The image of Our Lady of Succor depicts Mary holding a small child in her arms. The image evokes the care of the Virgin for Jesus, which began during the Immaculate Conception until his death. The image of the Virgin is the first image of her to ever exist in Guatemala. The sculptor Mosen Johan de Morgovejo originally chiseled the image in the late fifteenth Century. Around the year 1520, it is believed that this image was brought over by the Spaniards to the newly founded continent. After arriving in the Americas, the image was handed over to the Spanish Conquistador, Pedro de Alvarado and brought to Guatemala during the Conquest of Guatemala. The Spaniards and La Quiche tell a similar story regarding Nuestra Señora del Socorro. The story is about a pale, young girl, who appeared during the Spanish conquest of Guatemala in the 1500s. The young girl distracts and prevents La Quiche from seeing the Spaniards. The Spanish lore proposes the girl distracted La Quiche with angels. While, La Quiche story suggests “birds without feet” were the distraction.

Citations:

Arevalo, Miguel Alvarez. Nuestra Señora Del Socorro: Presente En Los 500 Años De Evangelizacion De America. Serviprensa Centroamericana, 1989.

Wikiguate. "Imagen De Nuestra Señora Del Socorro." WikiGuate. N.p., 28 Feb. 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2018.

Researched by Thomas R. Clontz

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Guatemala, Cucurucho en, et al. “Nuestra Señora Del Perpetuo Socorro.” Semana Santa En Guatemala 2018 | Procesiones y Recorridos, 28 Sept. 2017, www.cucuruchoenguatemala.com/nuestra-senora-del-perpetuo-socorro/.

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