My parents immigrated to the United States with virtually nothing with them. Since the process of immigrating was costly only necessary items were brought along. Due to this, they don’t bring many items from their life in their home countries. However, the item I am writing about is one of the few items my mother brought with her and is very important to her and her culture from the Dominican Republic.

The image is called , and is painting of the Virgin Mary who is the Dominican Republic’s patron saint. The painting itself is a very important image to Catholics in the Dominican Republic and many have replicas of it in their home. The painting was brought to the Dominican Republic from Spain when they first began colonizing the island of Hispaniola. The painting itself depicts the birth of Jesus Christ. Today the real copy of the painting is kept in La Basilica de Higüey, the most important religious monument in the Dominican Republic.

January 21st is a national holiday in the country dedicated to the saint called Día de la Altagracia and many Dominican Catholics make pilgrimage to the monument to pray and worship. My mother used to do this before she immigrated and attend the services. Today she still celebrates the holiday by attending service for that day, so the holiday and the culture has stuck with her and remains important.

The copy my mother has was given to her by my grandmother before my mother immigrated. My grandmother unfortunately passed away when I was under a year old. So, this image also acts as way for my mother to remember my grandmother.

This object represents the role faith and religion played in my mother’s immigration journey. When you’re an immigrant coming to this country with no English-speaking ability or skills, faith is acts as way to maintain hope. Religion often unites communities of people together and I think this is especially true for immigrants. I have seen this painting in many other people’s homes and business which has reinforced in me its importance.

For me the painting does remind me of my Dominican heritage. When I was growing up a different copy was kept in my room. It is believed the saint watches over the Dominican Republic and its people. For my mother, I think it was very important to have the saint watch over me and to have a reminder of our culture in my room. Due to the importance of the painting to my mother, the painting reminds me of her and subsequently its importance in Dominican culture.