| Our Lady of the Pillar | |
|---|---|
 The image of Our Lady of the Pillar wearing her canonical crown | |
| Location | Zaragoza, Spain |
| Date | 12 October AD 40 (traditional)[1] |
| Witness | Apostle James the Greater |
| Type | Marian Apparition |
| Approval | Pope Callixtus III (1456) Pope Innocent XIII (1723) Pope Pius X (1905) |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Shrine | Basilica of Our Lady of the Pilar, Zaragoza, Spain |
| Patronage | Zaragoza, Spain,Spanish Civil Guard,Melo, Uruguay,Buenos Aires, Argentina,Diocese of Imus, Cavite,Zamboanga City,Santa Cruz, Manila,Alaminos, Laguna,San Simon, Pampanga,Libmanan, Camarines Sur,Pilar andMorong inBataan,Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro,Sibonga, Cebu,Baleno, Masbate,Cauayan, Isabela,Hispanic people and theHispanic world.[2] |
| Attributes | The Virgin Mary carrying theChild Jesus atop a Pillar, surrounded by two or more angels |
Our Lady of the Pillar (Spanish:Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is the name given to theVirgin Mary in the context of the traditional belief that Mary, while living inJerusalem, supernaturally appeared to the ApostleJames the Greater inAD 40 while he was preaching in what is nowSpain. Those who adhere to this belief consider this appearance to be the only recorded instance of Mary exhibiting the mystical phenomenon ofbilocation.[3] AmongCatholics, it is also considered the firstMarian apparition, and unique because it happened while Mary was still living on Earth.[4]
This title is also associated with a wooden image commemorating the apparition, which is now enshrined at theCathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar inZaragoza,Aragon,Spain.Pope Callixtus III grantedindulgences for visitors to the shrine in 1456.Pope Innocent XIII in 1730 mandated her veneration throughout theSpanish Empire. On 20 May 1905,Pope Pius X granted the image acanonical coronation.
Our Lady of the Pillar is considered the Patroness ofAragon and its capitalZaragoza,Hispanic people, theHispanic world,[2] and of theSpanish Civil Guard. Herfeast day is 12 October, which coincides with theNational Day of Spain.
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Catholic tradition holds that, in the early days of Christianity, theApostles of Jesus spread the Gospel throughout the known world, withJames the Greaterevangelizing inRoman Hispania (modern-daySpain). He confronted great difficulties in his missionary efforts and faced severe discouragement. InAD 40, while he was praying by the banks of theEbro atCaesaraugusta (Zaragoza), Marybilocated fromJerusalem, where she was living at the time, and appeared to James, accompanied by thousands ofangels, to console and encourage him.[3]
Some of the earliest archaeological evidence of Marian devotion inZaragoza is found in Christian tombs dating from the Roman period, which appear to bear images representing theAssumption of the Blessed Virgin. In the 4th century, the presence ofvotive images placed on columns or pillars is attested.[5] The oldest written testimony of devotion to the Virgin Mary in Zaragoza is usually identified as that of Pedro Librana in 1155.[6] There is evidence that the site attracted pilgrims from across the Iberian Peninsula during the 13th century, e.g. reflected in the workMilagros de Nuestra Señora byGonzalo de Berceo, dated to the 1250s or early 1260s. The appellationSanta María del Pilar is attested for 1299. The claim that the first church had been the oldest in Hispania, built in AD 40 byJames the Greater, is first recorded in 1318.[7]
A book by Michael O'Neil (2015) calledExploring the Miraculous indicates that there are various traditions about earliest approvals by the church of this Marian apparition. From his book:
"For example, one of the great pilgrimage sites in Spain, Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, originating in a miracle and housing an ancient jasper Marian image on a column, did not always recognize Our Lady under this title. According to the legend relating to the apostle St. James the Greater and his travels in Spain, on January 2 in the year 40, he was disheartened with his lack of success in proclaiming the gospel in Caesaraugusta (present-day Zaragoza) by the river Ebro, when he saw Mary (still alive at the time) miraculously appear on a pillar, comforting him and calling him to return to Jerusalem. The first written mention of the Virgin of Zaragoza comes from a bishop in the middle of the twelfth century, and Zaragoza's co-cathedral's name did not originally include a reference to El Pilar, being called Santa Maria Mayor. In 1296, Pope Boniface VIII conferred an indulgence on pilgrims visiting this shrine but still without mention of Our Lady of the Pillar. One of the legal councils of Zaragoza first wrote about Our Lady under this title in 1299, promising safety and privileges to pilgrims who came to visit the shrine. In 1456, Pope Calixtus III issued a bull encouraging pilgrimage to Our Lady of the Pillar and confirming the name and the miraculous origin. So, despite the lack of early extant texts about the miracle story and the name of this devotion, the enduring tradition delivers the story to us today."
