Our Lady of Altagracia: The Spiritual Mother of the Dominican Republic

Our Lady of Altagracia: The Spiritual Mother of the Dominican Republic

Our Lady of Altagracia, also known as "Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia," holds a special place in the hearts of the Dominican people. Revered as the protective and spiritual mother of the Dominican Republic, her image and story have been a source of inspiration and devotion for centuries.

Historical Background

The devotion to Our Lady of Altagracia dates back to the early 16th century. According to tradition, two Spanish brothers, Alfonso and Antonio Trejo, brought a painting of the Virgin Mary to the island of Hispaniola around 1502. This painting, which depicts the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus in a manger, became a symbol of faith and hope for the Dominican people.

The Image and Its Significance

The image of Our Lady of Altagracia is a painting on cloth, measuring approximately thirteen by eighteen inches. It is believed to have been created by an unknown Spanish artist around the turn of the 14th century. The painting is set in an ornate frame made of gold, enamel, and precious stones, crafted by an unknown 18th-century artisan. The image shows Mary with a crown of stars and a mantle adorned with stars, symbolizing her role as the Queen of Heaven and her connection to the Star of Bethlehem.

Feast Day and Celebrations

The feast day of Our Lady of Altagracia is celebrated on January 21, a national holiday in the Dominican Republic. On this day, thousands of faithful devotees from across the country make pilgrimages to the Basilica-Cathedral of Our Lady of Altagracia in the province of La Altagracia. The celebrations include special masses, processions, and offerings of oranges, inspired by the story of the painting's mysterious movements to an orange tree grove.

Miracles and Devotion

Over the centuries, Our Lady of Altagracia has been credited with numerous miracles and acts of intercession. One notable event occurred in 1691 when a Spanish-Dominican force defeated a French force, an outcome attributed to the Virgin's intercession. The devotion to Our Lady of Altagracia has been affirmed and celebrated by various popes, including Pope Pius XI and Pope John Paul II, who blessed the Basilica-Cathedral during his visit in 1979.

Modern-Day Significance

Today, the devotion to Our Lady of Altagracia extends beyond the Dominican Republic. In areas with significant Dominican populations, such as New York City, her feast day marks the beginning of Dominican Heritage Month. The image of Our Lady of Altagracia continues to be a symbol of faith, hope, and unity for Dominicans worldwide.

Conclusion

Our Lady of Altagracia remains a powerful and enduring symbol of the Dominican Republic's spiritual heritage. Her image and story continue to inspire devotion and reverence, reminding the faithful of the enduring power of faith and the protective presence of the Virgin Mary.

: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Altagracia)

: [National Today](https://nationaltoday.com/our-lady-of-altagracia/)

Puerto Rico Defeats Dominican Republic in WBC

If you grew up in the Bronx as I have, you may have noticed that, though Hispanic, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans usually do not get along. There is a rivalry among them.  Well, that rivalry is really manifested in baseball. The World Baseball Classic is underway for 2017 and tonight's match was Puerto Rico versus Dominican Republic.  The game was an exciting one.

Petco Park was full of Dominicans and Puerto Rican cheering. Yadier Molina homered and brought in two runs. The Puerto Rican native from Vega Alta was pretty much the MVP.  Puerto Rico's pitchers, Hector Santiago, Joe Jimenez, Joseph Colon and Edwin Diaz held the dangerous Dominican batters from getting big hits.

The game was not without controversy. Dominican manager Tony Pena complained of the strike zone claiming the umpire was not calling strikes fairly. He was ejected during the eighth inning of the game. However, video replays with the imposition of the strike zone by sportcasters shows that the umpire was mostly right in his calls. The Dominican Republic lost 3 to 1.  It was the first time since 2009 that they have lost in the World Baseball Classic  The game had lots of action and was nerve-wrecking. Puerto Rico's talent was demonstrated in Molina as well as the youthful Javier Lopez of the reigning World Series Champions, the Chicago Cubs, who tagged out a Dominican player while celebration.

