Our Lady of the Pillar (Nuestra Señora del Pilar): Patroness of Spain
St. James and his disciples adoring Our Lady of the Pillar Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar -- the Blessed Virgin Mary's first apparition in history. The Blessed Mother appeared to Saint James the Apostle , the brother of Saint John the Evangelist , on the bank of the river Ebro in Saragossa, Spain. Unlike every other recorded apparition, this one took place during the earthly life of the Mother of God. Our Lady of the Pillar is the patroness of Spain and all Hispanic peoples. Seven years after the death of Jesus, St. James reportedly traveled as far west as Spain to the village of Saragossa in northeast Spain. St. James became disheartened because of the failure of his mission. Tradition tells us that on January 2, 40 A.D. while he was deep in prayer, the Blessed Mother appeared to him and gave him a small wooden statue of herself and a column of jasper wood and instructed him to build a church in her honor: "This place is to be my house, and this image...