Back in the eighteenth century in Colombia, Maria Meneses de Quifiones, a descendant of the Indian chiefs of Potosi, often
walked the six and a quarter miles that separated that village from the one called Ipiales.
One day in 1754, as she approached the
bridge over the river Guditara at the place
called Las Lajas (the rock slabs), a violent
storm hit. Frightened, the poor Indian woman took shelter in a cave at the side of the
road. Anguished and lonely, she began to call
upon Our Lady of the Rosary, whose patronage had been popularized in the region by the
Dominicans.
Then she felt someone touching her back
and calling her. She turned and saw nothing.
In her fright, she fled to Potosi.
Some days later, Maria returned to lpiales
carrying her deaf-and-dumb daughter Rosa
on her back. When they reached the cave on
the Guditara, she sat on a rock to rest. She
had not quite made herself comfortable when
the child climbed down her back and began
to climb over the rocks in the cave, exclaiming:
"Mommy! Mommy! There is a white
woman here with a boy in her arms!"
Maria was beside herself from the shock.
This was the first time she had heard her
daughter speak. Furthermore, she did not see
the figures the girl was talking about any
where. She nervously and fearfully put the
child on her back, and immediately left for
lpiales. There she told relatives and friends
what had happened, but nobody took her
seriously.
Once Maria had taken care of her business
in lpiales, the time arrived for her to return
to her home in Potosi. When she came to the
site where the cave was, she hesitantly passed
in front of the entrance, whereupon Rosa
cried out:
"Mommy! The white woman is calling me!"
Maria could not see anything. Extremely
scared, she quickly took her little girl away
from there. Once she was home, she told all
her acquaintances what had happened. Thus
the whole region soon became aware of the
mystery of the cave, which they all knew
since it was next to a busy path.
A few days later, Rosa disappeared from
home. The anguished Maria looked for her
everywhere, but to no avail, until her
mother's heart made her realize that her
daughter might have gone to the cave since
she often said that the white woman was calling her. She ran to the cave on the Guiitara,
and found to her joy that her mother's heart
had not deceived her. She saw her daughter
kneeling in front of the white woman and
playing affectionately and familiarly with the
child, who had come down from His
mother's arms to let the girl enjoy His divine
and sublime tenderness. Maria fell to her
knees before this beautiful spectacle; she had
seen the Blessed Virgin for the first time.
Fearful of the scorn of her relatives and
neighbors, who did not believe what she had
already told them, Maria preferred to keep
quiet about the occurrence. Very frequently
she went to the cave, and little by little filled
it with wild flowers and tallow candles that
her daughter helped her affix in the cracks
of the rock.
Time went by, and the secret was kept by Maria and Rosa until the day when the girl fell
gravely ill and soon died. Distressed, Maria
decided to take her daughter's body to the
feet of the Lady of the Guditara, remind her
of all the flowers and candles that Rosa used
to bring, and ask her to restore Rosa to life.
Pressed by the sadness of the unrelenting
maternal supplication, the Blessed Virgin obtained Rosa's resurrection from Her Divine
Son. Overflowing with joy, Maria went to
lpiales, where she arrived at ten o'clock at
night. She told all her acquaintances of the
wonder. Those who were already in bed got
up; the bells were rung, and a throng
gathered in front of the village church. As
dawn drew near, they all set out toward the
cave, where they arrived at daybreak.
At six in the morning they were at Las La
jas. The miracle could no longer be doubt
ed; extraordinary lights shone from the cave.
There, on the rock wall, was Our Lady en
graved forever.
This picture of Our Lady of Las Lajas is
of the miraculous painting that everyone can
see upon visiting the site of the miracle in
Guaitara, Colombia. The painting is the fo
cal point over the altar in a beautiful gothic
church which was built around it.
This picture and the story accompanying it are part of a special project of the America Needs Fatima Campaign. To get a copy send donation of $10 or more to: America Needs Fatima, PO Box 550, Crompond, NY 10517
