d\udcff Pray the Rosary<\/a>\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/en\/pray-the-rosary\/\">\ud83c\udf39 More devotions<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"rr-fuentes\">\n<strong>Sources:<\/strong> Spanish Wikipedia, \u00abNuestra Se\u00f1ora de la Altagracia\u00bb (the Extremaduran origin of the devotion in Garrovillas de Alcon\u00e9tar and Siruela, its arrival in Hispaniola through the brothers Alonso and Antonio de Trejo at the beginning of the 16th century, the quotation of Luis Jer\u00f3nimo de Alcocer in his <em>Relaci\u00f3n Sumaria de la Isla Espa\u00f1ola<\/em> of 1650, the feast of 21 January linked to the Battle of Sabana Real of 1691 and to the document of Friar Isidoro Rodr\u00edguez Lorenzo, the national feast of 1924 and the apostolic brief of Pius XI of 1927, the coronations of 1922 and 1992, the Golden Rose of Francis in 2022, the description and iconography of the image and the restoration of 1978, as well as the Dominican popular tradition of the elderly traveller and the medieval tradition of Garrovillas). The distinction between the traditions of popular piety and documented history follows what is noted by the source itself, which records the assessment of Bishop Ram\u00f3n Benito de la Rosa in favour of the version of the Trejo brothers.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our Lady of Altagracia Protectress of the Dominican people Our Lady of Altagracia is a Marian devotion known for being the protectress of the Dominican people. Brought from Extremadura at the beginning of the 16th century, she is venerated in a beautiful painting on cloth in the basilica-cathedral of Hig\u00fcey, in the province of La [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Our Lady of Altagracia - Reza el Rosario","description":"Our Lady of Altagracia Protectress of the Dominican people Our Lady of Altagracia is a Marian devotion known for being the protectress of the Dominican people."},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5824","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}