Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos (English: Our Lady of Saint John of the Lakes) is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by Mexican and Texan faithful. The original image is a popular focus for pilgrims and is located in the state of Jalisco, in central Mexico, 122 kilometers (76mi) northeast of the city of Guadalajara. The statue is venerated both in Mexico and in the United States where it is known by its proxy title Nuestra Señora de San Juan del Valle (Our Lady of Saint John of the Valley), mainly focused in Texas.[1][2]
The image is widely known for the jeweled regalia offered by its devotees and is permanently enshrined at the Basilica Minor of San Juan de los Lagos in Mexico.[3]
History
The sanctuary's history begins in 1543 when Father Miguel de Bologna, a Spanish priest, brought a statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception to the village. The town was then called San Juan Mezquititlan Baptist but its name was changed to San Juan de Los Lagos in 1623.[3] According to local histories, and some eyewitness accounts, a certain aerial acrobat was traveling along the Camino Real, "the Royal Highway," from San Luis Potosí to Guadalajara, performing in the towns along the way. His act included his wife and two daughters. His stunts included swinging from one high point to another by means of ropes, in somewhat the same fashion as trapeze artists of today. To add excitement and an element of danger, the artists had to fly over swords and knives that were stuck in the ground with their points positioned upward.
While performing in the village, the younger daughter, a child of six or seven, slipped, fell upon the knives and was mortally wounded. After preparing the body and wrapping it in burial cloths, the grieving parents brought the child's body to the chapel of Our Lady of San Juan for burial.
Meeting them at the door of the chapel was the 78-year-old Ana Lucia, the wife of Pedro Antes (the caretaker and custodian of the beloved statue). Feeling pity for the grieving family, she exhorted them to have confidence in The Virgin, who could restore the child to them. Taking the statue from its altar in the sacristy where it had been consigned because of its poor condition, Ana Lucia laid it near the child's dead body. In a few moments, they detected a slight movement under the shroud. The parents quickly unwrapped the cloth to discover the child well and unharmed. This first miracle of Our Lady of San Juan de Los Lagos became known in neighboring villages and towns. Numerous other miracles and favors followed, until now Our Lady is venerated by pilgrims from throughout Mexico and the United States.[4]
Following this miracle, the statue began to be venerated by an increasing number of pilgrims including Indians, Spanish and mestizos. During this period the statue acquired its own local identity as Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. Between the early 17th century and the middle of the 19th century a pilgrimage fair was held each year on November 30 to celebrate the original installation of the statue in the shrine.
The basilica
Fresco
The present church, begun in 1732, was built in the Mexican baroque style. The statue of the Virgin was installed in 1769 and the bell towers were completed in 1790. In 1972 the church was recognized as a basilica. Inside the church, upon a platform with an upturned crescent moon, stands the statue of the Virgin. The face is dark in color, the eyes widely spaced and the traits somewhat aquiline.
About 20inches (50cm) tall, the statue was made by the Tarascan State of southern Mexico using an indigenous technique called titzingueni, in which a frame of wood is covered by a paste of corn pith and orchid juice, and then coated with gesso and painted. Similar statues are still venerated in other parts of Jalisco: Nuestra Señora de Los Altos (Our Lady of Los Altos) in the town of San Francisco de Asís, Atotonilco El Alto, Jalisco; Nuestra Señora de la Salud (Our Lady of Health) in Pátzcuaro; and the Virgin of Zapopan in the city of Guadalajara. Sometime in the late 16th or early 17th century the statue was modernized by being enclosed in a frame and draped with clothing. The Virgin's hands are joined in prayer, she has long brown hair, and wears a white gown and blue robe. The statue's body is covered with a golden crown in Byzantine style. Above the image are two angels of silver, supporting between them a silver banner with the Latin inscription in blue enamel: Mater Immaculata ora pro nobis (Immaculate Mother pray for us).
Pilgrimages, festivals and churches
At the end of January and beginning of February each year a great pilgrimage occurs to the shrine and the city grows many times in size. This festival is attended by more than a million people, many of them walking, from all over Mexico. During a week of festivities there are hundreds of temporary stalls selling pilgrimage icons, multiple bands of musicians playing around the great basilica, fireworks demonstrations in the evenings, and a palpable feeling of spiritual joy descends upon the town. If a family member falls ill or undergoes a serious surgery for example, you can promise the Virgin to make the pilgrimage if that person makes it out okay.
