Our Lady of the Pillar

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar. This is a very special feast day as it is Our Lady's first known apparition. What makes this apparition so special is that Our Lady was still living on earth when it took place.

She bilocated to Spain where St James the Greater had gone to bring the faith of Christ. St James had not been succesful and was very dejected at this point, camped by the bank of the Ebro River in Saragossa and preparing to return to Jerusalem.

St James was deep in prayer when Our Lady appeared to him and gave him a wooden statue of herself holding the Child Jesus upon a jasper pillar saying, "It will stand from this moment until the end of time in order that God may work miracles and wonders through my intercession for all those who place themselves under my patronage."

She instructed St James to build a church that would stand till the end of time. Tradition tells us that Our Lady had promised St James that when he needed it most in his difficult mission of converting the pagans in Spain, she would come to encourage him. Please drop by and visit Kathryn's posting on Our Lady of the Pillar.

So Our Lady's visit is the beginning of Spain's history of it's christian faith, she ushers in the reign of Christ reminiscent of her words in Scripture, "Do whatever He tells you."

Spain would go on many, many centuries later to bring Christ to the New World (Americas) but where frail man fails, Our Lady comes and once again draws the New World natives and the Spanish to herself and claims them as her own (Our Lady of Guadalupe) with 11 million converted within a decade, something that is not possible or unheard of, in completely human terms. It is her unique mission in life to be that 'Star of the Sea' that lights the way for us all in our turbulent journey through the sea of life, to the Divine harbour - Christ.

Below is an 8 page article on one of the most incredible, well documented miracles of the Church, it took place in Spain in the 17th century. It is a wonderful read-aloud to children on this feast day, and it is a beautiful story involving a crippled, young man, Our Lady of the Pillar and the shrine's holy oil.... (I am hoping that you can click each page open and be able to print on the sheet for easy reading)


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Part Two to this incredible story is here.

Part Two Synopsis: This historical event is further supported by a modern day doctor who specializes in limb attachment. He states that the testimonies shared by those who witnessed the miracle in the 1600's spoke of things they saw, that describe accurately the science of limb attachment. Descriptions that could not have been fabricated since re-attaching limbs is only been made possible in the last 50 years or so. So a must read!

This wonderful article has come from the Love One Another publication, a Catholic family magazine produced by the Society of Christ. (Polish, missionary order) It is magazine subscription I highly recommend as it is full of articles such as this one. You can also order back copies. On this page you can download some of the back copies.

Come and visit the Shrine of Our Lady of the Pillar....