Our Lady of Coromoto

This is a representation of Our Lady of Coromoto, who is the patroness of Venezuela. The devotion is based on an alleged apparition of the Virgin Mary to the indigenous Coromoto people in the jungle near Guanare, Venezuela, in the 17th century. The Virgin Mary instructed the chief of the tribe, also named Coromoto, to go to the white people to receive baptism. When the chief was reluctant to convert, the Virgin Mary appeared to him again, and when he tried to grab her, she vanished, leaving behind a small relic with her image in his hand. This relic is a tiny parchment or tissue paper measuring 27 mm by 22 mm, which is venerated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Coromoto.