Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquira

The legend of Our Lady of The Rosary of Chiaquinquira mirrors that of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in that it is a nativization of the divine selection narrative. In the legend, a native washer woman finds an image of the Virgin Mary while cleaning clothes at a river. This lowly native person is another example of Natives staking their claim on Catholicism by rewriting a classic narrative. It is a statement that just like the chosen lowly people of Europe, Natives can be chosen by providence to deliver relics of the Virgin Mary.

Virgen_de_la_Chiquinquira_en_la_Basilica_de_la_Chinita,_Maracaibo,_Venezuela.jpg

Painting of the Virgin Mary

Unknown

1709

Basilica of Maracaibo, Maracaibo, Venezuela