August 2 holiday (PHOTO: La Basilica Cartago)

The following article is a copy of an informative e-mail from Karen Gordon, admissions administrator at our school:  

Dia de la Virgen de los Angeles, August 2.  

During the course of this week, thousands of people from all over CR and even Central America have been walking to Cartago, located 24 km southeast of San Jose.  By Saturday, August 2, well over a million pilgrims (peregrinos) will visit La Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles to pay homage to CR's patron saint on her special day.  

Cartago is the former capital of CR.  Founded in 1563 by Juan Vasquez de Coronado (the Spanish governor), it was CR's only city for almost 150 years. Irazu (a beautiful national park) rises up from the edge of the town - an active volcano.  Earthquakes have toppled Cartago repeatedly over the years, including major quakes in 1841 and 1910.  You can still see ruins in the center of the city today.  

Cartago's most famous building is the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles, which is dedicated to the patron saint of CR.  Within the walls of the Byzantine-style cathedral is a shrine consisting of the tiny 8-inch figure of La Negrita (or La Virgen) embedded in a gold and jewel encrusted shrine above the main altar.  

Legend has it that La Negrita first revealed herself to a peasant girl, Juana Pereira, in 1635. Juana supposedly found a stone "doll" holding the Christ child on a rock next to a stream.  She took it home and placed it in a box, and twice it mysteriously appeared at the original spot where it was discovered.  A cathedral was built upon the rock where La Virgen was discovered, and although it was toppled by another earthquake in 1926, another was built directly over it. 

Today, you can visit the cathedral and actually walk through the underground passages to see the rock and the spring, which are said to have curative powers.  My mother-in-law always has a bottle of "agua bendita" (holy water) in the house.  I remember her putting it on Christopher's head every day for weeks after he was born, especially when he cried - and in his bath water!!  Most babies who come into Catholic families are presented to La Virgen as part of their welcome into the world, and many have the middle name of "los Angeles" to give protection to the child, and to honor La Negrita.

Miraculous healing powers have been attributed to La Negrita, and over the years, millions of pilgrims have come to the shrine seeking cures for their illnesses and troubles, at all times of the year.  On any given day, you will find people entering the cathedral on their knees, "walking" down the center aisle, and praying.  The walls of the underground passageways are covered with a fascinating array of silver images left as thanks for cures effected by La Negrita. Amid the plethora of diminutive silver arms and legs, there are also hands, feet, hearts, lungs, kidneys, eyes, torsos, babies, families, trucks, planes, even sports trophies in thanks for helping teams win big games.  Outside the cathedral vendors sell a wide selection of these images, as well as replicas of La Negrita.  

August 2 is the day that is dedicated in devotion to this powerful statue.   If you have a television and happen to see the news, they will be reporting over the next few days about La Romeria (The Pilgrimage) and about the pilgrims who are making their way to the La Basilica. There are always a few groups of people from Santa Elena, Monteverde, San Luis, and other neighboring towns who walk to Cartago (a 3-day journey) to ask La Virgen for a favor, or to give thanks for favors granted.  (sources:  Lonely Planet, Frommers, and Fabricio de los Angeles Camach, my husband!)

... This story reminded me of 12 years ago, when Jim's mom Marnee confessed to me that she had made the sign of the cross on Valerie's forehead, chanting "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost".  She was surprised to learn that we had not seen to the baptism of our little 6 month old.  So one night when she and Pa were baby sitting, while Jim and I went out, she snuck into the sleeping baby's nursery, and completed the ritual to her satisfaction, using tap water in place of the traditional holy water.  Traditions aren't so different around the world.  Hey, it made Marnee feel better.