Mitos y Leyendas: The Immaculate Conception

• Mitos y Leyendas shares the story of the Immaculate Conception.
• It all began with a figure found in a wooden box.
• No one knows how this image ended up in the place where it was discovered.

The legend of the Virgin of the Conception in Nicaragua tells the origin of the image of this virgin, which is the object of great devotion in the city of Granada.

This tradition has been passed down from generation to generation over the years.

According to the legend, at some point in the 17th or early 18th century, a group of laundresses was washing clothes on the coast of Lake Nicaragua.

While they were working, they observed a wooden box floating in the water without sinking, as if it were empty. Intrigued by this strange finding, the laundresses decided to tell the friars of the San Francisco convent what they had witnessed.

A box

The friars, armed with sprinklers and carrying the cord of San Francisco, went to the place where someone spotted the box.

To their surprise, they found that the box was floating and they easily secured it with the cords they had tied around their waists.

They brought the box to dry land and opened it. Inside was a beautiful image of the Virgin Mary, carved in wood, holding the Baby Jesus and with the moon at her feet.

The reason for the presence of this image on the coasts of Granada remains a mystery.

The Immaculate Conception

Some speculate that the result of a shipwreck could have brought the image and that ocean currents carried it there. The religious leaders of the city decided to venerate the image in the parish church.

At that time, the Virgin did not yet have a defined title and people knew her as «Our Lady of the Conception of Castles» due to the fortress called «Castles of the Conception», located near the San Juan River, which had defended Granada from attacks by English pirates in the past.

This story highlights the importance of the Virgin of the Conception in the city of Granada, Nicaragua, and how someone mysteriously found her image in the lake’s waters.

Genny de Bernardo wishes you a beautiful day and invites you to stay tuned for more wonderful legends!