Our Lady of the Ray, venerated in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Ray

Marian Advocation of Guadalajara (Jalisco)

La advocación de Our Lady of the Rosary of the Ray has its origin in the monastery of Jesus Maryin Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, founded on 30 May 1722. This devotion arose in an urban and conventual context, from where it spread to other regions of Mexico. The image is, in origin, Dominican Marian, linked to the Rosary, and over time received the popular title "del Rayo."

Main data

Origin and history

La advocación de Our Lady of the Rosary of the Ray has its origin in the monastery of Jesus Maryin Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, founded on 30 May 1722. This devotion arose in an urban and conventual context, from where it spread to other regions of Mexico. The image is, in origin, Dominican Marian, linked to the Rosary, and over time received the popular title "del Rayo."

Tradition and legend: according to the pious tradition, in the morning of August 13, 1807around 2: 30, a lightning fell into the convent of Jesus Mary during a heavy storm. The ray would have entered through a window of the high choir, destroying part of the church and near objects, but miraculously respecting the image of the Virgin, which would have even been more beautiful or luminous, while the religious were unharmed. This prodigy led the nuns and the faithful to venerate it under the title of Virgin of the Ray and to attribute to him numerous favors and healings.

Documented history: the historical sources collected by the Dominican community and by local studies point out that the venerated image in Jesus Mary is an earlier Marian size, linked to the Dominican spirituality and the Rosary, whose devotion was growing from the 18th century and was consolidated in the early 19th century, around the account of the lightning. From Guadalajara, the advocation spread to other cities in Mexico, where parishes and parties emerged in his honor. In the documentation consulted, it is not clear that the name "of the Ray" was born outside this context or that it is an advocation other than the Dominican tradition of Jesus Mary.

With regard to the location indicated in the statement ("Guadalajara, department of Jalisco, Colombia"), no consta that there is a Guadalajara in a "department of Jalisco" in Colombia: the Guadalajara related to Our Lady of the Ray corresponds to Guadalajara, capital of the state of Jalisco, Mexico.

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The image and the sanctuary

The advocation is given the full name of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Ray, although popularly it is called Virgin of the Ray o Our Lady of the Ray. The image is a Marian representation of Baroque / colonial style, of XVII-XVIII centuries, originally associated with the Assumption or the Rosary according to local tradition, and later identified with the title "of the Ray" following the prodigy described. It is linked to the Dominican charism and therefore very close to the iconography of the Rosary.

The main place of his veneration is the monastery and temple of Jesus Mary, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, which works as sanctuary of the Virgin of the Ray. Recent sources point out that "the sanctuary is found in the Convent of Jesus Mary" of the Dominics of Guadalajara. It is a historic temple of the city, of colonial origin, attached to the monastery, where the image is preserved and where its cult is developed in a stable way. It is not found in the consulted sources that the temple of Jesus Mary has received the title of minor basilicaor that there is an official recognition as National sanctuary; is referred to as generic as monastery of Jesus Mary and as a place of origin of devotion.

In addition to the monastery of Jesus Mary, devotion to the Virgin of the Ray has spread to other parishes and temples dedicated to this vocation in various cities and towns of Mexico, where churches have been erected under the title of Our Lady of the Ray. There is no specific sanctuary in the documentation consulted in "Guadalajara (Jalisco, Colombia)," so the correct reference should be understood as Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

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Sponsorship and coronation

The Virgin of the Ray has a strong urban and popular patronage in Guadalajara and other places in Mexico. It is particularly invoked as of job seekers and of those who are urgent or difficult situations. Some cities and towns in Mexico have assumed it as patrona localwith parishes and parties in his honor; for example, his patronage is mentioned in the city of Parral (Chihuahua) and in the municipality of Cuyoaco (Puebla), although with local stories of his own.

As for the coronationthe sources collect two data that should be carefully distinguished:

– Un artículo de divulgación histórica sobre Jesús María afirma que el obispo de Guadalajara canonically crowned the image by episcopal decree the August 12, 1907, tras investigaciones sobre la tradición y la devoción. – Otro testimonio, de carácter devocional, afirma que en 1940 the image "received the pontifical coronation granted by Pius XIIwith a ceremony in the cathedral. "

However, this second statement raises a historical problem: the Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939so that a "concession of Pius XII" in 1940 would be chronologically possible, but does not, in the accessible sources (official lists of coronations or diocesan documentation available online), contain the confirmation of that pontific coronation. The text that states it is a secondary devotional account.

Since there is no access, in the sources verified online, to a pontifical decree or to official diocesan documentation that expressly confirms the pontific coronation by Pius XII, and that the coronation of 1907 appears in a local source without support in published diocesan documentation, applying the required precautionary criterion:

> does not contain a documented canonical coronation

(i.e., sufficient and safe documentary evidence of canonical or pontifical coronation is not available in the sources consulted.)

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Party and devotion

Devotion places the origin of the lightning prodigy in the morning of the August 13, 1807. However, the main party of the Virgin of the Ray is celebrated, according to devotional and Catholic press sources, the 18 Augustwith great religious and popular celebrations. This date has been consolidated as the main festive day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Ray in Guadalajara and in other places where she is venerated.

The celebrations include Formal Mass, processions and devotional acts in the monastery of Jesus Mary and in the temples dedicated to the advocation. The image is much loved by the Dominican religious of Jesus Mary and by the faithful of Guadalajara, who come to his sanctuary to ask for favors, thank miracles and present your needs, especially around your August party. Devotional testimonies point to a large influx of faithful at this time, although the sources consulted do not provide specific figures for assistance.

In popular religiosity, Our Lady of the Ray is particularly associated with the job search y a las urgent requirements, and there are frequent exvotes, testimonies of favors and specific prayers in these senses. In this way, devotion has a marked urban character, close to the daily life of families and workers, beyond the strictly conventional realm.

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Link to the Rosary

The full name of the advocation -Our Lady of the Rosary of the Ray- explicitly indicates its link with the Rosary. The image was born and consolidated in a Dominican monastery, where the