There was not material available at the site (in Spanish or English) so I have pieced the story together from various websites and from what I can understand of the Sister's account.
The shrine is located on a point that juts out into the Pirana River (where Chelsey and I enjoyed a picnic - photo on left). The water is shallow off the coast and it was a very dangerous place for boats to cross. The legend says that a white figure appeared on the shore to provide ships a vantage point to avoid a collision with the rocks and ultimately make a safe crossing. It was somehow identified that this figure was the Virgin Mary. Sometime in the early twentieth century, missionaries installed a small cave (Photo Below) and inserted a statue of the Virgin into that cave and the pilgrimage has gained momentum ever since.
The site now houses a chapel (photo below), a monastery and is home to a hermit. They have mass on Sundays but the chapel is nearly always open. People go to visit the chapel and then frequently spend time in the park area surrounding it which is quite lush and is on the river.
I did read that the church has never "certified or documented" any miracles at this location so I leave it to you to make a judgement as to what really did, or did not, happen. How the church would go about certifying this (or any other) miracle is beyond me.... it is not like the FDA certifying food as "organic" or some housing authority certifying a house as "LEED Compliant." Anyhow, for what it is worth, the miracle is not "certified" by the Church.
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