As an Africanist and someone who studies slavery and slave narratives, I have always struggled with finding a way to put Africans, slavery, colonial Costa Rica and contemporary Costa Rican identity together in a pot that works. What do you suppose Juana’s first thought was on finding the statue missing? Originally published in a slightly different format at Catholic Exchange in 2009. Every August 2 nd, Costa Ricans celebrate one of the most important Catholic holidays in our country: The Day of the Virgin of the Angels, our patroness saint, affectionately called La Negrita (The Little Black One). In 1635, a young Tico, or native, girl looking for firewood in the forest saw a peculiar black rock in the shape of a doll that was sitting on top of a large boulder. I don’t remember who it was who encouraged me to start talking to my guardian angel. Do you think she would hesitate to share her Baby with anyone who wanted to hold Him? Independence was won in 1821 and slavery ended in 1824. Who were those people of Afro-descent, mixed with Indigenous and Spanish blood, who honored La Negrita? 5 Out of the Ordinary Jewelry Objects. She’s nothing much to see and she’s smaller than my daughter’s favorite doll. In 1926, the image was solemnly crowned, which means it was recognized as holy and worthy of veneration. Your email address will not be published. What I have presented is a very simplified version of colonial history, and there are very well-documented texts by Quince Duncan and Russel Lohse, if folks are interested in reading more. In thinking back to that moment at the Basilica, I guess in order to answer these questions, I must craft narratives that support a wider historical lens into this place I call home. your own Pins on Pinterest In 1824, the Virgin was declared Costa Rica’s patron saint. Starting in the 16th century, Spaniards imported Africans, but not in large numbers. A mysterious image of a woman and child was engraved on it. Juana took the statue home, probably thinking it a lovely accident that she had found it that day. According to Catholic Church documents and popular lore, the icon of La Negrita, a 20-centimeter dark colored stone statue of mother and child representing the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, appeared to a woman of African descent – a parda/a or free black person – in 1635. In 1926, the image was solemnly crowned, which means it was recognized as holy and worthy of veneration. I had had some problems setting my alarm for a crazy hour of Adoration, in which I had to get up at 3:30 AM to get to church by 4. Then, in 1935, Pope Pius XI named the shrine of Our Lady of Angels a basilica, showing the high respect and sacredness of the site and the title of Mary. See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. “La Negrita” sobrevolará el país este fin de semana . This isn’t a coincidence!”  In fact, it was interpreted as a sign that the Virgin Mary wanted a shrine built on the site she had been found. La Negrita is kept in the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago. The townspeople built a shrine around the miraculous statue, and the La Negrita was declared the patron saint of Costa Rica. Enter your email address and get my "Three Shots" newsletter, a quick look at three things that caught my eye, including (but not limited to) books, articles, thoughts, saints, and pretty things. Your email address will not be published. Natasha Gordon-Chipembere, a writer, professor and founder of the Tengo Sed Writers Retreats, moved to Heredia, Costa Rica with her family from New York in June 2014. Lighter Side. Our Lady of Angels, the black madonna La Negrita, didn’t appear to someone rich and learned. When I heard the old adage (new to me because I had not been raised Catholic) that the angels finish any rosary that’s started, I began to get a picture of a special kind of intimacy with my angel. Since praying that prayer, or asking my guardian angel, who I had dubbed “G,” directly (usually with a “G, please make sure I’m up!”), I never missed another of those hours of Adoration. This site uses cookies and affiliate links. On a footpath near Cartago, Costa Rica, the mulatto peasant Juana Pereira experienced something she must have thought was just a fluke: as she was gathering firewood on August 2, 1635, the feast of the Holy Angels, she saw an odd light coming from the trees by the path. It reminds me that I never know when I’ll get the help I need. Independence was won in 1821 and slavery ended in 1824. Ghosts & Supernatural. Slavery was expensive and colonial Costa Rica was poor, underdeveloped and mostly ignored by the Spanish Crown, headquartered in Guatemala. Mary is carrying Jesus on her left arm, gathered into the folds of her mantle. My second find was a reference to Puebla de los Pardos and the 1635 apparition narrative of the La Negrita (the Black Madonna). The title Our Lady of Angels shows a special fondness for God’s plan, a particular respect for His ordering, a specific veneration for His mother. A restored structure was completed in 1722. La Basílica fue declarada Patrimonio Histórico Arquitectónico de Costa Rica, el 2 de diciembre de 1999, mediante decreto N° 28248-C. Además, el 21 de junio de 2001, fue declarada Monumento Nacional, según Ley Nº 14.349. Who tells the stories of their lives, these people who contributed to the building of Cartago and its burgeoning economy? I began praying before going to sleep, “God, if you want me to get there, you’re going to have to wake me up, because I just don’t know what to do about this alarm clock!”. It was to be my first adult visit to the statue, which draws millions of pilgrims from around Costa Rica and beyond each year. The only reason I was open to this idea of talking to my angel was because of a book I had read, clarifying that angels were not, in fact, fat little winged babies. Teach me to be humble like you and to recognize the work of angels in my life. Some people maintain that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Instead of Mary with a gown of gold, we have Mary carved in black stone. Finding La Negrita: A story of coming home Natasha Gordon-Chipembere - December 28, 2015. 2020/11/16. Required fields are marked *. Historia de la Negrita de Cartago. La Negrita. 2020/11/08. The Haunted House Packed with History. The World Bank and Costa Rica signed an agreement for $60 million to reward local communities that reduce carbon emissions…, Is there an African lion on the loose in Costa Rica? After the icon appeared to the woman three times in this way, the priest commissioned a church to be built for the icon on the spot where she was found. I was practicing my nascent Spanish with a new Mexican friend. ... to the Basilica of Los Angeles to commemorate "La Negrita", patron saint of Costa Rica. Can you imagine her passing Him to one of them, so that I could have a closer look? I could think of my alarm clock as a cheap piece of plastic and completely ignore the fact that every single time I’ve forgotten to turn it on for that new wake-up time to get to Adoration, I’ve still been up in time. Read more “Musings from an Afro-Costa Rican” columns here. It was close to three inches high and completely black. In my 30-odd years of visiting Costa Rica, I never had a real discussion about slavery. But my research and my gut told me something else. The shrine of Our Lady of Angels, or La Negrita, as she is fondly called by the Costa Ricans, became a destination for pilgrims, and especially for those who were poor or outcast, crippled or hurting. For many, the Afro-presence began with Limón at the turn of the 20th century– at least for the Afro-Costa Ricans I knew. The Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Our Lady of the Angels Basilica) is a Roman Catholic basilica in Costa Rica, located in the city of Cartago and dedicated to the Virgen de los Pardos, officially known as Virgen de los Ángeles (the Lady of the Angels). La ruta más popular es caminar la caminata de 13 millas de San José a Cartago. 324 " La Negrita" Queen of the Ticos ventional Costa Rican historiography.5 In his Historia de Costa Rica , read as a textbook by generations of Costa Rican students, Monge Alfaro argued that Would I make real the invisible people who cared for La Negrita? La Negrita: The Black Madonna in Cartago, Costa Rica. 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