Our Lady of Cuapa

The Story

Our Lady of Cuapa refers to apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary reported in 1980 near the village of San Francisco de Cuapa in the Chontales region of Nicaragua. The visionary was Bernardo Martinez, a humble sacristan who cared for the village chapel. According to Bernardo's account, the events began in April 1980, when he saw the chapel's statue of Mary illuminated with light. On May 8, 1980, while returning from fishing, he reported seeing the Virgin standing above a small cloud over a morisco tree. Further apparitions followed through October 13, 1980, a date echoing the final apparition at Fatima. The messages attributed to Our Lady of Cuapa called for the daily Rosary prayed with meditation on the Scriptures, the devotion of the Five First Saturdays, forgiveness, peace, and renewal of life. Coming amid the upheaval of Nicaragua's civil conflict, the call to conversion and peace resonated deeply; Mary is reported to have said that Nicaragua had suffered much and would continue to suffer if its people did not change. Bishop Pablo Antonio Vega of Juigalpa authorized publication of Bernardo's account in 1982 and supported the growing devotion, and the apparition site outside the village was later declared a shrine of the Diocese of Juigalpa in 2013. Bernardo Martinez was ordained a priest in 1995 and died in 2000. Pilgrims visit the shrine each year, especially for the feast on May 8.

Church Recognition

Given diocesan approval as worthy of belief by the local bishop (declared 1982; reaffirmed 1994).

Catholic Teaching

Emphasis on the Rosary, the Five First Saturdays, and family prayer.

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

A shrine at Cuapa marks the apparition site.

Go Deeper

See the pastoral letters of the Diocese of Juigalpa on the events at Cuapa and Bernardo Martinez's published account of the apparitions; on private revelation and the Rosary, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 67, 971) and Pope St. John Paul II's Rosarium Virginis Mariae.