Virgin of Suyapa

The Virgin of Suyapa (Spanish: Virgen de Suyapa) is an 18th-century statue (6 cm/2.3 in) of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The statue, also known as Our Lady of Suyapa (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Suyapa), is perhaps Honduras' most popular religious image, and the focus of an extensive pilgrimage. The statue is kept in the Basílica de Suyapa in Suyapa, a suburb of the capital Tegucigalpa, and toured through various other parts of the country each year in early February. Many thousands of people from all over Central America make pilgrimages to visit the statue on her name day, February 3rd, a commemoration of the day she was found. The statue has been stolen and then recovered on two occasions. 

There are several different versions of how the statue that is the Virgin of Suyapa was discovered. The version that has become standard is recounted below.
Many Hondurans believe the statue was miraculously discovered in late-January or early-February 1747 by a labourer, Alejandro Colindres. Colindres and an 8 year old boy had been sent by Colindres's mother to clear some corn fields on Piligüin mountain, northeast of Tegucigalpa. On the way back, they were overtaken by nightfall and decided to sleep outside. Colindres was awakened by a sharp pain in the side, and discovered that he was sleeping on something. Later versions of the story claim that without looking at it, Colindres threw it as far away as he could, only to find it underneath him as he lay down again. This detail is not present in early versions of the story. The next morning Colindres discovers that he's been sleeping on the tiny statue of a virgin which he took home with him and set up in his mother's house on the family altar. For the next 20 years it remained on the family's altar in their house. It was not until 1768 that the statue was credited with its first recognized miracle and began to attract public attention. By 1777, a chapel was constructed for the statue.