La Negrita

Upon returning to Cartago on Wednesday afternoon, we headed straight for the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Our Lady of the Angels Basilica). As we had traveled from San Jose to Cartago earlier Wednesday morning, we had noticed the vast number of people who seemed to be flocking in the direction of Cartago. Becky had explained to us that every August there was a pilgrimage that 2.5 million people (Costa Rica only has about 6 million) would make to the Basilica in Cartago, but many people go earlier due to work schedules or to avoid the monumental crowd. 

She said that people would walk from their homes and upon arriving at the Basilica steps would drop to their knees and walk to the front of the Basilica on their knees. We had heard her explain this, but it did not really hit us until we actually approached the Basilica and saw it for ourselves. It was so humbling to see such an incredible expression of faith, and we could not help but feel God's incredible presence in that place. 

The story of the Basilica goes that many years ago there was a peasant girl who would go into the forest every day to collect fire wood. One day, in a spot near a creek, she found a peculiar black stone with what appeared to be the image of the Virgin Mary. She took the stone home and placed it in a box for safe keeping. The next day, during her trip to the forest, she found another stone in the exact same spot that seemed to bear the exact same image. She took it home and went to place it in the box with the other stone only to find the first stone was gone. The third day, when she found the stone in the same spot and yet again found her box to be empty, she took the stone and ran to find the priest. She told him about the past three days and how the stone kept returning to the same spot, and he placed it in a box until he had time to inspect it further. On the fourth day, the peasant girl again found the stone had returned to its spot by the creek, but when it happened for the fifth time the priest declared it to be a sign from God that the spot near the creek is where God wants the Basilica to be built. 

Today, the original black rock is endearingly called "La Negrita" (the little black one) and can be found encased in a gold embellished case at the front of the Basilica. After crawling to the front, the pilgrims place their offerings and tokens of prayer in boxes near the altar. The tokens are frequently shaped in the form of a body part for which the individual is praying for healing, or an image representing a specific prayer request. Some of the tokens that have been collected over the years are now displayed in a basement room beneath the main Basilica.

Right next to the Basilica itself is a ramp leading down to the creek beside which La Negrita was found. The creek is still running and has been routed so the water comes out of a couple pipes for easy access. The line of people waiting to reach this holy water was all the way around the basilica and it isn't even August yet! 

Pilgrims were collecting the holy water in plastic containers shaped like the image-bearing stone, and were anointing one another with the waters. Despite the typical contaminates found in waters around Costa Rica, the holy water that flows to the basilica has been found to be free of contamination and is actually potable.