Miraculous coming of the Blessed Virgin in mortal flesh to Zaragoza

O Blessed Virgin Mary! You in Zaragoza! I greet you, Sovereign Queen, on the happiest day the nations saw. Nice memory! That from generation to generation, it maintains for 19 centuries a tender devotion, a constant piety, and a gratitude. Miraculous coming! That thus carries our hearts into a holy joy, and excites in us the most tender feelings of piety and eternal gratitude. Fancy! A singular predilection! Excess of love! When the Mother of God still lived in the famous City of Jerusalem, informally occupied in the care of the nascent Church, she dignified coming to Zaragoza to visit us in person. This is the most authoritative and respectable tradition. In the 40th year of the Christian era, dominating the Roman Empire, and preaching the Holy Gospel in this very City, the Protomartir among the Apostles our patron James, while praying with his disciples on the banks of the Ebro, at the midnight of January 2, the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God and Queen of Heaven appeared to him, still living in mortal flesh, full of majesty, and accompanied by chorus of Angels, who sang various praises. The Angels, according to their pious tradition, brought their Holy Image and a Jasper Column, which we venerate with such devotion today. Oh, incomparable profit! From where to us so much favor? Why is Zaragoza the predilect? Great things have been said of you, Augusta City; but no one increases your greatness as much as the coming of the Blessed Virgin in mortal flesh. O City of Mary! This favor not given to any nation, forms your true glory, and covers your classic soil of honor, wealth, nobility, and the memory of this immortalized prodigy in the fasts of the Church, will make your glory and that of the Spanish nation eternal.

Final prayer.

O Queen, O Mother, O Lady! How much I owe you for this unique benefit! And how little I have done so far in your gift! My soul is undone in tears of tenderness, and it feels infinitely not to have corresponded to you. But you are Mother of goodness, I welcome your protection, begging you humbly, that without attending to my iniquities, but only to your mercy, you are my intercessor and lawyer to God, and so my soul, horribly deformed by guilt, will recover its beauty; wound of death, will heal; spiritually dead, will return to life; and as the Apostle says, it will become like a new creature in Jesus Christ. This grace mainly I ask of you, and the particular one I desire in this ninth, if it suits me for the greatest good of my soul. Los Angeles praise you. Amen.

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The Blessed Virgin commands the Apostle James to place a temple in her name in the same place that she points to him.

The Queen of Heaven and our Advocate, not only has she distinguished us among all nations with her coming to Zaragoza, but to perpetuate the memory of such a unique benefit, she sent the Apostle James to build a temple in the name of such a great Lady. The Holy Apostle, who returns from his ecstasy and from his rapture by the glow of his presence, hears the sweet words with which he speaks to him in this way: James, this is the place I have chosen: here wants the Almighty to dedicate a temple, that bearing my name, be his magnified. This is to be my temple and house, my own inheritance and possession; in it will be manifested the virtue of the Most High through my intercession and my prayers for those who ask with true faith and pious devotion. Here will be wonders, and admirable portents, especially in those who in their needs invoke my favor. Look also that Pilar, he will be here, and placed on him my own image. In witness to this truth and promise, he will be in this place with faith, to the end of the world, and will never fail in this City, who venerates the name of Jesus Christ, my Son. How generous! What a love the Blessed Virgin shows us! The Queen of Heaven has placed her throne in Zaragoza. Come, children of the Church, to this throne of mercy, ask with confidence for favors and thanks, that this tender Mother is committed to your good. Who has never invoked her in her needs that was not later helped?

Final prayer.

I therefore cry out to you, beloved Mother; you are powerful to deliver me from eternal death, as you have delivered countless sinners, reaching them for time of penance and inspiring them for repentance of their guilt. I beseech you with all the outpouring of my heart against and humiliated, that you may be sorry for this unfaithful servant, that you may return to the friendship of God this ungrateful son, who is repented to you. Save me, my God, do not let it perish forever. Reach me also the particular grace that I ask in this Ninth, if it is in my best interest to the greater good of my soul. Heavenly chorus, praise Mary, as the Supreme Queen of Heaven. Amen.