Javy Baez celebrating while putting the tag down. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/KOIDJtiX4v

— Baseball Lifestyle™ (@BsbLifestyle__) March 15, 2017

Twitter and other social media erupted in celebration on the part of Puerto Ricans. They even took to task to tease Dominican fans, all in good fun of course.  Congratulations team Puerto Rico!

🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷

— bryan (@OMNlSCIENTE) March 15, 2017

And Puerto Rico has taken down the Dominican Republic to open play in San Diego! #WBC2017 🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷 pic.twitter.com/DOWiHJyl34

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 15, 2017

@KelDansby & I Lmfaooo #DRvsPR #worldbaseballClasic pic.twitter.com/dK1Jig9aZE

— Erika Fernandez (@CurlsAndSports) March 13, 2017

Pick one. #DRvsPR pic.twitter.com/4ThKXzsaM0

— Flama (@theFlama) September 11, 2016

Congratulations to team #PuertoRico on defeating the #DominicanRepublic! Wepa! #wbc2017 #worldbaseballclassic #Boricuas pic.twitter.com/TMyDWNE29b

— ☧Sacerdotنs☧ (@Sacerdotus) March 15, 2017

Source:

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/219398922/puerto-rico-defeats-dominican-republic/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/03/15/puerto-rico-wins-clash-dominicans-world-baseball-classic/99197326/

mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/03/15/puerto-rico-defeats-the-dominican-republic-in-wbc-play/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/03/15/puerto-rico-wins-clash-dominicans-world-baseball-classic/99197326/

No Juan Illegal: Trump Orders Wall

Trump's attack against illegal immigration is possibly what got him elected. He voiced his concerns on illegal immigrants coming to the nation and bringing their rapists, criminals; taking American jobs and so on. As a solution, he vowed to build a wall and deport illegal immigrants. Well, he is fulfilling his promise. Today, President Trump signed executive orders which will pave the way for the wall on the border between Mexico and the United States. He reiterated that Mexico will pay for it. Moreover, Trump's executive pen will bring about the hiring of 5,000 more border patrol officers, give more power to ICE agents in order to arrest and deport illegal immigrants and take away federal grants from "sanctuary cities" who harbor illegal immigrants. New York, California and several other "blue state" regions are among these sanctuary cities.

Trump's actions today have ignited progressives and others who are incessant on breaking the law by allowing illegal immigration and putting them as the priority over American citizens. They have vowed to fight Trump; however, most likely they will fail. I have been a critcal voice against illegal immigration for years now after noticing how legal Americans such as Puerto Ricans have been pushed aside while illegal immigrants such as Mexicans, Dominicans and others are helped. It is not fair that people can come here illegally, work, not pay taxes and at the same time get welfare, food stamps and other amenities while American citizens suffer and truly deserve the aid to help them get back on their feet, so to speak.

In the Bronx, where I am from, one can see Mexicans, Dominicans and others buy groceries and other things by bulk at the expense of tax payers. These illegal immigrants have children like rabbits and then claim each child in order to get more benefits. It is a scam and quite frankly, sinful. Welfare and food stampes was created in order to help Americans get back on their feet, not to maintain them for life. Those who defend illegal immigration are hypocrites. I would bet a good amount of money that if someone entered a progressive's home, ate their food, watched their television and made him or herself at home would have the cops called on them by the progressive. No one would tolerate this intrusion in his or her own home. Why would we tolerate it in our nation on a grand scale?

We welcome people to our nations, but legally. Those who have visas must return to their nations before they expire. Anyone who wants to stay in America should become a citizen and enjoy the benefits of being one. This is much better than living in the shadows and not having the full protection of the law. Those who harbor illegal immigrants do a disservice to them. It is unchristian to keep someone in a situation that does not benefit him or her. Catholic bishops, religious others and other religious institutions should be ashamed of themselves for aiding and abetting illegal immigration. Hopefully, President Trump will go after these religious groups for endorsing the breaking of the law.

