Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar · Zaragoza, Spain · 40 AD
Tradition holds that this is the oldest Marian shrine on earth. While the Virgin Mary still walked the earth at Jerusalem — before her Assumption, before the New Testament was written — she appeared, the Spanish faithful believe, to the Apostle James the Greater on the bank of the river Ebro in northern Spain. She came to encourage him in his discouragement, gave him a small column of jasper, and asked that a church be built upon it. That same pillar, two thousand years later, still stands at Zaragoza, beneath the great basilica that takes its name.
The Pillar by the Ebro
According to ancient Spanish tradition, Saint James the Greater had been preaching the Gospel in the Iberian peninsula and was disheartened — few had received his message. On January 2, in the year 40 AD, while he was praying with a small group of disciples on the bank of the Ebro at Caesaraugusta (modern Zaragoza), the Mother of God appeared to him in bilocation, sustained by angels.
She left with him, the tradition says, a small column of jasper — a “pilar” — and asked that a church be built around it dedicated to her. Saint James and his disciples built that first chapel on the very spot. The pillar has been venerated there in unbroken tradition ever since, and the church that grew around it has become the great Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar — one of the largest baroque churches in the world.
On the pillar today stands a small wooden statue of the Virgin and Child, fifteenth-century in date, smaller than the pillar itself. Pilgrims venerate the back of the column through an opening in the silver casing. The Virgen del Pilar is the patroness of Spain, of the Hispanic peoples, and of the entire Spanish-speaking world.
The Sanctuary Today
The Basilica of the Pillar dominates the skyline of Zaragoza with four great corner towers and a host of smaller domes covered in colored tile. Inside, beneath the central dome painted by Goya, the Holy Chapel encloses the pillar with the small statue of Our Lady. The faithful queue to kiss the marble case of the pillar; pilgrims come from all over the Spanish-speaking world.
October 12, the feast of the Virgen del Pilar — the same date as the Miracle of the Sun at Fátima — is a national holiday in Spain. The great floral offering of Zaragoza, when tens of thousands bring flowers to the basilica to be arranged into an enormous mantle for the Virgin, is one of the most beloved Marian celebrations of the Hispanic world.
A Prayer at the Pillar
Our Lady of the Pillar,
you who stood by an Apostle
when his work seemed in vain —
stand by every disciple in our own age
who is tempted to give up.
Let us lean, as the Apostle leaned,
on the pillar of your faithfulness.
Mother of Spain, Mother of every people that prays in Spanish,
pray for us. Amen.
Live from Zaragoza
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar broadcasts the Holy Mass and prayers daily from the Holy Chapel, with the small statue of Our Lady standing on the pillar that has stood there for nearly two thousand years.
Visit & Learn More
- Basílica del Pilar (official): www.basilicadelpilar.es
- Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_the_Pillar
Journey with Mary: A Path to Jesus 