About: Our Lady of Altagracia

Our Lady of Altagracia or the Virgin of Altagracia, in Catholic Marian devotion, is a title of Mary by which she is honored as the "protective and spiritual mother of the Dominican people." The title also is used for a particular image of Mary with the baby Jesus in a manger. Her patronal feast day is January 21, a holiday/non-working day in the Dominican Republic on which many faithful devotees of the Virgin come from all over the Dominican territory to the Basilica-Cathedral of Our lady of Altagracia, in the province of La Altagracia. Devotion to her is also prominent in areas outside of the Dominican Republic where Dominican influence flourishes, including New York City, where her feast marks the beginning of Dominican Heritage Month. The image of the Virgin of Altagracia shows symbols and imagery that are important in Christianity and in Marian devotion in particular, including Jesus in a manger, a crown of stars and a mantle of stars for Mary, and symbolic colors.