Virgin of Candelaria | |
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| Virgin of Candelaria, Patroness Saint of the Canary Islands.[1] | |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Majorshrine | Basilica of Candelaria (Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria),Tenerife (Canary Islands). This is its main sanctuary, a place where it has its origin as a Marian invocation.[2] |
| Feast | August 14–15 (on Tenerife and the Canary Islands), and on 2 February (also on this day in Tenerife, although minor festival). February 2 inCandelaria, Quezon, February 2 inJaro,Iloilo City and the wholeWestern Visayas in thePhilippines. Every February 2 (Tatala)[3] February 1–3Silang, Cavite |
| Attributes | Black Madonna with baby in her right hand and a candle in her left hand, embroidered mantle, gilded coronation crown |
| Patronage | Canary Islands as well asCabildo de Tenerife;Oruro andLa Paz (Bolivia),Medellín (Colombia),Puno (Peru),Lajas (Puerto Rico),Mayagüez (Puerto Rico),Manatí (Puerto Rico),Western Visayas (Philippines),Tatala, Binangonan, Rizal (Philippines),Paracale, Camarines Norte (Philippines),Silang, Cavite (Philippines) andBatasan, Macabebe, Pampanga (Philippines) |
TheVirgin of Candelaria orOur Lady of Candelaria (Spanish:Virgen de Candelaria orNuestra Señora de la Candelaria) (Tagalog:Mahal na Birhen ng Candelaria), popularly calledLa Morenita, celebrates theVirgin Mary on the island ofTenerife, one of theCanary Islands (Spain). The center of worship is located in the city ofCandelaria in Tenerife. She is depicted as aBlack Madonna. The "Royal Basilica Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Candelaria" (Basilica of Candelaria) is considered the main church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Canary Islands and she is the patroness saint of theCanary Islands.[1] Her feast is celebrated on February 2 (Fiesta de la Candelaria) and August 15, the patronal feast of the Canary Islands.
Her devotion is deeply rooted in other parts ofSpain, and in countries such asBolivia,Colombia,Cuba,Philippines,Mexico,Peru,Venezuela and others. Her patronage also extends to various cities and countries in America and other continents. This has made the Virgin of Candelaria the second most widespread Marian devotion on the American continent, after theOur Lady of Guadalupe, patroness saint of Mexico.[4][5]
According to a legend recorded byAlonso de Espinosa in 1594, a statue of the Virgin Mary,bearing a child in one hand and a green candle in the other (hence "Candelaria"), was discovered on the beach of Chimisay (Güímar) by twoGuanche goatherds in 1392.[6] This was before theCastilian conquest of the island of Tenerife (the island was not fully conquered until 1496).
One of the shepherds tried to throw a stone at the statue, but his arm became paralysed; the other tried to stab the statue with a knife but ended up stabbing himself.[1] The statue was taken by the localguanche mencey to thecueva de Chinguaro.
Later,Antón, a Guanche who had been enslaved and converted to Christianity by the Castilians, returned to Tenerife and recognized the statue as that of the Virgin Mary. He told the mencey of his conversion and the statue was thus venerated by the Guanches, who moved it to thecave of Achbinico (also known as San Blas – "Saint Blaise").[1] However, the statue was stolen and taken away toLanzarote. It was later returned to Tenerife after various events, including an outbreak of the plague, occurred on Lanzarote.[6] At first, theautochthons identified the statue with their goddessChaxiraxi (the mother of the gods), but later the Christian conquerors imposed the idea that the statue was that of theVirgin Mary.