In other interpretations, the tradition of theMarian apparition can be traced to the 15th century: In either 1434 or 1435, a fire destroyed the alabaster altarpiece. The replacement altarpiece features bas-relief representations of the Marian apparition. The image of the Virgen del Pilar venerated today also dates to this period. It executed in the late Gothic style ofJuan de la Huerta.[8]
Pope Calixtus III in a bull issued on 23 September 1456 declares a seven-yearindulgence for those who visit Our Lady of Saragossa. The text of the bull specifically mentions a pillar, for the first time suggesting the existence of an image known asOur Lady of the Pillar.[9]The feast day of 12 October was officially introduced by the Council of Zaragoza in 1640.[10]
According to the account byMaría de Ágreda (d. 1665) in herMystical City of God, Mary, mother of Jesus, was transported from Jerusalem to Hispania during the night, on a cloud carried by angels. During the journey, the angels also built a pillar of marble, and a miniature image of Mary with the Child Jesus.[11]
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Theapparition of Our Lady of the Pillar was accepted as canonical byPope Innocent XIII in 1723. So many contradictions[clarification needed] had arisen concerning the miraculous origin of the church that Spain appealed to Innocent XIII to settle the controversy. After careful investigation, the twelvecardinals, in whose hands the affair rested, adopted the following account, which was approved by theSacred Congregation of Rites on 7 August 1723, and later inserted in the lessons of the office of the feast of our Lady of the Pillar, celebrated on 12 October:[12]
Of all the places that Spain offers for the veneration of the devout, the most illustrious is doubtless the sanctuary consecrated to God under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin, under the title of our Lady of the Pillar, at Saragossa.According to ancient and pious tradition, St. James the Greater, led by Providence into Spain, spent some time at Saragossa. He there received a signal favour from the Blessed Virgin. As he was praying with his disciples one night, upon the banks of the Ebro, as the same tradition informs us, the Mother of God, who still lived, appeared to him, and commanded him to erect an oratory in that place. The apostle delayed not to obey this injunction, and with the assistance of his disciples soon constructed a small chapel. In the course of time a larger church was built and dedicated, which, with the dedication ofSaint Saviour's, is kept as a festival in the city andDiocese of Saragossa on the 4th of October.
James returned to Jerusalem with some of his disciples where he became amartyr, beheaded in AD 44 during the reign ofHerod Agrippa.[13] His disciples allegedly returned his body to Spain.[14] The year AD 40 is the earliest recognised Marian apparition in the Catholic Church, dating to a time when Mary, the mother of Jesus, was still alive.[15]
Pope Clement XII allowed the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar all over theSpanish Empire in 1730. Since the feast day (12 October) coincides with the discovery of theAmericas (12 October 1492), Mary was later named as Patroness of the Hispanic World under this title.[16]
A fire in 1434 burned down the church that preceded the present basilica.The construction of the presentBasilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, Zaragoza was started in 1681 and ended in 1711.
The wooden statue of the Virgin Mary is in theLate Gothic style. It stands 36.5 centimetres (14.4 in) tall, on a pillar ofjasper with a height of 1.8 metres (5.9 ft).The statue depictsMary with the Child Jesus on her left arm, who has adove sitting on his left palm.
