The Banco Popular Dominicano is sponsoring a series of cultural activities, including early morning church vigil concerts program, Madrugada de Bendición, to commemorate the Virgen de la Altagracia on Thursday at midnight, 20 January 2022. The early morning event will be on 70 TV channels and all Roman Catholic media in the country, including Color Vision Channel 9, Telesistema Channel 11, Channel 4, Televida, and TV Quisqueya for the United States, and online at @basilicadehiguey, among others.
Among the artistic events is a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra directed by Maestro Jose Antonio Molina at 5am, and a cantata by Maridalia Hernandez at 7am.
Mass by the Archbishop of Higuey, Monsignor Jesus Castro Marte will be at 8am.
This 21 January 2022, the province of La Altagracia also celebrates the Jubilee Year of the Canonical Coronation of the Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Altagracia, spiritual mother and protector of the Dominican people.
As reported in Diario Libre, priest Evaristo Araché Freijomil, rector of the Basilica-Cathedral of Our Lady of Altagracia in Higuey, says that the Virgin of La Altagracia is part of the cultural identity of the Dominican Republic.
The portrait of Our Lady of Altagracia has been crowned twice: the canonical coronation was on 15 August 1922 by Pope Pius XI. Pope John Paul II, during his 25 January 1979 visit to Santo Domingo, personally crowned the portrait with a golden silver tiara.
According to history, the painting was brought to the island by the brothers Alonso and Antonio Trejo, from Extremadura, Spain, at the beginning of the 16th Century.
Historian Francisco Guerrero says the choice of 21 January as the day to honor La Altagracia was established after the Spanish colonists won the battle of Sabana Real de la Limonade. The French wanted to invade the eastern part of the island. The Spanish colonists attributed their military triumph to the interceding by the Virgin.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
Banco Popular
20 January 2022