"The Virgin of Suyapa" May 28, 2021

“Si nosotros los hondureños, Salimos de nuestra nación, Llevamos tu nombre grabado muy dentro del corazón.” So goes the song to Our Lady of Suyapa sung by many individuals who have immigrated to the United States from Honduras. For the many Honduran people who migrated to the New Orleans area in recent years, the song’s lyrics, “If we Hondurans leave our country, we carry you engraved in our hearts,” speaks of their undying devotion and love of the Virgin Mary. Each year, more than one million faithful gather to honor the Virgin of Suyapa at the Basílica de la Virgen de Suyapa, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

On February 3, 1747, the young peasant Alejandro Colindres and his eight-year-old nephew Lorenzo Martinez went to farm at some distance from their house. After a long day's work, they started walking home, but overcome by tiredness and nightfall, they decided to sleep by the side of the road. They were on Mount Piligüín. Alejandro rolled up his shawl as a pillow, but he had a hard time sleeping, because some hard object kept slipping under his head and making him uncomfortable. Every time he moved it out of the way, it seemed to come back. Finally, in the darkness of night he threw the thing down the ravine next to him, but soon it was back to disturb him again. At that, he stuffed it into his bag. It wasn't until morning that he realized what had kept him awake during the night: a tiny figure of the Virgin with native American features, her hands folded in prayer. Once back home he handed her over to his mother Ana Caraballo and his sister Isabel Colindres. The women installed her on an altar in their house and there she was worshipped in the indigenous style for more than 30 years with daily offerings of flowers and candles.

La Morenita's (The Dear Dark One) fame and reputation as a miracle worker spread quickly among the poor native population to whom her appearance was as important as the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City. She was considered God's special blessing upon the indigenous peasants and laborers of the area. Whenever somebody was in dire need the Colindres family would arrive with the little statue, so that the Queen of Heaven might visit the poor soul.

Our Lady was considered a purely native affair until one day an aristocratic military officer of Spanish descent, Captain Joseph de Celaya, asked the Virgin of Suyapa to cure his painful disease. He promised to build her a church and have masses held in her honor throughout the year if only she answered his prayer. When she did, the whole story of La Morenita's appearance and activity among the poor was brought to the attention of the Church hierarchy. By 1780 a chapel was consecrated and now Hondurans of all walks of life started arriving in Suyapa and receiving her blessings. In 1925, Our Lady of Suyapa (Saint Mary of the Conception) was declared patroness of Honduras by Pope Pius XI.

In 1969 she received the title Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. This was because that year El Salvador briefly invaded Honduras. Since the enemy troops were better armed and trained, the Honduran boys were terrified. But suddenly they saw an apparition of their Dark Mother walking beside them, giving them water, and saying: "Onward, for we are going to win!" With that they beat the El Salvadorans back. After continuing miracles, visions, and apparitions, she was declared Patroness of Central America in 1982.

The feast of this manifestation of the Heavenly Mother is celebrated every February 3rd with a weeklong festival attended by immense crowds of mostly poor people from as far away as Guatemala. The current sanctuary of Our Lady of Suyapa is located in a humble part of the city and has a large amount of space to allow for the multitude of pilgrims who visit the shrine throughout the year.

We, at Divine Mercy Parish, are blessed that Archbishop Aymond will join us for the Spanish Mass on Saturday, May 29th at 7PM to bless and enthrone an image of Our Lady of Suyapa in the Church building. The image was carved by an artist in Honduras and is the largest known replica of the original image in the entire world. Since most of the Hispanic population in the Archdiocese of New Orleans is from Honduras or of Honduran descent, we hope this image of La Morenita will bring comfort and hope. All are invited to join us for the celebration.  

Fr. Robert T. Cooper, Pastor
Divine Mercy Parish and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School