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The Blessed Virgin left us as a precious gift her sacred image which is our protection and comfort in every tribulation

Great and worthy of all our gratitude is the benefit given to us by the sovereign Queen of Angels with her coming to Zaragoza, but it is also worthy of all our appreciation, the eternal monument, the perennial memory of having left us her sacred image as a precious gift from Heaven. Oh! How can we forget such unique benefits, if we always have a perpetual memory of the finality of your maternal love for us? We came to the feet of such a great lady. But with what confidence? We went to pour out all the effusion of our heart, in all our troubles and tribulations. And as soon as we reach his sovereign presence, what comfort then experiences our afflicted spirit! Oh, how our heart is unraveling in tender sigh! Oh, what tenderness, what sweet comfort we feel, when you put us on your Angelical camera! Our soul is filled with joy in considering that in this propitiatory was our benign Esther, with the golden rod of the heavenly Ahasuerus in his hands, to reach us for favors and graces. In this house of Angels, at the foot of the throne of the heavenly Queen, it is where the tears of so many afflicted have been shrunk, where the groans of so many discomforted have been tempered, and where the cries of so many desperate have been silenced. All this publishes at every step the gratitude of the most pious Spaniards, and of all those true worshippers who come to admire this glorious Jerusalem, who see fulfilled in this holy Temple, Mary of the Pilar, what Solomon asked of the Lord in the dedication of his holy Temple, when he said: "If the stranger and the one who is not of your people come from afar off to the fame of your great name, and I will worship you in this place, you will hear him from your very firm room, and you will fulfill all things, for which the pilgrim will call upon you, to respect all the holy people, as he does, as his beloved."

Final prayer.

Oh, love mother! I, though an ungrateful son, but a defender of your glories, will speak out in a loud voice, throughout the universe, that all those who have invoked you in their needs and dangers have experienced the help and comforts that you generously shed upon those who implore you with fervor. But how much more we who are your favored, and who have so many trials of your goodness and compassion! How many times have we exclaimed, O Mother of God of the Pilar, be our protection and comfort in our tribulation, so many others have comforted us. Continue, compassionate Mother, to favour us, and mainly calm our fears at the time of our death. Oh how the memory of that terrible moment angers us! Consoler of the afflicted, assist us in that hour of disturbance, and dissipate all our fears. Protect your children and devotees. Receive us in your arms, and we die in them, to happily resurrect eternal life. Concede also to me the particular grace I ask of you in this Ninth, if it is in my best interest for the greater good of my soul. All creatures of the earth, deliver Mary as the great Lady of the universe. Amen.

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The Blessed Virgin left us the holy pillar or angelic column, a symbol of the strength and stability of the Catholic faith in Zaragoza until the end of the world

Zaragoza has a rich alhaja, a precious treasure, a sacred Column, which ennobles, protects, honors and illustrates it. From whom have you received such a magnificent gift, such a precious gift, but from Mary? This is all your happiness, Catholic Spain, magnificent nation. The heavenly Queen set in Zaragoza this mysterious Column, meaning to the future centuries, which perpetuated in glory among us the precious deposit of faith that she had entrusted to us. The Catholic orb admires the firmness of this Column, which has remained immovable, in the same place as the Blessed Virgin pointed out, without the conquests of the Romans, the hatred of the heretics, the fury of the Arabs, having disturbed their permanence. Everything certifies the greatness of its foundation, and the powerful strength of our Princess. India, Asia, Africa, shook the yoke of Jesus Christ. The entire universe was admired to be an Arian, in expression of St. Jerome. But the city of Mary, founded on the firm Column, has not lost its primitive splendor like Jerusalem. The torch of faith, which the Blessed Virgin lit in her coming, has not been extinguished. Innumerable Martyrs that form the glory of religion, and the honor of Zaragoza, were sacrificed in their defense.

Final prayer.

Oh Mother of God of the Pilar! Let us venerate this Column of our glory, an announcement of so many congratulations. Be our faith similar to your firmness and we will fight with courage against the enemies of our soul, who by trusting in the help that this mysterious Column means to us, we will overcome. May it be so, Mother of the Spaniards, that we persevere in the faith, and if necessary, we die in his defense, imitating the glorious example that our elders left us, and thus we will get the palm and crown that is promised to the victors, and we will sing the triumph by joining us forever with the choir of the martyrs. Concede to me, Mother pious, the particular grace I ask of you in this Ninth, if it is appropriate for my salvation. Los Angeles praise you. Amen.

