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Comment by Sue K on May 6, 2013 at 1:54am

This statue was found by pagans in the Canary Islands almost 100 years before the Christians arrived to evangelize; she is Our Lady of Candelaria, or Candlemas. from Wikipedia:

"According to a legend recorded by Alonso de Espinosa in 1594, a statue of the Virgin Mary, bearing a child in one hand and a green candle in the other (hence "Candelaria"), was discovered on the beach of Chimisay (Güímar) by two Guanche goatherds in 1392.^[4] This occurred before theCastilian conquest of the island (the island was not fully conquered until 1496).

One of the shepherds tried to throw a stone at the statue, but his arm became paralyzed; the other tried to stab the statue with a knife but ended up stabbing himself.^[1][4] The statue was taken by the local Guanche mencey, Acaymo, to the cueva de Chinguaro.

Later, was recognized by Antón, a Guanche who had been enslaved and converted to Christianity by the Castilians, as the Virgin Mary when he returned to Tenerife. He told the mencey of his conversion and the statue was thus venerated by the Guanches, who translated the statue to the cave of Achbinico (also known as San Blas - "Saint Blaise").^[1]