SANTUARIO DE LAS
LAJAS EN IPIALES HOME
PHOTO
GALLERY OF THE SANCTUARY OF OUR LADY OF LAS LAJAS IN IPIALES, NARIÑO, COLOMBIA.
PARIS . NEW YORK .
SANTAFE DE BOGOTA . IPIALES
GALERIA
DE FOTOS DEL SANTUARIO DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LAS LAJAS
ACTIVIDADES
EN IPIALES EN 1952:
CORONACION CANONICA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL ROSARIO DE LAS LAJAS
TFP
Viewpoint,
Vol VIII No 1, London, January 2001, p 6
Incredible but true: Our Lady of Las Lajas
Historians
and scientists are at a loss to explain this fabulous image on the wall of a
South American cave. It may forever remain an enigma.
<< Foto: Sandro Rodriguez Garzón
Back
in the eighteenth century, Maria Muese de Quinones, an indian woman from the
village of Potosi, Colombia, often walked the six miles between her village and
the neighbouring one of Ipiales. One day in 1754 as she was making the journey,
she approached the place called Las Lajas (the Rock Slabs), where the trail
passes through a deep gorge of the Guaitara River. Maria never liked this part
of the trail. There were rumours a cave in the Lajas was haunted. Superstitions
lingered amongst the converted Christian indians.
In
the indian way, she was carrying her daughter Rosa, a deaf-mute, on her back.
And by the time she had climbed to the Lajas she was weary and sat on a rock to
rest. The child got down from her back to play. Next thing Rosa was by the cave
shouting: “Mummy, there is a woman in here with a boy in her arms!” Maria
was beside herself with the fright. For this was the first time she had heard
her daughter speak. She did not see the figures the girl was talking about, nor
did she want to. She grabbed the child and hastened on to Ipiales.
When
she told what happened nobody took her seriously at first. However, as the news
spread some asked if maybe it was true. After all, the child was now able to
speak.
A
few days later the child Rosa disappeared from home. After looking everywhere
the anguished Maria guessed it: her daughter must have gone to the cave. She
often said that the woman was calling her. Maria ran to Las Lajas to find
her daughter kneeling in front of a splendid woman and playing
affectionately with a child who had
come down from His mother’s arms to let the girl enjoy His divine tenderness.
Maria fell to her knees before this beautiful spectacle; she had seen the
Blessed Virgin.
Fearful
of ridicule, Maria kept quiet about the event. But frequently she and Rosa went
to the cave to place wild flowers and candles in the cracks of the rocks.
The
months went by, with Maria and Rosa keeping their secret. Until one day the girl
fell gravely ill and died. A distraught Maria decided to take her daughter’s
body to the Lajas to ask the Lady to restore Rosa to life.
Pressed
by the sadness of Maria’s unrelenting supplications, the Blessed Virgin
obtained Rosa’s resurrection from Her Divine Son. Overflowing with joy, Maria
went home. It didn’t take long for a crowd to gather. Early next morning
everyone went to Las Lajas, each wanting to check the details for themselves.
That
was when the marvellous picture of Our Lady on the wall of the grotto was
discovered. Maria Muese de Quinones could not recall noticing it until then. The
child Jesus is in Our Lady’s arms. On one side of Our Lady is Saint Francis;
on the other is Saint Dominic. Her delicate and regal features are those of a
Latin American, perhaps an Indian. Her abundant black hair covers her like a
mantle (The two-dimensional crown is metal and was added by devotees much later
on). Her eyes sparkle with a pure and friendly joy. She looks about fourteen
years old. The indians had no doubt: this was their queen.
As
devotion to the image grew, a good road replaced the old trail. In the early
20th century a tasteful gothic church was built over the cave.
But
who put this magnificent image there? The author has never been identified!
Scoffers say the wily Dominicans sneaked in a good artist, and the gullible
indians are still being fooled.
But
tests done when the church was built show how stupendous this image actually is.
Geologists from Germany bored core samples from several spots in the image.
There is no paint, no dye, nor any other pigment on the surface of the rock. The
colours are the colours of the rock itself. Even more incredible, the rock is
perfectly coloured to a depth of several feet!
So the mystery remains unsolved. Did angels do it? Or did God Himself do it at the dawn of creation, when he contemplated the most excellent of all His creatures? The One whom He would make Queen of Heaven and Earth. And to whose maternal care the future nation of Colombia would be entrusted. END
Círculo de Amistad Colombo-Alemán e.V. - Filial de Munich
Ipiales and Las Lajas
Ipiales, the last Colombian town before the Ecuadorian border, is an
uninteresting, busy commercial centre driven by the contraband trade across the
frontier.
There is little to see, except for the big, colourful Saturday market, where the
campesinos from sur-rounding villages come to sell and buy goods. The Banco de
Ia República has a small collection of pottery from the pre-Columbian Indian
groups from around the region on display. You can also pop into the Catedral on
the Plaza de Ia Independencia; in the left-hand aisle is a vivid sculptured
representation of souls burning in hell. A short side trip to Las Lajas is a
must. Santuario de Nuestra Señora de las Lajas is a Gothic-style church built
on a bridge which spans a spectacular deep gorge of the Guáitara River, seven
km south-east of Ipiales. The church was erected to commemorate the appearance
of the Virgin Mary; legend has it that an image of the Virgin appeared in the
mid-18th century on an enormous vertical rock about 45 metres above the river.
The first chapel was constructed in 1803, then replaced by another. Today's
church, designed by an architect from Nariño, Lucindo Espinoza, was built
between 1916 and 1948, and is an unusual construction. The church is set on a
bridge up against the cliff in such a way that the rock with the image is
preserved as its high altar. The Virgin is accompanied by Santo Domingo and San
Francisco. Pilgrims from all over Colombia and Ecuador come here all year round.
Some local sources maintain that this is the most visited religious sanctuary in
the Americas. Many pilgrims have left thanksgiving plaques along the alley
leading to the church. Note the number of miraculous occurrences which are
attributed to the Virgin.
Sandro Rodriguez Garzon
SANTUARIO DE LAS
LAJAS EN IPIALES HOME
PHOTO
GALLERY OF THE SANCTUARY OF OUR LADY OF LAS LAJAS IN IPIALES, NARIÑO, COLOMBIA.
PARIS . NEW YORK .
SANTAFE DE BOGOTA . IPIALES
GALERIA
DE FOTOS DEL SANTUARIO DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LAS LAJAS
ACTIVIDADES
EN IPIALES EN 1952:
CORONACION CANONICA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL ROSARIO DE LAS LAJAS
