On the day commemorating the Solemnity of the Assumption, 15 August 2022, the Dominican Roman Catholic Church closes the Altagracia Virgin Jubilee celebrations for the canonical crowning of the image of the Virgin of Altagracia. The Virgin of Altagracia is regarded by Catholics in the Dominican Republic as the Mother and Patron of the Dominican people.
On Sunday, 14 August 2022, a special mass was held at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Altagracia in Higuey presided by the special envoy of Pope Francis, Monsignor Edgar Peña Parra.
The image of the Virgin of Altagracia was then sent to Santo Domingo in the afternoon for veneration from the Catholic faithful on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her canonical coronation in the Dominican Republic. The Virgin was escorted by agents of the Dominican Republic Navy and accompanied by bishops, priests and a caravan of vehicles.
The image was crowned for the first time on 15 August 1922, during the pontificate of Pius XI. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the canonical coronation of Our Lady of Altagracia, the Catholic Church has been carrying out a series of activities for the past year.
The coronation of the virgin in 1922 has major importance in Dominican history. The country was under a US military intervention. More than 35,000 gathered at the Puerta del Conde to render tribute to the virgin. The religious fervor of this act was then joined by a patriotic reaction, when the people rejected the military intervention. Weeks later, the Hughes-Peynado pact was signed, putting an end to the US intervention.
According to writings of the time, it was Monsignor Adolfo Alejandro Nouel, then Archbishop of Santo Domingo, who personally asked Pope Benedict XV for the canonical coronation of the Virgin. For that activity, the image of the Virgin was transferred from the church in Higüey to Santo Domingo, one of the few occasions in which the picture of the Altagracia left her temple.
This year, at 7:55 pm on Sunday, 14 August 2022 in Santo Domingo, the image was received by the Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Monsignor Francisco Ozoria at the Fray Antonio de Montesinos Monument. The image arrived surrounded by flowers, while hundreds of children, young people, adults and the elderly shouted: “Long live the Virgin of Altagracia! Long live!
The image was delivered by Monsignor Jesús Castro Marte, bishop of Higüey, who expressed his joy “because once again the mother of the Dominican people is in Santo Domingo”. He clarified that he was handing her over “just for a little while.”
Upon receiving the image of the Virgin, Archbishop Ozoria asked the mother protector of the Dominican people to “free us from all oppression, from all evils and that the dignity of the people be respected.”
Then the image was taken to the Cathedral of Santo Domingo to spend the evening.
The program for Monday, 15 August 2022 is intense. At 8am there will be a patriotic act at the Puerta del Conde, in the Colonial City, to be attended by President Luis Abinader. There will be a rendering of honors and floral offerings. The coronation took place at the Puerta del Conde a century ago.
Then the commemorative activities will move to the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium where Dominican Catholics will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the canonical coronation in the Dominican Republic. The closing of the Jubilee will be marked by a solemn Mass presided by Archbishop Peña Parra in the Olympic Stadium, with about 700 concelebrants, and a Marian concert.
Pope Francis Special Envoy, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, will pay homage to the Virgin of Altagracia, on the behalf of the Pope by laying a Golden Rose at her feet during the event at the Olympic Stadium.
The Dominican tradition is for every year a special pilgrimage takes place on 10-14 August from the National Shrine of Christ of the Miracles, in the municipality of Bayaguana, to the Basilica de la Altagracia in the eastern city of Higüey where the image is enshrined. During the five-day walk pilgrims travel 114 kilometers.
Pope Francis’ message for the Jubilee
In a message addressed to the Dominican people on 15 July 2022, Pope Francis noted that the deep devotion of Dominicans to the Virgin of Altagracia “is a sign of the Christian roots that characterize and give life” to their land. In his message on occasion of the 100th anniversary of the coronation, Pope Francis encourages Dominicans to “not to lose heart” in their witness of faith, to care for and strengthen, through the example and intercession of the Virgin Mary, their “love for Jesus and for the Church”.
The Pope remarked that the image showing the loving gaze of the Mother contemplating the Child who sleeps confidently on her lap “is an invitation to learn to see, through her eyes, Jesus present in our neighbours, and to remember that we are part of the same human family called to live together in fraternity and solidarity”. In this way, he said, “the Virgin of Altagracia has been for the Dominican people a source of unity in difficult moments and a sure hand that supports them in the setbacks that arise in their daily lives”.
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Vatican News
15 August 2022