Virgin of Candelaria

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Statue in the Basilica of Candelaria (Tenerife)

The Virgin of Candelaria ( Spanish Virgen de Candelaria ; Nuestra Señora de Candelaria ), a miraculous image in the Basilica of Candelaria on Tenerife , is the patron saint of the Canary Islands . From there, when they emigrated from the Canaries, their veneration expanded to Latin America .

History of the figure

Virgin of Candelaria with Guanches, painting by an unknown artist of the 18th century in the Chapel de las Angustias in Icod de los Vinos

There are various theories about how the statue got to Güímar Beach . A passing ship could have lost it, but the apparently well-preserved gilding and color speak against it . The most likely solution today is believed that missionaries brought the figure of Mary to Tenerife. Most of the reports indicate the period between 1390 and 1405 for the first occurrence.

Legend has it that two Guanches discovered the statue on the beach of Chimisay (today Socorro) near Güímar . One tried to throw a stone at the image of Mary and his arm froze, the other tried to use a stone wedge to determine whether it was alive and injured himself in the process.

They informed their mencey (tribal leader), who took the sculpture to his residence, the Chinguaro cave. In 1446, 50 years before the completion of the conquest of the island of Tenerife, Antón den Mencey, a baptized Guanche, to create a place of worship for the image of Mary in the Achbinico cave. As a hermit, Antón took care of the site. After the island was conquered by the Castilians , an altar was erected in the cave . On February 2, 1497, the Adelantado Alonso Fernández de Lugo and a number of his people took part in the Mass for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord , at which a large number of Guanches were baptized. On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in 1526, the portrait of Mary was moved to a new chapel dedicated to her near her previous location. The cave was renamed Cueva de San Blas ("Cave of St. Blaise ").

In 1530 the image of the Virgin of Candelaria and the chapel were placed in the care of the Dominican Order. With the approval of Queen Johanna, a monastery was built in which some of the already numerous pilgrims could be accommodated.

After King Philip II declared himself the patron of the image in 1596, the subsequent Spanish kings traditionally took over this task. That is why the church building is fully referred to as the Real Santuario Mariano de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (“Royal Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Candelaria”). Immediately after taking office in 1598, Philip III. also patron of the monastery, which is therefore called Real Convento de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria .

On March 26, 1599, Pope Clement VIII declared the Virgin of Candelaria to be the patron saint of the Canary Islands diocese , which at that time still comprised the entire archipelago. After the Canary Islands were divided into two dioceses in 1819, Pope Pius IX confirmed. on December 12, 1867, the Virgin of Candelaria as the first patron saint of both dioceses.

Because of the limited space for pilgrims and the poor condition of the chapel, the Bishop of the Canary Islands had a new three-aisled basilica built on the site of the old chapel in 1669 . During the construction period, the Virgin of Candelaria was venerated again in the cave of St. Blaise. The new monastery church was consecrated in 1672. The image of grace was transferred there on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

On the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in 1705, an earthquake occurred and the volcano de Las Arenas erupted in Arafo . The image of Mary was then brought to San Cristóbal de La Laguna for security reasons and did not return to Candelaria until five months later.

Chancel of the basilica in July 2013

On February 15, 1789, a fire destroyed the monastery and the basilica. The miraculous image could be saved and was venerated again in the cave of St. Blaise.

Construction of a monastery church began in 1797. After this was completed in 1803 and the figure of the Virgin of Candelaria was brought there, the construction of an additional pilgrimage church began. Work on this church had to be stopped in 1818 due to lack of money.

On November 7th, 1826, a severe storm raged over Tenerife. A great gush of water streamed through the Barranco de Candelaria and tore several houses with it. The water penetrated through the opening between the as yet unfinished basilica and the monastery church and washed a large part of the church's furnishings, including the miraculous image, into the sea. The building itself was only slightly damaged. In 1827, the Dominicans commissioned the La Orotava-based sculptor Fernando Estévez to create a replacement for the lost sculpture. His portrayal of the Virgin of Candelaria was blessed in 1830.

The Virgin of Candelaria and the baby Jesus were already shown with a crown in older pictures. On October 13, 1889, the bishop of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Ramón Torrijos y Gómez, crowned the image after Pope Leo XIII. had granted a corresponding privilege.

Despite changing political conditions, the temporary abolition of the monastery and various approaches to building a new basilica, the statue of Mary remained in the monastery church until the basilica, which was started in 1949, was completed , apart from processions across the island of Tenerife. On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in 1959, the Virgin of Candelaria was brought to the Basilica of Candelaria , consecrated the day before . The fundamental restoration of the statue of Mary in 1972 only affected parts that are covered by the clothing.

Description of the figure of Mary

When looking at the figure of Mary, the different conditions in the different epochs must be taken into account. Three different types of holy figures clad in textiles can be recognized on the Virgin of Candelaria.

Circa 1400-1826

The Virgin of Candelaria was a coherent group of figures carved entirely from wood consisting of the Holy Virgin and Child.

Reports from the 16th century provide information about the appearance of the original. Various statues of Mary that still exist in other churches are considered to be true to original copies. The miraculous image was about five hand's widths high, including the base, made of painted solid wood of light weight. The color was dark brown with red cheeks. The hair was not covered, but fell in six gold-plated curls on the shoulders. The unclothed child, who sat on her right arm, held a gilded bird in both hands. In the left hand the figure of the Blessed Virgin had a green stick with an opening into which a candle could be inserted. On the hem of the cloak, the robe and on the belt there was a red Latin inscription on a gold background. The meaning of the inscription could not yet be interpreted.