Cardinal Farrell even blocked me on Twitter because I gave him my opinion on this issue. He like other liberals are blind and do not think rationally nor do they respect the rule of law.

They should have not come illegally. You should know better bishop... https://t.co/fZ4f8dyaJf

— ☧Sacerdotنs☧ (@Sacerdotus) June 24, 2016

Donald Trump is moving in the right direction. He is also suspending the refugee program and banning visa applications from nations that harbor terrorists.

WATCH LIVE: President Trump speaks after signing executive orders to build US-Mexico border wall https://t.co/op2VMAjdEv pic.twitter.com/G1rzQyZWUA

— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) January 25, 2017

HAPPENING NOW: President Trump speaks at the Dept. of Homeland Security. Watch Live: https://t.co/4UuFAodz7l pic.twitter.com/wAStQ39wsv

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 25, 2017

.@POTUS: "Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders - gets back its borders." pic.twitter.com/6kjmkfixpc

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 25, 2017

Hopefully, all illegal immigrants will be arrested and deported. If they want to come here, they have to go through the process, legally. It is only fair.



Source:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/president-trump-is-planning-to-sign-executive-orders-on-immigration-this-week/2017/01/24/aba22b7a-e287-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html?postshare=9361485318387704&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.a18a6dab5018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/president-trump-is-planning-to-sign-executive-orders-on-immigration-this-week/2017/01/24/aba22b7a-e287-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html?postshare=9361485318387704&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.198e10f6c223

http://www.dailywire.com/news/12762/it-begins-trump-sign-orders-build-wall-crack-down-james-barrett

pamelageller.com/2017/01/breaking-trump-sign-executive-orders-restricting-immigrationmigration-jihad-nations.html/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/us/politics/wall-border-trump.html?_r=0

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/25/politics/donald-trump-build-wall-immigration-executive-orders/index.html

www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-idUSKBN1591HP

St. Dominic

Today is the feast day of St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, also known as the "Dominicans."  Dominic was born in Caleruega, Spain.  His name originates from Saint Dominic of Silos who was a Benedictine.  Dominic, like St. Francis of Assisi was focused on helping others.  As a youth, he sold his clothing and other possessions in order to help feed the poor.  He was also friends with Francis. 

When he was 24 years old, he became a Canon Regular in Osma, Spain.  While ministering in France, Dominic encountered the Cathars which were a heretical sect that was anti Catholic and believed their ways of faith were the antidote to what they perceived as corruption in the Catholic Church.  They believed that matter was evil and only the spirit was good. 

Dominic would found the Order of Preachers in 1215 with great zeal to bring back those who were lost to heresies of the time. The order was named the "Dominicans" because of a dream his mother had of a dog that came from her womb holding a flaming torch in its mouth.  With this torch, this dog set the world ablaze.  The word comes from the Latin "Domini Canis" or "Dogs of the Lord."  Dominic and his friars would travel about preaching the Gospel of the Lord and defending Catholic teaching against the heresies of the time. 

It is believed that Our Lady of the Rosary appeared to Dominic and gave him the Rosary which became a popular devotion.  The Dominicans use a habit that is composed of a white alb with a black hooded cape, cincture and Rosary.  The white alb of the habit - according to tradition - would eventually become the white cassock used by Popes.  Pope Pius V was a member of the Dominican order and used his white habit as Pope.

Some of the well known Dominicans are Bishop Bartolomé de las Casas and St. Thomas Aquinas. 


Prayer to St Dominic

Wonderful Saintly Founder of the eloquent Order of Preachers and friend of St. Francis of Assisi, you were a fiery defender of the Faith and a fighter against the darkness of heresy. You resembled a great star that shone close to the world and pointed to the Light which was Christ.
Help astronomers to study the stars and admire their wonderful Maker,
proclaiming: "Give glory to God in the highest!" Amen.