Santa María de la Cruz

Apparitions of Cubas de la Sagra (1449) · Madrid

In 1449, the Virgin appeared several times to the herdsman Inés Martínez in Cubas de la Sagra; she nailed a wooden cross and asked for a temple. Of those apparitions, of the most documented of the Spanish Middle Ages, the shrine of Santa Maria de la Cruz was born.

Origin and history

According to tradition, supported by abundant medieval documentation, the Virgin appeared to the girl Inés Martínez, a 12-year-old shepherd, in the area of Fuente Cecilia, on the outskirts of Cubas. The documented sources put the apparitions in March 1449 - on March 3, 4, 7 and 9 - when a glowing Lady, dressed in gold, showed herself to Inés. In the last apparition he would have nailed a wooden cross in the place and asked for the construction of a church, a gesture that gave name to Santa María de la Cruz. A notarial record of the facts was raised and numerous miracles - 76 recognized in the first fifty years - were documented, making these apparitions one of the most documented of the Spanish Middle Ages.

On that basis a beattery first arose and then the monastery of Santa Maria de la Cruz, whose development was attached to Sister Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534), Franciscan mystic known as "the Holy Juana of Cubas," whose immemorial cult was confirmed by decree of 2024. Cardinal Cisneros promoted the consolidation of the monastery, now governed by Franciscan clarisas. The commemoration of the apparitions is held on March 9, and St. John Paul II granted a Jubilee Year in 1998 on the occasion of the 550 anniversary. The accounts of healing and the details of the dialogues between the Virgin and Ines belong to the pious tradition.

Canonical coronation: not found in the sources.