Wilgefortis is a female folk saint whose legend arose in the 14th century, and whose distinguishing feature is a large beard. According to the legend of her life, set in Portugal and Galicia, she was a teenage noblewoman who had been promised in marriage by her father to a Moorish king. To thwart the unwanted wedding, she had taken a vow of virginity, and prayed that she would be made repulsive. In answer to her prayers she sprouted a beard, which ended the engagement. In anger, Wilgefortis's father had her crucified.
The Black Nazarene is a life-sized image of a dark, genuflecting image of Jesus Christ carrying the True Cross enshrined in Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila, Philippines.
Black Christ may refer to:
Holy Week in Seville is one of two biggest annual festivals in Seville, Andalusia, Spain, the other being the Feria de Abril, which follows two weeks later. It is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter, and features the procession of pasos, floats of lifelike wooden sculptures of individual scenes of sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, or images of the grieving Virgin Mary.
Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by Mexican and Texan faithful. The original image is a popular focus for pilgrims and is located in the state of Jalisco, in central Mexico, 122 kilometers (76 mi) northeast of the city of Guadalajara. The statue is venerated both in Mexico and in the United States where it is known by its proxy title Nuestra Señora de San Juan del Valle, mainly focused in Texas.
Panama is a predominantly Christian country, a result of the Spanish conquistadors and centuries of missionaries. Like the rest of Latin America, the Catholicism of the conquest began to shift as aspects of indigenous, African and other spiritualities were acculturated. In recent decades, however, Evangelical Protestant churches, especially those denominations strongest in North America, have been gaining ground.
Quyllurit'i or Qoyllur Rit'i is a syncretic religious festival held annually at the Sinakara Valley in the southern highlands Cusco Region of Peru. Local indigenous people of the Andes know this festival as a native celebration of the stars. In particular they celebrate the reappearance of the Pleiades constellation, known in Quechua as Qullqa, or "storehouse," and associated with the upcoming harvest and New Year. The Pleiades disappears from view in April and reappears in June. The new year is marked by indigenous people of the Southern Hemisphere on the Winter Solstice in June, and it is also a Catholic festival. The people have celebrated this period of time for hundreds if not thousands of years. The pilgrimage and associated festival was inscribed in 2011 on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative and to sites associated with later saints or miracles.
The Virgin of Candelaria or Our Lady of Candle, popularly called La Morenita, celebrates the Virgin Mary on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands (Spain). The center of worship is located in the city of Candelaria in Tenerife. She is depicted as a Black Madonna. The "Royal Basilica Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Candelaria" is considered the main church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Canary Islands and she is the patron saint of the Canary Islands. Her feast is celebrated on February 2 and August 15, the patronal feast of the Canary Islands.
Chalma is a small community, which is part of the municipality of Malinalco, Mexico State. Its small population is almost completely dedicated to the pilgrims who come to visit the Sanctuary of Chalma, the second most-important pilgrimage site in Mexico. The sanctuary is dedicated to an image of what many people describe as a "black Christ" on a cross that legend says miraculously appeared in an area cave where the worship of a deity commonly known as Oxtoteotl used to take place. Some contend that as Oxtoteotl is an aspect of Tezcatlipoca, the "Smoking Mirror," then the "black Christ" is really Tezcatlipoca, which the Spanish friars superimposed on the existing representation of Tezcatlipoca in order to convert the natives. Pilgrimages to this Christian sanctuary follow many of the patterns of the prehispanic rituals, including walking the narrow paths to the town itself, bathing in the waters of a special fresh-water spring and dancing at the sanctuary.
The Basilica of the Royal Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Candelaria is a Roman Catholic minor basilica, the first Marian shrine of the Canary Islands, located in the municipality and city of Candelaria on the island of Tenerife. It is located some 20 km (12 mi) south of the island's capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Holy Week in Salamanca is the most important religious event of Salamanca, Spain. It is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter.
The Cult of the Lord Holy Christ of the Miracles, popularly known as Senhor Santo Cristo or Santo Cristo dos Milagres is a religious veneration associated with an image of Jesus Christ, depicted in the events of the New Testament. The wooden image of Christ, by unknown artist, in a Renaissance-style representation of the Ecce Homo, represents the episode of Jesus of Nazareth's life when the martyred religious figure was presented to the crowd following his whipping, and includes a crown of thorns, uncovered torso and bruised/beaten body. Narrated in the New Testament, the artist represented in grande artistic style the contrast between violence on the body and the serenity of the expression, emphasized by the gaze from the image.
The Cristos Negros or Black Christs of Central America and Mexico trace their origins to the veneration of an image of Christ on a cross located in the Guatemalan town of Esquipulas, near the Honduran and Salvadoran border. This image was sculpted in 1595 in wood and over time it blackened and gained a reputation for being miraculous. Little is known of how veneration of the image was spread by clergy, although there are records of its introduction in various locations, especially in Central America, southern Mexico, central Mexico and even as far north as New Mexico. However, a number of these images, such as the ones in Chalma, State of Mexico and Mérida, Yucatán have origin stories that do not connect the local image with that of Esquipulas. The Cristo Negro of Esquipulas remains an important symbol for Central America, with its sanctuary the most visited site in the region. On January 11, 2021, a replica of Christ of Esquipulas and his accompanying statues were donated to Saint Joseph Cathedral of Antigua Guatemala eliciting an uncontainable and renewed veneration for Black Christ of Esquipulas among his followers. There are hundreds of other such images with at least local importance with Christ of Chalma attracting millions of visitors, second only to that of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico. The popularity of the image continues to spread, with Central American and Mexican migrants bringing the image to the United States and Canada, founding new sanctuaries.
The fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo are military constructions, built by the Spanish Empire during the 17th and 18th centuries on the Caribbean coastline of Colón Province in Panama. The ruins are located on the coast of the province of Colón. In view of their cultural importance, the sites have been inscribed by UNESCO in 1980 as a World Heritage Site under Criteria (i) and (iv), with the description, "Magnificent examples of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture, these Panamanian forts on the Caribbean coast form part of the defence system built by the Spanish Crown to protect transatlantic trade."
The Iglesia de San Felipe is a Roman Catholic parish church located in Portobelo, Panama. Built in 1814, it houses a statue of Cristo Negro which was found on the shores of the harbour.
Our Lady of Willesden is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by Christians in London, especially by Anglicans and Catholics. It is associated with the historic image (statue) and pilgrimage centre in the community of Willesden, originally a village in Middlesex, England, but now a suburb of London. The pre-Reformation shrine was home to the Black Madonna of Willesden statue.
The Black Christ of Esquipulas is a darkened wooden image of Christ enshrined within the Cathedral Basilica of Esquipulas in Esquipulas, Guatemala. It is one of the famed black Christological images of Latin America.
The Basilica of Esquipulas or Cathedral Basilica of the Black Christ of Esquipulas is a Baroque church in the city of Esquipulas, Guatemala, named after the image of the Black Christ of Esquipulas which it houses. It is the largest Roman Catholic church in Central America and southern Mexico and the only one in America with four bell-towers. It has the status of cathedral, minor basilica and Catholic sanctuary.
