Feast of the Madonna del Pilar

Nostra Signora del Pilar, ora pro nobis

October 12th is the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, patroness of Aragon, Spain, and Mother of Hispanidad. Celebrating the oldest Marian apparition in Western Europe, which occurred before Our Lady’s bodily Assumption into Heaven, the Mother of God and a choir of angels appeared to a despondent St. James the Greater in Zaragoza to encourage him on his evangelizing mission of the Iberian Peninsula. Giving him a stone column, Our Lady instructed him to build a chapel dedicated to her, which is now the Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Zaragoza, Spain.

In celebration, we’re posting the prayer of St. John Paul II to Our Lady of the Pillar. The accompanying photo of the Madonna del Pilar was taken at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church rectory in Newark, New Jersey. Evviva Maria!

Prayer to Our Lady of the Pillar

Holy Virgin of the Pillar: increase our faith, strengthen our hope, revive our charity. Help those who suffer misfortune, those who suffer from loneliness, ignorance or hunger or lack of work. Strengthen the weak in faith. Arouse in the young an availability for a total surrender to God. Amen.