Some reports state that an earlier wooden image was destroyed when the church burned down in 1434,[17] consistent with an attribution of the current image toJuan de la Huerta (d. 1462) or his school.[18]
It appears that folk belief in some cases may be inclined to regard the Saragossa image asmiraculous, sculptured by the angels as they transported Mary from Jerusalem to Saragossa (Zaragoza); this mystical tradition goes back toMaría de Ágreda (d. 1665), herself the object of frequent "mystical bilocation" (i.e. she reported that she was often "transported by the aid of the angels" ), who gave an account to this effect in herMystical City of God; however, unlike the tradition of the Marian apparition itself, the miraculous origin of the image is not part of the tradition recognized by the Holy See as canonical.
Since the 16th century, the pillar is usually draped in a skirt-like cover calledmanto "mantle".[17]As a whole, it is protected by a bronze case and then another case of silver.[19]The image wascanonically crowned in 1905 during the reign ofPope Pius X. The crown was designed by the Marquis of Griñi, valued at 450,000pesetas (c.US$2.6 million as of 2017).[20]
Our Lady of the Pillar is a common motif of theMadonna and Child in Spanish art; extant examples other than the Saragossa image date from the Renaissance period onward. Depictions become especially numerous following the introduction of the feast day throughout the Spanish Empire in 1730.
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Thefeast of Our Lady of the Pillar is celebrated on 12 October[21] and she is the Patroness of theHispanic peoples and theSpanish Civil Guard. A grand nine-day festival known asFiestas del Pilar is celebrated in Saragossa (Zaragoza) every year in her honour. The modernFiestas del Pilar, as they developed since the 19th century, begin on the weekend preceding 12 October and they end on the Sunday after 12 October (i.e. they move between 5–13 and 11–19 October). They were declared as a "national holiday of touristic interest" (Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional) by theMinisterio de Comercio y Turismo in 1980.
As 12 October coincides with the day of the year 1492 whenland was first sighted onColumbus's First Voyage, theFiesta de la Raza Española, first proposed in 1913 byFaustino Rodríguez-San Pedro y Díaz-Argüelles to fall on the same date. In the United States, this was later called "Columbus Day", as Columbus tends to be more associated with Italy and Italian-Americans, rather than the Spanish and Latin America in the U.S. TheFiesta de la Raza Española was declared the national holiday of Spain in a decree byAntonio Maura andking Alfonso XIIIof 1918. The alternative nameDía de la Hispanidad was proposed in the late 1920s byRamiro de Maeztu, based on a suggestion by Zacarías de Vizcarra.After theCivil War, on 12 October 1939, theDía de la Raza was celebrated in Saragossa (Zaragoza), presided over byFrancisco Franco, with a special devotion to theVirgen del Pilar. Chilean foreign vice-secretaryGermán Vergara Donoso commented that the "profound significance of the celebration was the intimate inter-penetration of the homage to the Race and the devotion to Our Lady of the Pillar, i.e. the symbol of the ever more extensive union between America and Spain."[22]The name ofDía de la Hispanidad was introduced as the official name of the national holiday in a decree of 9 January 1958.During thetransition to democracy, there was a proposal to shift the national day to 6 December, the day of adoption of theConstitution, but in the end, in a decree of 1982, the day of 12 October was retained, under the name ofFiesta Nacional de España y Día de la Hispanidad.[23] In 1987, the name was reduced to justDía de la Fiesta Nacional de España.[24]
Pilar, short for Maria del Pilar, is a common Spanish given name, withname day on the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar.
In thePhilippines, ruled by Spain for over three hundred years, Our Lady of the Pillar is honored as thepatroness of a number ofparishes andmunicipalities; seven are namedPilar in her honor. There are towns named Pilar in theprovinces ofAbra,Bataan,Bohol,Capiz,Cebu,Surigao del Norte andSorsogon. As in Spain, herfeast day is celebrated every 12 October.
the Virgen del Pilar, the patron saint not only of peninsular Spain but of the entire Hispanic world.
Unlike every other recorded apparition, this one took place during the earthly life of the Mother of God.
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