ABSTRACT
Is Mary a harmful symbol for Latin American women, as so many feminists have claimed? The chapter presents a short history of Marian veneration in the region, including her appropriation in liberation theology. Most of the chapter discusses a little studied Marian devotion in Costa Rica, that of La Negrita (La Virgen de los Angeles), the patron saint of the country. Most of the chapter is devoted to the author’s ethnographic research on La Negrita among Costa Rican Catholic women for whom she is the ultimate source of hope, help, and empowerment.
