Venezuela: Feast of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá 2025 in Maracaibo

The Archdiocese in Maracaibo presented this Monday the schedule of activities and the official logo of the feast of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, to be celebrated on November 18, one of the most important and massive Marian devotions in Venezuela.

In a press conference, Father Nedward Andrade, parish priest of the Basilica of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, located in the capital of the state of Zulia, explained that this year the celebrations in honor of “la Chinita” will also serve to deepen the devotion to the country’s first saints, the blessed José Gregorio Hernández and Carmen Rendiles, who will be canonized this Sunday, October 19.

Father Andrade presented the official logo of the festival, which has as its central figure the Blessed Virgin, flanked by the next Venezuelan saints, kneeling and in an attitude of prayer. The motto of the celebrations is “With Chiquinquirá let us adore Jesus, source of all holiness”, an invitation – pointed out the rector – to worship the Lord through the intercession of his Mother.

“Not only will we celebrate the 316 years of miraculous renewal and the 83 years of the canonical coronation of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, but we will also celebrate as Christians the elevation to the altars of Dr. José Gregorio Hernández, better known as the ‘doctor of the poor’, and Mother Carmen Rendiles,” said the parish priest.

This Sunday, the basilica will have a giant screen where the faithful will be able to follow live the canonization ceremony presided over by Pope Leo XIV from St. Peter’s Square.

During the Vigil, an hour of Eucharistic Adoration will also take place and capsules will be transmitted about the life and work of these Venezuelans who will be elevated to the altars, “thus uniting us to the national celebration,” according to Father Andrade.

The celebrations of Chinita, patron saint of the Zulians, begin this October 16 with the blessing and unveiling of the mantles that will cover the miraculous image of the Holy Virgin this year.

Furthermore, on October 25, the image will be taken down from its place on the main altar of the temple and will be exposed for the veneration of the faithful, in a solemn ceremony that has become a tradition and will be accompanied by prayers and bagpipes, which is the emblematic musical genre of the Zulia state.

The parish priest also assured that this year “devotees of the Virgin Mary in the dedication of Chiquinquirá have many reasons to celebrate”, since the basilica has frescoes and renovated works of art, in addition to a new sound system that is already operational and that covers all the internal and external spaces of the temple.

To find out the latest updates and the complete schedule of activities for the festival of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá in Maracaibo, you can visit the social networks of the basilica.

The Virgin of Chiquinquirá in Maracaibo

Devotion to Chinita in the state of Zulia dates back to 1709. Since then, the Marabinos not only dedicate these days of November to their patron saint, but also entrust their entire lives to her.

The story goes that on November 18 of that year, a group of women were washing clothes on the shores of Lake Maracaibo, when in the middle of their work one of them saw a small wooden board floating among the waves.

The lady’s name was María Cárdenas, who took it, took it to her house and used it to cover a jar. Then, while cleaning it, he realized it was a religious image and hung it on the wall.

One day, knocks were heard in Cárdenas’ house and a flash of light emerged from the altarpiece that illuminated the entire place. The old woman went out into the street shouting “Miracle, miracle!” Then all the neighbors arrived and saw the image of a mestizo Virgin.

The Virgin was taken to the old hermitage of San Juan de Dios, built in 1686. Today the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá stands there.