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Glories and excellencies of the Holy Temple of the Pilar of Zaragoza, the first of the world dedicated to the Blessed Virgin

The same Queen of Heaven and our lawyer is the Founder of this august Temple! If our elders saw in the first centuries of Christian health, that Ark of the new Covenant, placed in the humble Silo, and under a poor roof built by the Protomartir between the Apostles, our patron James, and his holy disciples, we already veneration the majesty and magnificence of this admirable and sumptuous Temple. Oh, Throne! O monument of the Heavenly Queen! This is the first temple in the world dedicated in honor of the Blessed Virgin. His famous invocation of the Pilar has been brought to all the nations of the Universe, with the glory of his name. Oh, augusta city! You will see the devotion of the faithful increased, and the Catholic orb will be an emulus of the glories of this Temple. For it is not a building, in which there is only to admire the magnificence, as in the Temple of Solomon the wonder of its factory, no; its greatness is so much more excellent, because it does not take its origin from the works of men.

Final prayer.

O Celestial Queen! If I am surprised by the wealth and the first of your magnificent Tabernacle, I rather admire the heavenly treasures that you give to your devotees in this Proprietary. O Angelic temple! Gents of all nations come from afar drawn from the fame and honor of your name, and fall down at the feet of the throne of the Mother of God of Pilar the most distant peoples of the earth. The Catholic kings leave their throne and come to Zaragoza to worship your holy image, offer their fervent vows and obtain unique gifts and graces, and carried with joy exclaim, that the heavenly treasures that in their holy Temple dispense the Blessed Virgin, that the very fame of her name, are greater. Oh, sweet mother! Show that you are our Mother; make your voice heard for me, and it will be enough for me to be blessed; put me in the shadow of your protection, and I will be sure. Reach me from your divine Son the grace not to sin more morally, but to serve my God and Lord with fidelity and love, so that after having visited you with devotion in your holy Temple, it may be the fruit of my heart to enjoy your company in the Temple of glory. Concede also to me the grace that I desire in this Ninth, if it suits the good of my soul. Heavenly chorus, praise Mary, as the Supreme Queen of Heaven. Amen.

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Respect and veneration due to the holy temple of the Pilar of Zaragoza

Out of respect for the Majesty of the Lord who lived in the temple of Jerusalem, the Jews did not enter without being purified. The Levites, though consecrated to the worship of the Lord, did not go beyond the court for the sacrifices. The Priests were allowed to enter the Sanctuary to offer incense on the golden altar, but they rarely had this honor. Only the high priest entered the Holy One-time in the year. These amazing precautions were all aimed at giving a high idea of divinity, and at inspiring the respect that was owed to it in the Temple. But these precautions are more for us, that by an indefable grace, we possess in our temples the reality that was symbolized in those noble figures. By them the Lord teaches us that as we approach the Sanctuary, we must feel penetrated by a religious tremor, humiliate and confuse ourselves, considering the infinite Majesty of our God and the vileness of our being. But if this religious thought, must arouse my faith, my respect and veneration to all temples; this Propietary and Angelical Chamber erected in Zaragoza by the command of the Most Holy Virgin, have another excellence, another great dignity and privilege, which must arouse in me feelings and demonstrations of a holy fear, of deep humility, of high respect and veneration, for this is the place that the Queen of Heaven chose for her worship, here she set her virginal plants, here they remain her eyes and her heart to the end of the centuries. Let us worship this holy land, sanctified with the presence of God and the Most Holy Virgin, and exclaim with Patriarch Jacob: O how terrible is this place, truly this is the house of God, and the door of Heaven! That's how our elders got excited. With what respect, with what modesty, with what devotion they attended this Holy Temple! But how has the faith and mercy of our Fathers disappeared? Ah, in the greatest and most mysterious days, greater excesses of luxury, vanity, and presumption are noticed!

Final prayer.

Oh great Lady! I fear the punishment because of my desecration, for I consider that my Lord and You are most jealous of the honor of your holy House, and that the irreverence that is committed in it is called by the Lord a pious abomination. Deliver me, Mother of love, do not let the Lord unload upon me the anatomes with which he threatens the desecration of his holy Temple. I will apply everything to reform my conduct on such an important subject. I will attend with all the respect that the Lord asks for. I will never forget that the Holy Temple is intended only for the prayer and celebration of the most august and terrible mysteries, and so I will enter into it with the greatest recation, with a sum of modesty and religious respect, and I will worship it in spirit and truth. May it be so, Mother tender and do for your powerful intercession, that I have due respect as I offer you. Also concede to me the particular grace I desire, if it is appropriate for my salvation. All creatures of the earth, deliver Mary as great Lady of the Universe. Amen.

