October 12, 2022, Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, Holy Rosary (Glorious Mysteries)

Friends of the Rosary:

Today, October 12, is the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the Patroness of the Hispanic peoples and Spain.

In the year 40, while living in Jerusalem, the Blessed Virgin Mary supernaturally appeared to the Apostle James the Greater while he was preaching in the old Hispania, on the bank of the Ebro river in Saragossa. It was the first Marian apparition, and unique because it exhibited a mystical phenomenon of bilocation.

Mary appeared atop a column or pillar of stone, and she assured James that the people of Hispania would become Christians and their faith would be as strong and durable as the pillar on which she stood.

Also, she asked Saint James and his eight disciples to build a church on the site, promising that “it will stand from that 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.”

Today, in that place a huge, spectacular basilica stands, reflecting that Spain, where is located the Way of St. James, is or should be a Marian land.

The church of Our Lady of the Pilar in Saragossa is the first church dedicated to Mary in history and it remains standing to this day, having survived invasions and wars. For example, in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939, three bombs were dropped on the church and none of them exploded.

Also, October 12, 1492, is the day Christopher Columbus first sighted American land, and when the first Mass in the Americas was celebrated.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Our Lady of The Pillar, Pray for Us!