Our Lady of Africa (title)

Did You Know?

• In Spain, Our Lady of Africa is officially recognized as a public holiday in the autonomous city of Ceuta.
• Ceuta also celebrates a second public holiday called 'Fiesta Sacrificio-Eidul Adha'.

History

The statue of Our Lady of Africa originated from a French sculpture called Virgo Fidelis, a copy of an 1838 work by Edmé Bouchardon. A copy was given to the Ladies of the Sacred Heart in Paris, and a later derivation was ordered in 1840 by Antoine-Adolphe Dupuch, the first Bishop of Algiers. It passed through several hands before reaching Trappist monks in Staouéli. Bishop Louis-Antoine-Augustin Pavy, who succeeded Dupuch in 1846, planned a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on a site that had been used for prayer since 1846 by two women, Anne Cinquin and Agarite Berger. The Ladies of the Sacred Heart in Lyons proposed using the Virgo Fidelis statue, and Pavy agreed, changing the title to Our Lady of Africa after consulting advisors. The statue was installed in a small chapel in 1857. The church Notre-Dame d'Afrique, designed by Jean-Eugène Fromageau, was completed by Bishop Charles Lavigerie, and the statue was moved there the same year. The bronze sculpture was later depicted with Black skin and African features. French missionaries dedicated the entire African continent to the patronage of Our Lady of Africa. Lavigerie founded the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa in 1869, closely associated with his White Fathers. Both congregations assisted in operating the church, which became linked with miraculous healings. Pope Pius IX granted a canonical coronation in 1876, when the church was elevated to a minor basilica. A blue gown was added in 1886.

Devotion

The feast of Our Lady of Africa is celebrated on April 30, observed as a solemnity in Northern Africa with obligatory Mass attendance. It appears in the liturgical calendars of Nigeria, Kenya, and Southern Africa, and the White Fathers provide texts for celebrations outside Africa. The devotion has spread across Africa and the diaspora, with churches such as Notre Dame D'Afrique in Bangui and the Our Mother of Africa Chapel in Washington, D.C., completed in 1997. As the devotion expanded, the original statue in Algiers is not the exclusive representation, and the title has become associated with various Black depictions of the Virgin Mary.