History of the apparition of Our Lady of Coromoto.

In the year 1651, sixty years after the foundation of the "City of the Holy Spirit of the Valley of San Juan de Guanaguanare", the cacique Coromoto was walking with his wife through the mountains. When he arrived at a creek, he saw a beautiful lady carrying a beautiful child who was walking among the waters of the river.

They both smiled at the "Beautiful Lady", who, in turn, returned another loving smile and with a very soft voice said to them:

"Go to the house of the whites and ask them to pour the water on your head, so you can go to heaven."

This same "Beautiful Lady" appeared on several occasions to some Indian children when they went to the creek to fetch water.  In all cases her voice was so strong and persuasive that the Cacique did not hesitate to comply with the request of the "Beautiful Lady ".

It did not occur to Cacique Coromoto to ask her what her name was. Therefore, he called her the "Beautiful Lady ", the "Beautiful Lady", the "Beautiful Lady".

Wishing to comply with what the "Beautiful Lady" asked of them, one day, when the Cacique saw the Spaniard Juan Sanchez passing by, he thought he would be the right person to teach them.  He told him what had happened and told him that they were willing for him and his people to comply with the will of the "Beautiful Lady".

The surprise for Juan Sanchez was great, but he did not hesitate. He replied that on his return from the city of El Tocuyo, after about eight days, he would pass by again and could take the whole tribe with him to instruct them. They could live next to where the Spaniards lived, who were dedicated to cultivation and cattle raising near the Guanaguanare River.

There is no historical certainty as to how many Indians they were. Some estimate between two and six hundred.  What is important is that the whole tribe left and settled at the confluence of the Tocuyo and Guanaguanare rivers, in a place known today as "Coromoto". There they established their new homes. They attended the explanation of the doctrine given by the Capuchin priests, especially Fray José de Nájera together with Juan Sánchez and his wife. Little by little the number of baptized grew.

At first the cacique attended with great pleasure, because he had been amazed by the majesty of the "Beautiful Lady" and his soul had been transformed. However, Coromoto longed for the solitude of the forest. As the days went by, he felt more and more annoyed because the climate there was not as pleasant as in his previous lands. Now they had to work much harder to obtain what they needed for daily life. A spiritual conflict began in him. For these reasons, he refused to be baptized and stayed away from classes.

On September 8, 1652, Juan Sanchez invited the Indians to a religious ceremony. All attended with much emotion and devotion, but the Cacique refused and full of fury, he left for the place of Coromoto. When it began to get dark, the Cacique's wife went to her hut with her sister Isabel and her son, a twelve-year-old boy. They were about to fall asleep when Coromoto returned, sad and battered, and without saying a word, he lay down on his bed and no one dared to speak to him.

That night, suddenly, the "Beautiful Woman" appeared to them at the door of the hut. It had been a year since they had seen her. Now, from her whole being, rays of light were emerging that illuminated the entire interior of the hut as if it were noon. The Cacique's wife, her sister, and her nephew were overjoyed to see her. The Cacique got up and after a few seconds, asked very annoyed:

How long do you want to chase me? You can go back because I'm not going to do what you tell me to do.  For you I left my farm (“conuco”) and conveniences and I have come here to have a hard time.

His wife complained about his disrespectful way of speaking and told him: "Don't talk like that with the "Beautiful Woman", don't be such a bad hearted person".

The Cacique, very angry, could not stand the tender and loving look of the "Beautiful Woman" and took out a sharp arrow, put it on his bow and threatened her saying: By killing you, you’ll leave me.

At that moment, the Virgin entered the hut smiling, serene, luminous and resplendent. She approached the Cacique. She was so close that he had to drop his bow and arrow and stretch out his arms to grab her. At that, it disappeared and the hut went dark... The Cacique shouted: I have her trapped in my hand.

When he opened his hand, he saw that what he was holding was a tiny image of the Virgin that gave off very intense luminous rays, like those of the sun at noon, but which did not burn. The two women and the child, deeply impressed and moved, asked him to show it to them. The Cacique held out his hand. They all recognized the image of the "Beautiful Woman", which continued to give off luminous rays.

The Cacique saw her so vividly that he threatened to kill her and said: "Tomorrow, I will burn you".  He wrapped the image in a banana leaf and hid it in the thatched roof of his hut.

The Cacique's nephew, who had witnessed everything, saw his uncle hiding the image. When the uncle was fast asleep, he ran out to look for Juan Sánchez to tell him what had happened. Juan did not believe him. But the boy insisted that he go with him to Coromoto's hut. After much begging, Juan asked him to go out and get two more mules so they could go together. At that moment, something impressive happened.

The mules were loose in the savannah and it was extremely difficult to catch and tie them. Several people were needed to do this. Sometimes it took up to two and three hours to do it. The boy went out alone into the savannah to look for them, and the amazing thing was that he found them lying very quietly. With great ease he lassoed them without any resistance and took them to Juan Sanchez.  