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The holy temple of the Pilar of Zaragoza and the living temple of our soul

What sublime ideas make me conceive of the greatness, beauty, the first and ornament of such a holy Temple, the magnificent Tabernacle of the Mother of God! The sanctity of this place and its peculiar choice; the hymns and songs of praise that are given to it; the concurrence and devotion of the faithful! Here his holy name is invoked: here his high privileges resonate: here is his goodness and his clemency. What will I say about the apparatus, the magnificence and solemnity with which the self-esteem mysteries of our Religion are celebrated? Oh angelic temple! You take away my thought, and represent me another more sumptuous temple, the living temple of my soul, its greatness, its excellence, its immortality, and the holiness with which I must preserve it. Yeah. I am the temple that God chose for his room. That's what the Apostle says. The Supreme Artisf raised that living temple for his dwelling, and consecrated it to himself Jesus Christ through Baptism. But oh great God! How much more august, more noble and perfect than this material tabernacle we look at! The costs and price of his factory were those of his own blood. The ara is my heart in which you want to be honored. The fire to be consumed by the victims of my disarranged affections is charity, and it is the same that will exhale to Heaven the incense and the perfumes of fervent sigh. The illuminating lamp is faith, which shines between a sacred darkness, which makes it more venerable. The columns that support him, hope; his jewels, the infused gifts of the divine Spirit; and all his ornaments and garments, the rich stola of sanctifying grace. The Priest chosen by God for sacrifices, and to continually feed the sacred fire of the Altar is each of the faithful. Our dignity, Christians! What a beauty the one of a soul, which is an animated temple of God, and upon which the Holy Spirit came down to make it a perpetual mansion!

Final prayer.

O Mother of the Supreme Breeder! Your God and Son, in contemplating the beauty of a soul he possesses for Grace, manifests himself in love and as astonished by his beauty. But, ah, where is the first excellence and dignity of a soul? Where is the first of this living Temple consecrated to God in Baptism? What has been done of the glow of the gold of virtues? Woe to me! He has been desecrated by guilt, the smoke of sin left him completely obscured. There no longer is any sign of the beautiful image of God and this daughter of Zion, of whose beauty the Lord was so pleased, is already ugly and abominable to his divine eyes. O how worthy my poor soul is! May you, Madam, return to your God, and gather your dignity and beauty with your weeping and penance. Help me and help me, Loving Mother, in such a need; and make that as many times as you visit him in this material Temple, I ask my soul for the spiritual advance that I must do on the path of Christian virtue and perfection. Renew my spirit, purify my affections, sanctify the inner temple of my soul, and so I will deserve to sing your praises in the temple of Glory. Concede to me the grace I ask of you in this Ninth, if it is in the good of my soul. The angels praise you. Amen.

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Devotion, zeal and fervent cults of our elders to the Mother of God of the Pilar, in his holy temple

Oh Queen of Heaven! As soon as you shone as a mystical star over Zaragoza, you spread your glows over the entire Spanish nation; and when you, divine aurora, illuminated this same place, the Gospel was announced, the banner of the Cross was raised, and the superstitious cult was despised: so it became a place of Religion and piety that had previously been an abomination. Our most grateful elders aroused their burning zeal, their extreme piety, and the most fervent cults towards you, as their heavenly Protector. His ardent zeal was not limited to the presence of the Angelic temple at all times, but extended his dear esmers to contribute to the magnificence, primer and ornament of this house of angels, until he made it one of the wonders of the world, and worthy room of the Mother of God, who had honored her with her presence. And not only in the happy days of peace and tranquility, but also in the most bloody persecutions and in the most urgent anguish, they always kept this sacred asylum from their refuge, not hesitating to sacrifice the most precious in their preservation and defence. O devotion, zeal and fervent cults of our elders! Other nations have been, if not enemies, at least entangled in the veneration and gift of the Blessed Virgin, but the Catholic Spain has been more and more solicitous and more fine Zaragoza in the honor of His beloved Protector. Never, ever, has this zeal for the object of their devotion been entangled in the Zaragozans, ever more constant have given clear testimony that no one could separate them from the Angelic Column in which they were exalted.

Final prayer.

