From Forums of the Virgin Mary [translated]:
The Virgin of Candelaria: miracles and apparitions in the New World; the blessing of the light of the world and the 3 days of darkness.
On February 2, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is celebrated, and the festival of lights, which is also called Candlemas.
And that is the name given to an apparition of the Virgin in the Canary Islands, because the apparition image of the Virgin with the Child carried a candle in her hand.
And since the Canary Islands were the last point for Spanish ships to make landfall before reaching America, the invocation of Candlemas became one of the most widespread Marian invocations in America and famous for its miracles.
Here we will talk about the celebration of February 2, where the candles are blessed, about the appearance of the Virgin of Candelaria in Tenerife, and how this dedication later spread throughout America with miracles and apparitions.
On February 2, the solemnities of the Incarnation close.
It is celebrated that the Holy Family is going to present its Son in the Temple and that the Virgin Mary is going to purify herself after birth.
The Law of Moses commanded that at forty days after birth, a child would be presented in the temple.
And on February 2, the forty days are completed, counting from December 25, the date on which we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Therefore the Catholic Church celebrates the Presentation of the Lord in the temple, the revelation of Jesus to Simeon and Anna, and the ritual Purification of the Virgin Mary on that day.
In the middle of the 5th century, this festival was known as “La Candelaria” or “Feast of Lights.”
Because the purified Virgin Mary had given birth to the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, and on this feast He manifested Himself, illuminating Simeon and Anna.
And there is a tradition in the supernatural messages about the three days of darkness, which says that only candles blessed on February 2 will burn on those three days.
And the appearance of the Virgin of Candelaria and various devotions that bear her name are also celebrated, especially in the western part of the American continent.
The appearance of the Virgin of Candelaria happened in Tenerife, the main island of the Canary Islands.
It is the southernmost point that separates the European continent from the American continent and the last place where ships refuel to continue their journey to America.
On that obligatory stopover, the protection of the Virgin of Candelaria providentially appeared, to whom the Spanish conquerors entrusted their journey and took them to America.
Hernán Cortés was devoted to her; he wore a medal around his neck.
That is why there are more than thirty places in America, which were founded thanks to a local dedication to Candlemas.
The original apparition of Our Lady in Tenerife carried a candle in her hand, and that is why popular devotion and the Church assigned the festival of this apparition to February 2, associating it with the festival of the candles and the blessing of the candles.
It is estimated that it appeared 95 years before the conquest of Tenerife, around 1400.
Two Guanche shepherds, pre-Hispanic settlers, were going to lock their cattle in the caves, when they noticed that the cattle were milling around and did not want to enter.
Searching for the cause, they looked towards the mouth of the ravine and saw on a rock, almost at the edge of the sea, the image of a woman with a child in her arms, which they believed was animated, which was real.
And since it was forbidden for men to speak or approach women in deserted areas, they thought of signaling her to leave so that the cattle could pass.
But when they wanted to carry out the action, the arm of one of them remained stiff and motionless.
And the other shepherd, when he tried to hurt her with his knife, was wounded by his own knife.
Frightened, they fled to the cave-palace of King Acaymo, and he asked them to pick up the image to take it to the palace.
And when the shepherds made contact with the image, they were healed.
Then the king understood that the woman in the image with the child in her arms was something supernatural.
And the king himself wanted to carry her in his arms, but after a distance, he needed to ask for help because of the weight.
And today there is a large cross in the place where the king asked for help, and a sanctuary of Our Lady of Help.
Then they took the image to a cave near the king’s palace, now converted into a chapel, and there they devoted themselves to it for several years.
But later, a young man named Antón, who had been taken as a slave by the Spanish and had managed to escape and return to his island, recognized the Virgin Mary in the miraculous image.
And since he had been baptized, he related to the king and his court the Christian faith that he held. [scroll for more:]
Thus they came to know the Virgin Mary as “the Mother of the sustainer of Heaven and Earth,” and they moved her to the Achbinico cave for public veneration.
At a certain point, the image was stolen by the Spanish but was returned after a plague, which they attributed to sacrilegious theft.
Later, when the Spanish conquered the island, the devotion was already rooted there.
And in 1526 the sanctuary was built, due to the many wonders that God worked for Our Lady of Candelaria.
The image is one meter and carries the Child Jesus in the right arm and a candle in the left hand.
Therefore it was called Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, after the Christianization of the island.
The first festival was on February 2, 1497, just after the Conquest of Tenerife was completed, with the incorporation of the island to the Crown of Castile.
In 1826 the image was lost due to a flood and a replica was later made.
The Virgin of Candelaria of Tenerife holds the position of Patroness of the Canary Islands and is affectionately called “La Morenita.”
And there are many miracles attributed to him, especially miracles at sea, such as saving people from a storm or a shipwreck.
But the Virgin of Candelaria is also the Patroness of several cities in the New World, and her miracles are counted in the thousands.
And there were some invocations of Candlemas that arose from supernatural appearances, and that produced miracles in their images.
For example, the image of the Virgin of the Candelaria of Cayma in Arequipa, Peru, which became very heavy when it was transported to Cusco.
And then they heard a voice that said: “Caiman, Caiman,” which in Quechua means “here, here, here I stay,” and thus the name Cayma was born, and it must have stayed in Cayma.
The story of Our Lady of Candelaria of Copiapó in Chile is that the muleteer Mariano Caro Inca was returning from the mountain range and a terrible storm came.
He saw a light in the distance and the glow guided him to some rocks where he found the image of the Virgin of Candelaria with the child in her arms that incessantly emitted a strong bright light.
The Virgin of the Candelaria of Puno appeared with the face of an elegant, very serene Lady and with a Child in her arms, in the 17th century, to a native of the area.
The Virgin asked permission to wash her son’s clothes in the river.
And when he returned with his master, they found the bust of the Virgin, all dressed in white, with a child in her arms and her clothes still wet.
Well, that’s it for what we wanted to tell about the celebration of February 2 and the apparitions and miracles of the Virgin of Candelaria.
And we at Forums would like to ask: what other invocations of the Virgin of Candelaria do you know?