Our Lady of Coromoto, Patron Saint of Venezuela

Our Lady of Coromoto is the Patroness of Venezuela, venerated in the city of Guanare, where she appeared on September 8, 1652, as in the whole country. Venezuelans celebrate her several times a year. Every February 2 (feast of the Presentation of the Lord), September 8 (Nativity of the Virgin Mary) and September 11 (the central day).

When Guanare was founded in 1591, the indigenous inhabitants of the region, the Cospes, fled to the jungle north of the city. It is said that this made it difficult to evangelization that the Church had undertaken in the region. And one day in 1561, the indigenous chief Coromoto and his wife were crossing a stream of water. They saw a Lady of extraordinary beauty who told them in their language: "Go to the whites' house and ask them to pour water on your head so you can go to heaven".

Cospes Indian Community

According to the story, the Blessed Virgin appeared to several Indians on different days and to their children when they went to fetch water. After several vicissitudesCoromoto was baptized. And the Cospes Indians formed a community of faithful, accompanied for years by a Capuchin friar named José de Najera.

On October 7, 1944, Pope Pius XII declared Our Lady of Coromoto as "Patroness of the Republic of Venezuela". Her canonical coronation took place on September 11, 1952, on the occasion of the third centenary of the apparition. The National Sanctuary of the Virgin of Coromoto was declared a basilica by the same Pope on May 24, 1949.

St. John Paul II: "Our Lady of Coromoto, pray for Venezuela!" 

On February 10, 1996, St. John Paul II inaugurated the National Shrine of Our Lady of Coromoto, built on the site of the apparitions. The sanctuary is located in the parish "Virgen de Coromoto" (Guanare). On that day, the Polish Pope prayed to Our Lady in this way.

"You are the pride of our people! In the numerous Marian shrines that are erected in so many places on earth, we repeat these words from the book of Judith, to express our joy, because the Mother of God has established her dwelling among her people. Today these words are pronounced by the inhabitants of Venezuela, who precisely here in Coromoto, unite to venerate her as Patroness of Venezuela". Our Lady of Coromoto, pray for Venezuela and for Catholic America!