Our Lady of Solitude (; ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus and a special form of

Marian devotion Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, by members of certain Christian traditions. They are performed in Catholicism, High Church Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Orie ...

practised in Spanish-speaking countries to commemorate the

solitude Solitude, also known as social withdrawal, is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may wo ...

of Mary on

Holy Saturday Holy Saturday (), also known as Great and Holy Saturday, Low Saturday, the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday, Saturday of the Glory, Easter Eve, Joyous Saturday, the Saturday of Light, Good Saturday, or Black Saturday, among other names, is t ...

. Variant names include ''Nuestra Señora de la Soledad'',Roten, S.M., Johann. "Our Lady of Solitude", University of Dayton
/ref> ''Maria Santisima, Nuestra Señora Dolorosisima de la Soledad'', and ''Virgen de la Soledad''.

History

The title originates with Queen Juana lamenting the early death of her husband

Philip I of Castile Philip the Handsome (22 June/July 1478 – 25 September 1506), also called the Fair, was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506, as well as the first Habsburg King of Castile (as Philip I) for a bri ...

in 1506.

Feast

"This devotion was instituted to compassionate Our Lady for her solitude on Holy Saturday and is akin to the devotion practiced among the Servites on Good Friday called ''the Desolata''." María de la Soledad's

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is celebrated on December 18 in Spanish-speaking countries, on

in English-speaking, and on

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

in Portuguese-speaking countries. In Oaxaca, Mexico devotions are held on the Sunday before Christmas.

In the convent of Our Lady of Victory

Isabel de Valois, wife of Felipe II, had in a private oratory a painting that she had brought with her from France and that represented the Virgin of the Solitude. The image of the picture aroused great devotion in the friars of the Order of the Minims of San Francisco de Paula, who had settled in Madrid following in the footsteps of the monarch. The friars asked permission of the queen to have a copy of the image for the chapel of their convent of Our Lady of Victory in Madrid. The image of Our Lady of Solitude was carved by the sculptor

Gaspar Becerra Gaspar Becerra (1520–1568) was a Spanish painter and sculptor of the School of Valladolid. Biography He was born at Baeza, Spain, Baeza in the Province of Jaén (Spain), Province of Jaén. He went to Rome in 1545, and studied with Giorgio Vas ...

.Maxwell, William Stirling. ''Annals of the Artists of Spain'', Volume 1, p. 245, J. Ollivier, 1848
/ref> From the beginning, the image was intended to be "''vestidera''", with only the head and hands carved and the rest a wooden frame covered with clothes. It seems that on the initiative of the Countess of Ureña, Dña María de la Cueva y Toledo, the queen's main waitress, she wore her own outfit of a noble widow of the time; this characteristic attire added to other peculiarities – such as wearing a diadem in place of crown, or be accompanied by the symbols of the

Passion Passion, the Passion or the Passions may refer to: Emotion * Passion (emotion), a very strong feeling about a person or thing * Passions (philosophy), emotional states as used in philosophical discussions * Stoic passions, various forms of emotio ...

– constituted a true revolution in the typology of Marian images. In 1565, finally, after more than a year of work, the statue of Our Lady of Solitude was presented to the convent of Our Lady of Victory.

Patroness

María de la Soledad is the patroness of Badajos and

Parla Parla () is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It is located in the southern part of the region, approximately 20 km from the capital, Madrid. History Origins Earliest evidence of human occupation includes stone tools m ...

, Spain; Porto Covo, Portugal; and

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

, Mexico; and of

Cavite Province Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, it is one of the most industri ...

, Philippines, under the name

Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga Our Lady of Solitude of Porta Vaga (, ) also known as the Virgin of a Thousand Miracles, is a Roman Catholic Marian title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in 1667 by a Spanish soldier during a night storm when ...

and in the town of San Isidro, province of Nueva Ecija under the title of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de San Isidro. The

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (), commonly known as Mission Soledad, is a Spanish mission located in Soledad, California. The mission was founded by the Franciscan order on October 9, 1791, to convert the Native Americans living in th ...

Soledad, California Soledad is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. It is in the Salinas Valley, southeast of Salinas, California, Salinas, the county seat. Soledad's population was 24,925 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from ...

, is dedicated to Our Lady of Solitude.Bolton, David A., "Inside the California Missions", California Missions Foundation
/ref>

Pontifical approbations

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

granted a

Canonical coronation A canonical coronation () is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a formal decree of a papal bull, in which the pope bestows the pontifical right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureola, aureole to an image of ...

towards a ''Nuestra Señora de la Soledad'' image for the

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

on 18 January 1904. *

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

granted a Canonical coronation towards an Our Lady of Solitude image for the

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city and municipalities of Mexico, municipality located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish Language, Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the Mexican state, state of Guanajuato. It lies between the ...

on 30 April 1922. *

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

granted a Canonical coronation towards a ''Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Parral'' image for the Parral, Chihuahua, on 22 October 1943. *

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

granted a Canonical coronation towards a ''Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de la Portería'' image for the

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

on 19 March 1964. *

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

granted a Canonical coronation towards a ''Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Acapulco'' image for the

on 8 December 1965. *

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

granted a Canonical coronation towards a ''Maria Santissima de la Soledad'' image for the

Priego de Córdoba Priego de Córdoba is a town and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It lies on the southeasternmost end of the province of Córdoba, near the headwater of the Guadajoz, and on the northern slope of the Sierr ...

on 26 June 1994. *

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

granted a Canonical coronation towards a ''

'' image for the

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...

on 18 November 2018. *

granted a Canonical coronation towards a ''Nuestra Señora de la Soledad'' image for the

Ciempozuelos Ciempozuelos () is a municipality in Spain located in the Community of Madrid. The municipality spans across a total area of 49.64 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, it has a registered population of 25,383 (2022). Geography The municipality i ...

on 4 May 2019. *

granted a Canonical coronation towards a Our Lady of Solitude of Mafra image for the

Mafra Mafra is a Czech media group that publishes printed and internet media, headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. From 2013 to 2023, it was a subsidiary of Agrofert holding conglomerate owned by trust of Andrej Babiš, the former Prime Ministe ...

on 10 November 2020.

Name

The

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

María de la Soledad, often shortened to Marisol or Soledad, is used in Spanish-speaking countries.

References

External links

"Nuestra Señora de la Soledad", Christian Iconography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria de la Soledad Marian devotions Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus Joanna of Castile