HISTORY OF THE DEVOTION TO

OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR

According to early Christian legend, the title of “OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR” originated in Spain in connection with the conversation of St. James, the Apostle.

Before St. James left the holy land for Spain, he bade Mary goodbye. Mary told him that he would succeed in doing wonders there. So it was a high-spirited James who landed in Spain to convert the pagan Spaniards in the early days of the Church. Fired by the prophetic words of the mother of God, he went about his missionary work with great zeal and enthusiasm.

But soon he realized he was getting nowhere. His enthusiasm turned cold, his spirit broken, his body tired, his hopes dimmed.

One night, while he and his followers camped along the banks of the river Ebro in Saragossa, Spain, Our Lady appeared to him on top of a pillar of sparkling jasper stone. She told him to build a church right where she was standing and he would succeed in his mission. When she left, the jasper pillar on which she stood remained. Following her words, St. James immediately constructed a church there in her honor. In no time at all, Spain was converted to the catholic faith. It took the Mother of God to succeed in converting the Spaniards.

For more than nineteen hundred years, the shrine in Saragossa has been a center of religious life in Spain. The jasper pillar of the apparition is the greatest relic of the Catholic Church in Spain. It is still there today. Standing about six feet high, it has a straight pillar with decorations. On top of it is the statue of the Madonna and Child carved a long time ago to remind the faithful of Mary’s apparition there. This statue is made of black wood and covered with gold leaf-it is fifteen inches high.

It is said further that some Spanish missionaries brought with some replicas of the image of Our Lady of the Pillar to the Philippines.

One of this replicas was brought to Baleno, purportedly from Cebu intended to be taken to San Agustin town to be venerated there as its Patroness. But heaven willed otherwise. Every time the image of the Lady was loaded on boat to be shipped to San Agustin a storm arose. It seemed that nature wanted the Lady to stay in Baleno ever since, and stay here till the end of time.