When a new altar was erected in the church built in 1526 in 1530, the niche for the sculpture was a bit too small. In order not to have to make any changes to the altar, the figure has been shortened a bit at the bottom. Studies of the history of style and documents suggest that the original statue was exchanged for a new one in the 16th century.

It can already be seen in pictures from the 17th century that the wooden sculpture was dressed in robes and that both the child and the virgin were crowned with a metal crown. In addition, the portrait was equipped with other pieces of jewelry. A special feature of the Virgin of Candelaria is a multi-strand, twisted pearl necklace that runs like a sash from the left shoulder to the right hip.

1827-1972

The image of grace in the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria, clad in a green cloak

The Virgin of Candelaria after 1827 was a clothed sculpture in which only the visible parts of the face, hands and the child were carved out; the child was designed as a separate sculpture.

After the sculpture was washed into the sea on November 7, 1826, thought was given to installing one of the copies in the monastery church. The feast of the Presentation of the Lord in 1827 was celebrated with a picture of the patroness instead of the sculpture. Finally, the Dominican Brothers commissioned the sculptor Fernando Estévez to create a replacement. He began in August 1827 and created a new portrait. His Virgo of Candelaria differs from the previous version not only in size. Estévez created an "Escultura de vestir", a sculpture to be dressed. Instead of the massive, composed body, Estévez used a simple slatted frame that was covered by the elaborate textile clothing. The face, but especially the child, shows realistic, baroque and not the strict Gothic forms of the earlier figure. The hands were renewed at the beginning of the 20th century by Nicolás Perdigón Oramas.

From 1972

In 1972 the sculptor Ezequiel de León Domínguez restored the portrait. He replaced the frame below the shoulders with a body made of cedar wood, to which he attached arms made of the same material. On these arms he put hands created by Nicolás Perdigón Oramas. He also changed the shape of the head. The changes are not visible to the observer. With the enormous amount of textiles used, the Virgen de Candelaria now has a fully formed and polychrome body again.

The choice of clothing depends on the liturgical colors of the respective day or the time in the church year . There are around 20 different configurations available.

Worship in the Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal

The Virgin of Candelaria in the Cathedral in La Laguna

The Virgin of Candelaria is the patron saint of the Canary Islands and, especially in Portugal, also the navigator. A multitude of miracles are ascribed to the work of the Virgin of Candelaria. In many churches, especially in the Canary Islands, there are statues of the Virgin of Candelari. Special iconographic attributes are the child on the right arm with a bird in the hands.

Worship in Latin America

From the Canary Islands, the worship of the Virgin of Candelaria spread to Latin America. Churches that are consecrated to her or that have become places of pilgrimage because of her image can be found in:

The most important of the Latin American pilgrimage sites to the Virgin of Candelaria is the Basílica de la Virgen de la Candelaria de Copacabana in Bolivia .

literature

  • María José Ramos Rodríguez et al .: La Basílica de Candelaria - Crónica de una construción . 1st edition. Ayuntamiento de Candelaria, Candelaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-616-1174-4 , pp. 460 (Spanish).
  • Regina Böhnke: Tenerife, between autonomy and tourism . An ethnological study on the construction of ethnic identity on a Canary Island. In: Interethnic Relationships and Cultural Change . tape 33 . Lit Verlag , Berlin, Hamburg, Münster 2002, ISBN 978-3-8258-3981-9 , chapter 5.3.1: Virgen de Candelaria, p. 57 f .

Web links

Commons : Virgen de la Candelaria, Tenerife  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fechas importantes históricas. In: basilicadecandelaria.org. Dominicos de Candelaria, archived from the original on October 7, 2013 ; accessed on April 23, 2019 (Spanish).
  2. ↑ a b c Carlos Rodríguez Morales in María José Ramos Rodríguez et al .: La Basílica de Candelaria - Crónica de una construción . 1st edition. Ayuntamiento de Candelaria, Candelaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-616-1174-4 , pp. 281 ff . (Spanish).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Octavio Rodríguez Delgado in María José Ramos Rodríguez et al .: La Basílica de Candelaria - Crónica de una construción . 1st edition. Ayuntamiento de Candelaria, Candelaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-616-1174-4 , pp. 77 ff . (Spanish).
  4. ↑ Julio Torres Santos: La antigua imagen de la Virgen de Candelaria (I). In: lalagunaahora.com. August 13, 2017, Retrieved September 27, 2018 (Spanish).
  5. ↑ Julio Torres Santos: La antigua imagen de la Virgen de Candelaria (II). In: lalagunaahora.com. August 14, 2017, Retrieved July 17, 2018 (Spanish).
  6. ↑ Julio Torres Santos: La Imagen Actual de la Virngen de Candelaria (y II). In: lalagunaahora.com. May 21, 2009, archived from the original on March 16, 2014 ; Retrieved May 30, 2018 (Spanish).
  7. ↑ El fondo de armario de la Virgen. In: La Opinión de Tenerife online. August 16, 2010, archived from the original on January 18, 2016 ; accessed on February 18, 2020 (Spanish).
  8. ↑ Excerpt from the chronicle of the miracles caused by the intercession of the Virgen de la Candelaria in the Historia de Nuestra Señora de Candelaria by Fray Alonso de Espinosa (1594), here miracles no 3rd June 2014.
  9. ↑ Max Meier: Angels, Devils, Dance and Theater. The power of festivals in the Peruvian Andes . Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 2008. ISBN 978-3-496-02802-4 . In it pp. 200–483 about the veneration of the Virgin of Candelaria in the Andean countries.