After the appearance of the Virgin and its iconographic identification with this biblical event, the festival began to be celebrated with a Marian character in 1497, when the conquerorAlonso Fernández de Lugo, celebrated the firstCandlemas festival dedicated especially to the Virgin Mary, coinciding with the Feast of Purification, on February 2.[7][8] Before the conquest of Tenerife, the Guanche aborigines celebrated a festivity around the image of the Virgin during theBeñesmen festival in the month of August. This was the harvest party, which marked the beginning of the year. Currently, the feast of the Virgin of Candelaria in Canary Islands is celebrated in addition to February 2 also on August 15, the day of theAssumption of the Virgin Mary in the Catholic calendar. For some historians, the celebrations celebrated in honor of the Virgin during the month of August are a syncretized reminiscence of the ancient feasts of the Beñesmen.[9]
The original statue was amedieval gothic sculpture with dark colour and clothing similar to that of the Virgin of Lluch (patron saint ofMallorca) and theVirgin of Montserrat (patroness saint ofCatalonia).
The firstMass was celebrated at Achbinico on February 2, 1497, and theAdelantadoAlonso Fernández de Lugo ordered the construction of ahermitage there, but it was not built until 1526, during the rule ofPedro Fernández de Lugo.[10] This was the site of the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria. The basilica was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 19th century.[6] The statue itself was lost when atsunami carried it out to sea in 1826; the present statue is a copy byFernando Estévez.[6] The statue of the Virgin is dressed in rich robes of different colors and jewels.
She was declared patroness of the Canary Islands in 1599, byClement VIII (and principal patroness in 1867 byPope Pius IX).[1] The Virgin of Candelaria is widely petitioned to pray for the protection against epidemics, plagues, droughts and volcanic eruptions ofMount Teide and other volcanoes, in a manner similar to the invocation ofSt. Januarius ofNaples to pray for the end of the eruptions ofVesuvius and ofSt. Agatha ofCatania against eruptions ofMount Etna inSicily.
Between October 1964 and January 1965, theDiocese of Tenerife conducted the largest pilgrimage in the history of the Canary Islands. This time, the statue of the Virgin was walked across the towns, cities and municipalities of the island ofTenerife for the first time in history.
In thebasilica of the Annunciation inNazareth (Israel) is a mosaic of the Virgin of Candelaria, patroness saint of the Canary Islands,[11] along with those of other Marian devotions famous in Spain.[12]
Every year on February 2 and August 15 is celebrated a big party in honor of the Virgin. These days there are thousands ofpilgrims and tourists coming to Candelaria from all points of the Canary Islands and other parts of Spain and the world. The feast day is marked by a solemn procession and a religious ceremony, although its most famous component is a re-enactment of the discovery of the statue, with locals dressing up as guanche natives.[13]
In addition to that, every seven years the image of the Virgin of Candelaria is transferred toSanta Cruz de Tenerife (capital of the island) andSan Cristóbal de La Laguna (seat of theDiocese of Tenerife), alternating every seven years between the two cites: in 2002 it was Santa Cruz and in 2009 La Laguna and so to successively.[14]
In the carved drapery of the Virgin of Candelaria original there were strange sequences of letters whose meaning is still unknown. These were:
There have been numerous theories proposed regarding possible meanings over the years, including that the evangelizing friars of the Canary Islands wrote devotions to the Virgin Mary in the context of the original (Insular-Amazigh)Guanche language, while attempting to transcribe them into Roman letters.[15]
The first great Sanctuary to the Virgin of Candelaria was constructed in 1668. After a fire destroyed the ancient basilica, a larger church (the current basilica) was built. The current basilica dates to 1959. It was constructed on a former hermitage, and can hold 5,000 people.
TheCave of San Blas was the first Christian church of the Canaries. It was here that the early inhabitants of the Canary Isles first revered the Virgin of Candelaria. The cave is located behind Candelaria's Basilica and is a site of pilgrimage. Achbinico's cave has historical significance as it was here that manybaptisms of guanches took place.
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TheJaro Cathedral (National Shrine of Our Lady of the Candles) inJaro, Iloilo City, Philippines, which is the mother church under the catholicArchdiocese of Jaro that oversees the provinces of Iloilo, Antique, Guimaras and Negros Occidental in Western Visayas region, is dedicated to the Virgin of Candelaria, the patroness of the Western Visayas region, Romblon, and Negros Occidental. The feast of Candelaria held every February 2 is one of the largest Roman Catholic feasts dedicated to Marian devotion in the Philippines. The Candelaria of Jaro's image was found in 1587, the year when the town of Jaro was established as a parish. Later, she was transferred to the newly builtJaro Cathedral during the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines around 1700s and 1800s. The cathedral where she is enshrined has been declared a National Shrine of theCatholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (the only Marian shrine inVisayas andMindanao).
