Paraguay's Blue Virgin of the Miracles at Caacupé

(Vatican Radio) On Saturday11th of July Pope Francis will preside over Holy Mass at the Marian Shrine  of Caacupé. Here in the course of this first mass he’ll celebrate on Paraguayan soil he’ll pray both in Spanish and the local language Gauranί. The venue is considered to be the spiritual capital of the nation.

Monsignor Peter Fleetwood of the Liverpool Archdiocese shares with Linda Bordoni his memories of a visit to this Marian Shrine:

 

The name Caacupé comes from the Guaranί language and refers to a place which lies roughly fifty kilometres east of Asunciòn. The story goes that  one day back  in the 16th century a man from the Guaranί tribe by the name of José who belonged to the Franciscan community nearby went to look for firewood in the forest. But while in the forest was  suddenly threatened by some men from the rival Mbayo tribe who resented his conversion to Christianity. So fearing for his life he hid inside an empty tree trunk and made a vow to the Mother of God that if his life were spared he would pray to Our Lady and carve a wooden statue depicting her.

His life was spared and so it was that he  carved two statues, the smaller of which is now housed at the Shrine of Caacupé in a Church which was built in the  late 1700’s at the will of an Irishman who was serving under Carlos III of Spain. Curiously the very same man who received the task to expel  the Jesuits from Paraguay.

The Virgin known as the ‘Virgencita Aszul de los Milagros’ or Blue Virgin of Miracles draws a great number of pilgrims to the Shrine each year, in a special way on the 8th of December . Let’s recall how when  Saint John Paul II visited this shrine in May 1988 he  entrusted  Paraguay to the Immaculate Conception. A ritual Pope Francis is expected to repeat.