Our Lady of the Pillar

Our Lady of the Pillar
The image of Our Lady of the Pillar wearing her canonical crown
LocationZaragoza, Spain
Date12 October AD 40 (traditional)[1]
WitnessApostle James the Greater
TypeMarian Apparition
ApprovalPope Callixtus III (1456)
Pope Innocent XIII (1723)
Pope Pius X (1905)
Venerated inCatholic Church
ShrineBasilica of Our Lady of the Pilar, Zaragoza, Spain
PatronageZaragoza, 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 and Morong in Bataan, Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro, Sibonga, Cebu, Baleno, Masbate, Cauayan, Isabela, Hispanic people and the Hispanic world.[2]
AttributesThe Blessed Virgin Mary carrying the Child 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 the Blessed Virgin Mary in the context of the traditional belief that Mary, while living in Jerusalem, supernaturally appeared to the Apostle James the Greater in AD 40 while he was preaching in what is now Spain. Those who adhere to this belief consider this appearance to be the only recorded instance of Mary exhibiting the mystical phenomenon of bilocation.[3] Among Catholics, it is also considered the first Marian 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 the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. Pope Callixtus III granted indulgences for visitors to the shrine in 1456. Pope Innocent XIII in 1730 mandated her veneration throughout the Spanish Empire. On 20 May 1905, Pope Pius X granted the image a canonical coronation.

Our Lady of the Pillar is considered the Patroness of Aragon and its capital Zaragoza, Hispanic people, the Hispanic world,[2] and of the Spanish Civil Guard. Her feast day is 12 October, which coincides with the National Day of Spain.

  1. ^ accepted as canonical by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 7 August 1723.
  2. ^ a b Curtis, William (2004). Fodor's Spain. University of Michigan Press. p. 232. ISBN 9781400012701. the Virgen del Pilar, the patron saint not only of peninsular Spain but of the entire Hispanic world.
  3. ^ Peterson, Larry (12 October 2017). "Did you know the 1st apparition of the Blessed Mother was an act of bilocation?". Aleteia. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Nuestra Senora del Pilar (Our Lady of the Pillar)". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 30 May 2019. Unlike every other recorded apparition, this one took place during the earthly life of the Mother of God.

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