Our Lady of Africa, Algiers (1876) In our day we think of North Africa as being dominated by Islam, but in the 2nd century AD the region was part of the Roman Empire, and in the 3rd century, under the Emperor Constantine, it began to become Christian. This was once the land of Saint Augustine,…
Elijah, Mother of God Icon of the Mother of God Weeping “Ilyin Chernigov,” Chernigov, Russia The iconographer, Gregory Dubensky, completed this famous image known now as Elijah Mother of God in the year 1658 for the Monastery of St. Elijah and the Holy Trinity in the Ukraine near the border with Russia. There were no…
Our Lady of Quito, Ecuador (1534) This miraculous image of Our Lady of Quito currently in the capital of Ecuador is said to date from the first Spanish settlement there in the year 1534. At the very least, it has certainly been venerated there for a long time, and is popularly called by the people…
Our Lady of Moreneta, Spain The one and only “Lady of Spain,” is a black Madonna who reigns from the lofty heights of Montserrat. The Virgin smiles down from her place of honor above the main altar of the Basilica of Montserrat. La Moreneta means the “Little Black One.” The statue is four feet high…
Our Lady of GenazzanoOr Our Lady of Good Counsel George Kastrioti Skanderbeg (1405–1467), also known as Iskander, or by his more colorful title, the Dragon of Albania. He was a great warrior and leader of the people of Albania who fought against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into his kingdom. An invincible opponent of Islam, the…
Our Lady of the Holy Chapel, Paris This image, which is under the portal of the lower Holy Chapel, has wrought many miracles. Saint King Louis IX, on his return from the Holy Land, built at Paris the so-called Holy Chapel (Sainte-Chapelle) in honor of Mary. In it he placed the relics of Our Lord’s…
Our Lady of Bonaria, Island of Sardinia (1370) The shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria (Good Air) dates back to the latter years of the fourteenth century, at Cagliari, on the island of Sardinai. According to tradition, on March 25, 1370, a ship ran into a terrific storm at a spot some miles off the…
Our Lady of Ardents, Arras, France (1095) The Abbot Orsini wrote: “A wax candle is kept in the cathedral of Arras, which is held to have been brought thither by Our Lady, in the year 1095.” Our Lady of Ardents, or Eglise Notre-Dame des Ardents d’Arras in French, is a small, charming red brick church…
Our Lady of Betharam, France (1503) The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of Betharam, in the diocese of Lescar, in the province of Bearn. This image was found, in the year 1503, by some shepherds, who, seeing an extraordinary light on the spot where the high altar of the chapel now stands, came up to…
Institution of the Confraternity of the Immaculate conception, Toledo, Spain (1506) The Order of the Immaculate Conception, also known as the Conceptionists, were founded in 1484 at Toledo, Spain, by Saint Beatrice of Silva. A contemplative religious order of nuns, for some years they followed the Poor Clare’s Rule, but in 1511, were recognized as a…