O mighty mother! How have you shown yourself to be a defender of the honor of this delicious thalamus that the divine Solomon prepared for you! You did, that at all costs this Ark of the will should be respected among so many enemy Philistines. Let us thank you for this zeal, this goodness, these triumphs of the power exercised from that holy Pilar, and repeat to you, our beloved Protector, those comforting words, "You are the glory of this Jerusalem, the joy of this Israel, the invaluable honor of this people of yours, and so we will strive for you to pronounce to us those sweet accents; you are my beloved, my joy and crown." This will be our complete happiness in this land of miseries, and will inspire us the sure confidence to eternally sing your songs in the kingdom of Glory. Be that way, Mother pious, and conceive of the grace I ask of you, if I may. Heavenly chorus, praise Mary as the Supreme Queen of Heaven. Amen.

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Gratitude of the Spaniards to their excellent protector for the infinite benefits that he has given to our Spain since his coming

Sovereign Queen of the angels! I do not cease to admire the unique benefits that you have at all times given to this glorious Jerusalem, and my soul is weary of joy in considering that you have always been the most tender object of Spanish gratitude. Oh great Lady! The Spaniards have always been recognized to your benefits, and have multiplied the most fervent gifts, in which you have been pleased. The venerable antiquity assures us, that in Zaragoza they have never lacked true worshippers who, prostrated before the heavenly Column, have offered you their homenages. The concurrence to the Angelic temple, the continuous adoration, the magnificent cessions, the rich jewels, the vows and offerings, all confirms the finest gratitude. What a solemn holiday! How many prayers in your gift! With what joy our greatest men sang your praises! With what devotion they prayed privately for all the angles of your magnificent Proprietary! How they shed tears of tenderness in the affection of their devotion! What did those good children, the Fernandos, the Felipes, the Alphonsos, the Carlos, do not do in your gift, and how much have all the Spaniards committed themselves to praising and exalting you as the excellent Protector of our Spain? But, ah, how has that fire that was communicated to our Monarchs and to so many who venerated the Queen of Heaven, in the angelic chamber of Zaragoza, been extinguished among us? Prelated saints, just heroes of antiquity, who wept in this place in the excess of your tenderness! Why did you not leave your children, like another Elijah to his disciple, the spirit of your devotion?

Final prayer.

Oh, excellent Protector! Is this the city that produced an countless series of martyrs? Is this the land of the Valeros, of the Vicents, of the Braulios? Where is the splendor that was acquired from him by the Torcuates, Seconds, Indalecians and other disciples of our Apostle James? You communicated to them the spirit of their fervor, you gave them gifts and heavenly graces, you filled them with prosperities and blessings. O compassionate mother! Have you not even reserved a single blessing for us? Have you forgotten us? But how can a mother forget her children? I know that you will be disdain of receiving hearts that are slaves of vanity, tributaries of vice, and the praises of languages that at every step blaspheme your holy name. But turn your eyes upon your kingdom, look to your beloved city. Show that you are our Mother. Here are your children prostrated before you, shed tears of contrition, and the strongest of love for your sacred Column is in a bond; we will not leave you, nor separate you from your presence, until you give us your blessing. Oh Mother of God of the Pilar! This hope encourages us, this protection encourages us. I, Madam, the most unworthy servant, dedicate everything to you from this hour, that you may have me at your disposal. Admit this cordial gift, and tell me in the blessed number of your slaves, sealing my forehead with the precious mark of your very sweet name, that heaven and earth may see that I am. I confess, my beloved Queen, who makes me unworthy of this grace, the remarkable neglect I have had in giving you, and in imitating your virtues. But you are a tender and compassionate Mother, and you know how to forgive such wrongs. O heavenly queen! I have concluded the petition that I have made to you in this devotee of the Bride. I hope with confidence that you will have given me what I have asked, being all to the greater honor and glory of God, your gift, and good of my soul. I match my will with yours, and I do not want, but whatever you want. Oh, dear mother! I say goodbye to you with tears of tenderness, reach me the forgiveness of my guilt, give me your blessing, cover me with your cloak. Do not despise my pleadings, for I already write hymns of glory to you in testimony of my gratitude. Remember the supreme chief and universal pastor of the Church, and our diocesan Prelado. Bless the Catholic kings and princes of our kingdom. Pour your gifts upon our Spain eminently Catholic. Look from Heaven, visit and make this vineyard flourish, which planted your sacred right hand. Mother of the Spaniards, keep your children in this valley of tears, and lead them to the eternal kingdom of Glory. All creatures of the earth, deliver Mary, as great Lady of the Universe. Amen.

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