Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolas

The Story

Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in connection with apparitions reported in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, a city on the Paraná River in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, beginning on September 25, 1983. The reported visionary, Gladys Quiroga de Motta, was a housewife and grandmother with little formal education and no previous public religious role. According to the accepted account, Mary appeared holding the Christ Child and a rosary, in a form recalling an old statue of Our Lady of the Rosary that had been set aside in the bell tower of the local cathedral after being damaged. Over the following years Gladys recorded approximately 1,800 messages, which call for conversion, daily prayer of the Rosary, reading of Scripture, recourse to the Eucharist, and consecration to Mary. The messages also asked that a temple be built for her near the river, and construction of a large sanctuary began in the late 1980s at the site known as the Campito. After decades of study, Bishop Héctor Cardelli of San Nicolás declared on May 22, 2016, that the events had a supernatural character and were worthy of belief — one of the few such episcopal declarations in recent decades. The devotion had already spread widely through Argentina and neighboring countries. Today the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás receives large numbers of pilgrims, with major gatherings on the 25th of each month and an especially large annual pilgrimage on September 25, the anniversary of the first apparition. The shrine's spirituality centers on the Rosary as a school of prayer and on Mary's maternal call to return to her Son.

Church Recognition

Bishop Hector Cardelli of San Nicolas recognized the supernatural character of the events (1983-1990) for his diocese in May 2016.

Catholic Teaching

A call to the Rosary, adherence to Christ, and consecration to Mary.

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

The Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolas draws a large annual pilgrimage on May 25.

Go Deeper

Bishop Héctor Cardelli's 2016 declaration sets out the Church's judgment on the events, and the published collections of the messages of Our Lady of San Nicolás are widely available; the Diocese of San Nicolás provides current shrine information.