Lanzarote's continuous volcanic eruptions for a few years, people of the island were praying for miracles. Their prayers were answered when in the year 1736, a Franciscan father in the church of San Roque, organized a procession carrying the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows (Virgin Mother Mary) in Tinajo.
The procession was at the mountain of Guiguan, where everyone prayed and made a promise that is the lava stops, they would build a shrine for the Virgin of Tinajo.
The people kept praying and also erected a cross at the edge of the river of lava. The lava flowed, but stopped at the foot of the cross which was a MIRACLE!!!! The people were joyous and partied that the Virgin Mother listened to their prayers.
However, the islanders forgot about their promise to build a church dedicated to the Virgin. After a few years, a lady dressed in black approached the Juana Rafaela, daughter of Shepherd Juan Antonio Acosta and Rita Umpiérrez a humble family from Cabreros. The girl was taking care of the cattle in the mountain of Guiguan, when the lady in black asked the girl "who will remember the promise to build a chapel here."
When Joan Rafaela told her parents, they didn't believe her thinking the child was joking, in fact no one else believed her.
After a few days, the lady in black returned to the girl when the cattle were grazing and repeated her message. The girl said that she had told about the earlier message at home but her parents scolded and not believe her. The Virgin recorded her message on the back of the girl's hand and said, "go now, they will believe you". On this occasion, the parents were amazed, and had no choice but to believe the words of the child.
After that, the shepherd told religious authorities, who did all kinds of tests to check the authenticity of the story. They took the shepherd's girl to Teguise, and showed her images of all the saints available; when the girl showed them the image of "Our Lady of Sorrows", everyone turned pale and instantly recognized the figure of that lovely black who was sad, it was the Virgin of Sorrows, people of the village built a shrine as promised to the Virgin of Los Dolores.
.Years later, on 31st July 1824, at 7 am the volcano erupted again between Tao and Tiagua when the people were in procession from Guiguan towards the sea. Please fell to their knees and prayed for Our Lady to not allow the lands to become desolate and destroy the property. At the time the volcano stopped throwing up lava to eject only columns of smoke.
This new miracle by the Virgin of Los Dolores is proclaimed as a mistress of volcanoes.
This story shows people of Lanzarote and rest of the islands are very religious and the fiesta of Los Dolores is very close to their heart.
Lanzarote Holidays are exciting and memorable with LanzaroteON, whether you are here with family or friends. Check daily Lanzarote Weather for latest weather updates and weather forecast. Do not hesitate to Contact Us for Hotels, Excursions in Lanzarote, partying in Lanzarote and basically anything you fancy doing here. Do not forget to check out the closest beaches to your hotel with LanzaroteON's Interactive Map, your stress free travel guide for a pleasant and safe holiday and get LanzaroteON's Free Discount Card to avail discounts at restaurants, bars, discos and other venues.
