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The Virgin of Suyapa is a 6 cm (2.3 in) statue that is the patron saint of Honduras. The statue is kept in Suyapa, a suburb of the capital Tegucigalpa, and toured through various other parts of the country each year in early February. Many thousands of people from all over Central America come and visit the statue on her name day, a commemoration of the day she was found.
The statue has been stolen and then recovered on two occasions.
Discovery
Many Hondurans believe the statue was miraculously discovered in February 1747 by a labourer, Alejandro Colindres. He and an 8-year-old boy were sleeping outside. Colindres was awoken by a sharp pain in the side, and discovered that he was sleeping on something. Without looking at it, he threw it as far away from him as he possibly could. He awoke a second time, and found the same same object was sticking into him again. On examination he discovered it was a tiny statue of a virgin, which he took to his mother's home in Suyapa, and set up on an altar.
Veneration
The Virgin remained in his mother's house until 1780, and during this time people's faith in her magical powers developed. A small church was built in Suyapa to house her in 1780. A later and much grander church was built in the 1950s, but the statue is usually on view in the more popular, older church. The Virgin receives many visitors every day, who often talk to her from the aisles while they pray.
She is considered to have miraculous powers. The swift ending of the Football War between Honduras and El Salvador is attributed to the statue. Many of the Honduran soldiers involved reported visions of the Virgin, which calmed their fears during the fighting.
References
- Virgin of Suyapa visits Honduran suburb devastated by massacre
- Article on the virgin (http://www.marrder.com/htw/nov2000/cultural.htm)
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