When the latter saw the boy come with the two mules in such a short time, he began to think that there had to be some truth in what he had told him. Together with Bartolomé Sánchez and Juan Cibirián, the four of them set out for the hut where Coromoto lived.

When they arrived, the three Spaniards stayed hidden in a ditch while the boy searched for the image. He entered the hut of his uncle the Cacique and found no one.  They had all gone out. With great joy he climbed up to the place where his uncle had hidden it, took it out and ran to the Spaniards. When Juan Sanchez opened the banana leaf, he found to his great surprise that it was shining and it was indeed the image of the Virgin and Child.

With great care and devotion, knowing that they were carrying the Mother of God, they returned to Soropo, placed her on a table, surrounded her with flowers. They prayed to her and said: She is the Virgin who appeared to the Cacique Coromoto and that is why she was given the name: OUR LADY OF COROMOTO... As they only had a black wax candle to light her, they lit it and placed it in front of the image.

The first miracle took place with the candle: it was so small that it would barely last half an hour, but the hours passed and it continued to light... It burned day and night from noon on Sunday until Tuesday afternoon, that is to say, for more than fifty hours. Some people approached him, made various petitions, one for health, others for the solution of some problem, and they saw how everything was fulfilled.

As for the Cacique, he had already arranged for the whole tribe to return to their place of origin, to those lands they had abandoned to follow the instructions of the "Beautiful Woman".

At dawn on the ninth of September, the cacique woke up, saw that his wife was not there and everyone had left.  In his rage, remembering that he had promised to burn her, he decided to burn the whole hut without realizing that the image was no longer there because the nephew had taken her away.

In the forest a poisonous snake called mapanare bit him. When he realized that the poison was deadly, he thought that it had been a punishment from heaven for his bad behavior in front of the "Beautiful Woman".  He deeply regretted what he had done and began to cry out for someone to baptize him.

The Virgin, always ready to listen to the requests of her children, pleased the Cacique.

As a very strange fact, Coromoto saw a Spaniard from the city of Barinas pass by and he heard the cries. Knowing that any baptized person can, in case of danger of death, baptize another, he approached, got some water and baptized the Cacique by pouring water over his head and saying the words: I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. From then on Coromoto became an apostle and follower of the Virgin Mary. His Christian name was Guardian Angel. He and his fellow Cospes formed a very fervent community.

As they did so, the pains began to subside and the Spaniard accompanied him to where the other Indians were. When they arrived, the Cacique gathered them all together and told them what had happened, saying that he was sure he was going to die, but he would die happy because he had asked for forgiveness and had been baptized.

Before dying, with a strong and confident voice he asked everyone to stay among the whites and be good Christians.

The Cospes Indians formed the first community of faithful Catholics in Venezuela. For this reason, the authorities were forced to bring them a priest to take care of them: the Capuchin Fray José de Nájera, who founded with them a town called San José de la Aparición. As a result of the floods, over time, the town disappeared but the place was always a place of veneration for the indigenous people.

Juan Sanchez had the image that the Virgin left to Coromoto for three days before taking it to the Cathedral Church, due to the flooding of the rivers. When he managed to get to Guanare and showed it to the priest, the latter thought it was of human origin and did not receive it... Juan Sanchez kept it in his custody for the next sixteen months.

During the time she was in the custody of Juan Sanchez, the Mother of Heaven manifested herself on many occasions. For example, when a black bait candle was placed before her, she crystallized it, some candles took a long time to burn out. It is also mentioned that the color of the Virgin's costume presented different colors such as crimson red, purple, blue and white.

Meanwhile, the house of Juan Sanchez became a small Sanctuary, where all kinds of people went, especially from Guanare, to admire the image of Our Lady of Coromoto and ask for favors.

The miraculous fame of the image grew day by day. Sixteen months later the Vicar priest of the City of Guanare, Don Diego Lozano, requested that the image be taken with great majesty and veneration to the Cathedral of Guanare to protect the image because it would be more protected there.

February 2, 1654 was chosen, it was the day of the eve of the Presentation of the Lord, of the Purification of the Virgin, and of the Virgin of Candelaria, patron saint of many of the Spaniards because they came from the Canary Islands. On February 2nd, Our Lady of Coromoto entered with great solemnity, carried by the faithful and placed in the Church.

Shortly after the Reverend Capuchin Father Fray José de Nájera founded with them the first mission of Indians in Venezuela, under the protection of Holy Mary, Our Lady of Coromoto, by whose maternal care were achieved the first fruits of the faith among the aborigines scattered in the vastness of the province of Venezuela. 

OUR LADY OF COROMOTO, INCREASE OUR FAITH.