Her image perched atop the facade of Jaro Cathedral is the first and only marian image crowned personally without a papal legate by a pope and saint in the Philippines and Asia, byPope John Paul II. The image of Our Lady of Candelaria of Jaro is considered as the oldestVirgin of Candelaria image in the country.
TheDiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Candelaria was founded in 1595 and dedicated in honor to Our Lady of Candelaria in 1640. Also commonly known as the Silang Church, it is a Roman Catholic parish in the municipality of Silang, Cavite, in the Philippines under theRoman Catholic Diocese of Imus. It is known for its Spanish colonial architectural style and the rococo influencedretablos. The Church with its retablos was declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines on 4 February 2011. The image of Our Lady of Candelaria of Silang is considered as the oldest image in theProvince of Cavite and the second oldestVirgin of Candelaria image in the country.
This is the only chapel in Binangonan, Rizal, that venerates the image of Virgen de Candelaria. Its feast day is celebrated every February 2 with the blessing of the candles and a Solemn Mass. After the Mass, there is a traditionalPandanggo or Processional dance in honor to the Our Lady of Candelaria of Tatala.
The cult of the Virgin of Candelaria swept America due to the emigration of Canarians. They brought the devotion as a symbol of their culture, somewhat similar to the diffusion of the cult ofSaint Patrick byIrish emigrants. On the other hand, the Candelaria image brought to the Philippines has a white image with a child.
She is widely venerated in South America and the Caribbean, where she is the patroness ofOruro andLa Paz (Bolivia),Cartagena de Indias andMedellín (both in Colombia) (Medellín was founded asVilla de Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria de Medellín),Mayagüez (Puerto Rico) (which was founded asNuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez), andManatí (Puerto Rico) (which was founded asIglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria y San Matías).
In theCathedral of San Fernando ofTexas (the oldest Catholic cathedral in the United States) is a replica of the Virgin of Candelaria, which is a facsimile of that venerated in the Canary Islands. This is because the city ofSan Antonio was founded by Canarians.
In thePhilippines, she is the patroness ofWestern Visayas andNegros Occidental, and a white version with a child is found in theJaro Cathedral inIloilo City: it is either of local heavenly origin since its discovery was miraculous being found floating in a river, changing in weight and growing in size or it may be brought by the Spanish immigrants during Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. Her feast is celebrated every February 2 with pageantry where the Fiesta queen is chosen from prominent Spanish-Filipino families in the district of Jaro. The image and statue is located atop the cathedral and is the only Marian statue crowned by pope and saint in the Philippines, during the visit of Pope John Paul II.
The first church of Dilao (now the District of Paco in Manila) was initially dedicated to the Virgen de Candelaria, until its Parish was named to San Fernando. Until now, the Virgin is considered the secondary patroness and attributions are manifested throughout the post war church structure. She was the secondary Patroness of Municipality ofCandelaria, Quezon, hence why the locals celebrate their Candle Festival annually in honor of Our Lady during February 2. She is also the patroness of theWestern Visayas region and Tatala, one of thebarangays inBinangonan,Rizal (also in the Philippines), which celebrates her feast day every February 2. The Municipality ofSilang in the province ofCavite, Philippines, also celebrates her feast day from February 1 to 3, with February 2 being the main feast day. It is also celebrated in the city ofCabadbaran, province ofAgusan del Norte Philippines every 2nd of February. They also hold theirDagkot Festival on the same day.In El Salvador in the department of Sonsonate, "La Virgen de Candelaria" is the patroness too.
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The Virgin of Candelaria is identified or syncretized with other holy entities from other religions:[16]
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