OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS: Mexico City

 

The painting of Our Lady in the Church of Our Lady of the Angels in Mexico City is considered so celebrated and miraculous that it has been honoured by four popes, from Pope Pius Vl in 1793 to Pope Pius Xl in 1923.

One pope, Pope Pius Xl, was so enamoured of the painting that he kept a framed copy of the image by his bedside for years. It was one of the few items he grabbed as he fled Italy in great haste in 1848 during the political tumult in Italy.

In 1923 Pope Pius Xl authorized the pontifical coronation of the painting with Archbishop Don Mora y del Rio performoing the ceremony. The magnificent crown is visible today!

The painting has the most fascinating history:
in 1580 torrential rains flooded the Mexican capital.”Streets became rivers and homes were swept away.” Debris was rampant. But out of the flotsam, an Aztec Indian chief named Isayoque spotted a painting of exquisite beauty floating in the flood waters. It depicted Our Lady surrounded by a multitude of baby angels. He was so moved by the loveliness of the image that he built a small adobe chapel to honour this depiction of Our Lady. In 1595, worried that the painting was showing signs of deterioration, he commissioned an artist to paint a replica on the chapel’s adobe wall. In that same year the church hierarchy approved the chapel for public worship.

Over time, however, the old chapel fell to ruins—all that is, except for the adobe wall containing the image! The painting, miraculously, was still intact despite decades of exposure to the elements. In 1746, church authorities decided to “seal” the painting by covering it with wet mats and nailed boards. A year later when the coverings were removed the painting was in pristine condition! Sadly, though, three decades later, the small chapel was a “complete ruin.”

In 1776 a pious tailor was passing by the chapel. He was so struck by the painting’s beauty that he was resolved to build a new chapel. With the permission of the Archbishop of Mexico he began the renovations.

In 1793 Pope Pius Vl affiliated the Church of Our Lady of the Angels with the Church of St. John Lateran in Rome and granted it all the indulgences to be gained in the Lateran church. “To recount the marvels worked through the intercession of Our Lady of the Angels would require a volume in itself,” reports a historian.

But probably, the greatest miracle of all is the preservation of the image itself. Since 1580, the image’s hands and face have not been “retouched in the slightest.” And still today, it remains “radiant with beauty” according to the author of the book MEXICO, LAND OF MARY’S WONDERS.

Best of all, you can see the painting yourself! It can be found above the main altar in the magnificent Church of Our Lady of the Angels in central Mexico City.