The devotion carried over to California by people from Jalisco. In the 1970s, George Martinez revived the devotion in San Francisco, California, and a monthly Mass was celebrated. In 1979 Martinez convinced the bishop of San Juan to allow the statue to come to California, and the statue left Mexico for the first time ever in 1980.[5]
The devotion also arrived in New Mexico and the church of Nuestra Senor de los Lagos was built in 1828 in Talpa, New Mexico.[6]
Votive paintings for Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos (Mexico) by anonymous from the Tropenmuseum Amsterdam
Further reading
Bremer, Tomas S. "Nuestra Señora de San Juan de Los Lagos," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, David Carrasco, ed. vol. 3, pp.119–20. New York: Oxford University Press 2001.
A shrine to the Virgin Mary, or Marian shrine, is a shrine marking an apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Marian devotion. Such locales are often the destinations of Christian pilgrimages.
The term Black Madonna or Black Virgin tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. Examples of the Black Madonna can be found both in Catholic and Orthodox countries.
Our Lady of the Pillar 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. Among Catholics, it is also considered the first Marian apparition, and unique because it happened while Mary was still living on Earth.
The Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar is a Catholic church in the city of Zaragoza, Aragon (Spain). The basilica's titular is the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Pillar, praised as "Mother of the Hispanic Peoples" by Pope John Paul II. It is reputed to be the first church dedicated to Mary in history.
Our Lady often refers to:
San Juan de los Lagos is a city and municipality located in the northeast corner of the state of Jalisco, Mexico, in a region known as Los Altos. It is best known as the home of a small image of the Virgin Mary called Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. Miracles have been ascribed to her since 1632 and have made the Basilica of San Juan de los Lagos a major tourist attraction. The economy of the city is still heavily dependent on the flow of pilgrims to the shrine, which has amounted to between seven and nine million visitors per year.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon is a Marian shrine and a pilgrimage site in the village of Harissa in Lebanon.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan and the abbey of the same name are a 17th-century Franciscan sanctuary built in downtown Zapopan, in the state of Jalisco, México.
Our Lady of Manaoag is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in Manaoag, Pangasinan, the Philippines. The sacred statue is referred to as Apo Baket in the native language of local devotees.
The Virgin of Candelaria or Our Lady of Candle (Tagalog: Mahal na Birhen ng Candelaria, popularly called La Morenita, celebrates the Virgin Mary on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. The center of worship is located in the city of Candelaria in Tenerife. She is depicted as a Black Madonna. The "Royal Basilica Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Candelaria" is considered the main church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Canary Islands and she is the patroness saint of the Canary Islands. Her feast is celebrated on February 2 and August 15, the patronal feast of the Canary Islands.
Our Lady of Charity is a celebrated Marian title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in many Catholic countries.
Our Lady of Peñafrancia is an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A Marian image is permanently enshrined in the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga, Camarines Sur.
The Our Lady of Guidance is a 16th-century image of the Blessed Virgin Mary depicted as the Immaculate Conception and widely venerated by Filipinos. The wooden Black Madonna is considered the oldest extant Marian statue in the Philippines. Locally venerated as patroness of navigators and travelers, the image is enshrined at the Ermita Church in the city of Manila.
Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, also known as Our Lady of Antipolo and the Virgin of Antipolo, is a seventeenth-century Roman Catholic wooden image of the Blessed Virgin Mary as venerated in the Philippines. This Black Madonna is enshrined in Antipolo Cathedral in the Sierra Madre mountains east of Metro Manila.
The Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle is a minor basilica of the Catholic Church located in San Juan, Texas, United States. It is also a national shrine under the direction of the Diocese of Brownsville.
The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of St. John of the Lakes also called San Juan de los Lagos Cathedral It is a Catholic church located in the city of San Juan de los Lagos, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, headquarters of the diocese of San Juan de los Lagos. This Cathedral-Basilica ranks second in the number of visitors in the country after the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Our Lady of Aránzazu and is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Our Lady of Consolation or Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in the Catholic Church.
References
↑ Mapping the Catholic cultural landscape by Richard Fossey 2004 ISBN0-7425-3184-8 page 78
↑ Globalizing the sacred: religion across the Americas by Manuel A. Vásquez, Marie F. Marquardt 2003 ISBN0-8135-3285-X page 74
1 2 Pilgrimage: from the Ganges to Graceland: an encyclopedia, Volume 1 by Linda Kay Davidson, David Martin Gitlitz 2002 ISBN1-57607-004-2 page 571
↑ Miraculous Images of Our Lady" by Joan Carroll Cruz
↑ American congregations, Volume 2 edited by James P. Wind, James Welborn Lewis 1995 ISBN0-226-90186-6 page 447
↑ Historic New Mexico Churches by Annie Lux, Daniel Nadelbach 2007 ISBN1-4236-0169-6 page 59
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