La Virgen de Los Angeles

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Tomorrow is the religious celebration of La Virgen de los Angeles (the Virgen of the Angels is the rough translation), a very important Catholic holiday in Costa Rica. La Virgen de los Angeles was ordained the patron saint of Costa Rica and protector of the Americas by Pope John Paul II.
Every August 2nd the faithful walk from all parts of the country to the city of Cartago. It is about 16 miles from San Jose to the Basilica in Cartago. The pilgrimage begins as early as July 25th, depending on how far one has to walk. About 2,500,000 people make their way to the Basilica during this time period.

Today we had to make sure we were on our bus home before 5:00 as the main road coming out of San Jose (and our bus route) will be closed for the pilgrims at that time. We were on the bus by 4:30 and there were already masses of people making the romeria, as it is called. In fact, the school had organized a group that would leave at 6:30. They said it would take about 5 hours. I decided not to take that walk!



Pilgrims making their way to Cartago today.

History of the Holiday
The story goes that on the morning of August 2, 1635 a mullato woman was collecting firewood in a forest near her home. She came across a small dark figurine in rock, almost like a doll. It was the image of the Virgen with a small boy in her arms. She took the figurine to her home and put it in a special box to protect it. The next day she found the same figurine in the woods again and took it home, thinking she would have 2 figurines. However, when she opened the box, the figurine from the day before was gone! This time she placed the figure in the box and locked it. The following day she once again found the figurine in the woods and took it to her home only to see the box was again empty.

She quickly ran to the local priest in Cartago and told him the story. He put it in a very strong, safe box, but the next day he, too, found an empty box, went to the woods and once again, found the figurine there.

They decided that la virgen wanted to have her house in the woods and they constructed a small church in her name. Over the years the church has been destroyed numerous times by earthquakes, rebuilt, only to be destroyed again. Finally in 1930 the Basilica de los Angeles was constructed using the latest technology available to protect it from earthquakes.

Basilica de los Angeles in Cartago, Costa Rica

For the past 229 years or so, on August 2 each year, many of the faithful have made the pilgrimage to the church in Cartago that was built to La Negrita (the black woman), as she is known because of the dark color of the figurine. They ask for help with their problems and cures for their illnesses.

La Negrita: La Virgen de los Angeles

Archeologists have discovered that the image is made of graphite, jade and volcanic rock. It is almost impossible to unite these 3 types of rock. Additionally, graphite was not found in Costa Rica at that time, only in Europe. And, jade and volcanic rock were not found in Europe. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgen_de_los_%C3%81ngeles

Whether you believe or not, you have to admit, it's an interesting story!