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Who is Our Lady of Solitude?
Devotion to Mary, under the title of Our Lady of
Solitude, was instituted to honor the Blessed Virgin during her solitude
on Holy Saturday, as she awaited with faith the Resurrection of her
Beloved Son, the Savior of the world.
In the 17th century, devotion to Our Lady of Solitude
increased when an unattended, heavily-laden pack donkey staggered into
Oaxaca, Mexico and died. No one knew where it had come from, who
owned it, or what it carried. When the people examined his pack,
they found a beautiful statue of Our Lady of Solitude. She wore a
crown of diamonds with a huge drop pearl in the middle, and a black velvet
robe. The people decided that as the donkey had died at that spot,
they would build a church there to house the little statue. Since
then devotion to Our Lady of Solitude has grown, especially in Latin
America.
Our Lady of Solitude is the patroness of mariners and
her Feast Day is Holy Saturday, which is also the birthday and baptismal
day of our new Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. |
